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Harper's Stereotype Edition, with Engravings. 

THE ^^,*;- 

HISTORY 

OF THE 

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT 

OP 

AMERICA 

BY WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D.D. 

PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY AT EDINBURGH, ETC. ETC. 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS. 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED 



QUESTIONS 

FOR THE 

EXAMINATION OF STUDENTS 

BY JOHN FROST, A.M. 

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 



NEW-YORK : 




PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 

NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET. 



18 37. 



/ 



l^ZI 



THE 



lilFC OF DR. WM. ROBERTSON. ^ -y 



William Robertson, the eldest son of the Reverend William Robert- 
son, was born on the 8th of September, 1721, at Borthwick, in the shire of 
Mid Lothian, of which parish his father was the minister. By the paternal 
line he descended from a respectable family in the county of Fife, a branch 
of that which, for many generations, possessed the estate of Struan, vn 
Perthshire. His mother was the daughter of David Pitcairn, esq. of 
Dreghorn. He had one brother and six sisters ; all of whom were well 
settled in life, and most of whom lived to an advanced age. 

It was at the parochial school of Borthwick that Robertson received the 
initiatory part of his education ; but as soon as he was sufficiently forward 
to enter on the study of the learned languages, he was removed to the 
school of Dalkeith. The latter seminary was then under the superintend- 
ence of Mr. Leslie, whose eminence as a teacher was such as to attract 
pupils from all parts of Scotland ; and the father of Robertson was con- 
sequently induced to send him to Dalkeith rather than to the Scottish 
metropolis. 

When the future historian was twelve years old, his father was trans- 
ferred from BortliAvick ro one of the churches of Edinburgh. In the 
autumn of 1733 he joined his parents ; and, in October, he was admitted 
into the college and university of the northern capital. 

Whatever were his first attempts at composition, and it is probable they 
were many, nothing has been preserved to show how early he began to 
exercise his talents, or with what degree of rapidity those talents were 
expanded. It is certain, however, that in the pursuit of knowledge he 
displayed that ardour and perseverance without which nothing great will 
ever be accomplished. A strong proof of this is afforded by some of his 
early commonplace books, which bear the dates of 1735, 1736, and 1737. 
The motto, vita sine Uteris mors est, which he prefixed to these books, 
sufficiently indicates by what an honourable ambition and love of literature 
he was inspired at a very tender and generally thoughtless age. The boy 
of fourteen, who can cherish the feeling which is implied by this motto, 
gives promise that his manhood will reflect lustre on himself and on the 
country of his birth. 

Among the men of emmence, by whose instructions he profited at the 
university, were sir John Pringle, afterwards president of the Royal 
Society, but then professor of moral philosophy; Maclaunn, justly cele 
brated for the extent of his mathematical skill and the punty of his style 
and Dr. Stevenson, the learned and indefatigable professor of logic. To 
the masterly prelections of the latter, especially to his illustrations of the 
poetics of Aristotle, and of Longinus on the Sublime, Robertson often 
declared that he considered himself to be more deeply indebted than to 
any circumstance in the course of his academical career. It was indeed 
not towards the abstract sciences that the bent of his genius was directed. 
To mathematical and mechanical speculations he seems to have been at 
least cold, perhaps averse. Neither was he remarkable for metaphysical 
acuteness. His delight was to trace and elucidate moral and religious 
truths, to apply the process of reasoning to subjects more immediately con» 



iv THE LIFE OF 

nected with the every-day business of existence, to search into the causes 
and effects of historical events, to expatiate amidst the perennial beauties of 
classic lore, and, by meditating on the great models of oratorical art, to 
lender himself master of all the powerful resources of a ready and persua- 
sive eloquence. 

With respect to eloquence, the possession of it was in fact indispensable 
to one who, as m all probability was the case with Robertson, had deter- 
mined tD assume a prominent station among the pastors and leaders of the 
Scottish church. The mere knowledge ot rules, however, or even a tho- 
rough acquaintance with the rich stores of ancient and modern oratorj', 
will not suffice to tbrm an orator. It is by use alone tliat facility of speech 
and promptitude ot reply can be acquired. It is the collision of minds 
which strikes out the " thoughts that breathe, and words that burn." 
During the last years, therelore, of his residing at college, he joined with 
some of his contemporaries in establishing a society, the avowed purpose 
of which, as we are told by Mr. Stewart, was " to cultivate the study of 
elocution, and to prepare themselves, by the habits of extemporaiy dis- 
cussion and debate, tor conducting the business of popular assemblies." 

Of the colleagues of Robertson in this society many ultimately rose, like 
himself, to high reputation. Among them were Cleghorn, subsequently 
professor of moral philosophy at Edinburgh, Dr. John Blair, who became 
a member of the Royal Society, and a prebendary of Westminstpr, and 
who gave to the public " The Chronology and History of the World," 
WiJkie, the author of the Epigoniad, a faulty poem, but above cciAe'.upt, 
Home, the author of Douglas, and Dr. Erskine, who, in atler life, was at 
once the coadjutor, rival, opponent, and friend of Robertson. 

This society continued in existence, and, no doubt, was beneficial to its 
members, till it was broken up by a quarrel, which had its rise from a reli- 
gious source, and which, consequently, was of more than common bitter- 
ness. In 1741 that extraordinary man Whitefield, who was then in the 
zenith of his fame, paid a visit to Scotland, and his preaching excited in 
that country a feeling equally as strong as it had excited in England. On 
the subject of his merit violent parties immediately sprang up, especially 
among the clergy. By the one side he was considered as a clerical won- 
der, a kind of apostle, from whose evangelical labours the happiest result 
might be expected; by the other side he was calumniated as an impostor, 
and a worthless private character, while some, in the excess of their holy 
zeal, did not scruple to stigmatize him, even from the pulpit, as " an agent 
of the devil." It was natural that this question should be debated by 
Robertson and his associates; and it was, perhaps, not less natural that it 
should be argued with so much heat and asperity as not only to cause the 
dissolution of the society, but even, it is said, to interrupt, tor some time, 
the intercourse of the members as private individuals. Of those who 
entertained doubts with regard to the personal conduct of Whitefield, and 
the utility of his efforts, Robertson was one. From his acknowledged 
moderation and evenness of temper we may, however, infer that his hos- 
tility to the preacher was carried on in a liberal spirit, and that he did not 
think it either necessary or decorous to brand him as an agent of the prince 
of darkness. 

To excel in his written style as much as in his oral was one object of his 
ambition. The practice of clothing in an English dress the standard works 
of the ancients has beep often recommended, as conducive to the improve- 
ment of style ; and he seems to have believed it to be so, for it was 
adopted by him. He carried it so far as to entertain serious thoughts ot 
preparing for the press a version of Marcus Antoninus. His scheme was, 
however, frustrated by the appearance of an anonymous translation at , 
Glasgow. " In making choice of this author," says Mr. Stewart, "he was 
probably not a little influenced by that partiality with which (among the 



DR. ROBERTSON. v 

writers of heathen moralists) he always regarded the remains of the stoical 
philosophy." 

Having completed his academic course, and richly stored his mind, he 
quitted the university, and, in 1741, before he had quite attained the age 
of twenty, a license to preach the gospel was given to him by the presby- 
tery of Dalkeith. This kind of license, which does not authorize to 
administer the sacraments or to undertake the cure of souls, is granted to 
laymen ; and the person who receives it may be considered as being placed 
by it in a state of probation. 

After the lapse of two years, from the period of his leaving the univer- 
sity, when he was yet little more than twenty-two, he was, in 1743, pre- 
sented, by the Earl of Hopetoun, to the living of Gladsmuir. Of this pre- 
ferment the yearly value was not more than one hundred pounds. Scanty, 
however, as were its emoluments, it was most opportunely bestowed. He 
had not long resided at Gladsmuir when an unexpected and melancholy 
event occurred, which put to the trial at once his firmness and his benevo- 
lence. His father and mother expired within a few hours of each other, 
leaving behind them a family of six daughters and one son, without the 
means of providing for their education and maintenance. On this occa- 
sion Robertson acted in a manner which bore irrefragable testimony to the 
goodness of his heart, and which was also, as Mr. Stewart justly observes, 
"strongly marked with that manly decision in his plans, and that perse- 
vering steadiness in their execution, which were the characteristic features 
of his mind." Regardless of the privations to which he must necessarily 
submit, and the interruption which his literary and other projects must 
experience, he received his father's family into his house at Gladsmuir, 
educated his sisters under his own roof, and retained them there till oppor- 
tunities arose of settling them respectably in the world. His merit is 
enhanced by the circumstance of his fraternal affection having imposed on 
him a sacrifice far more painful than that of riches or fame. He was ten- 
derly attached to his cousin Miss Mary Nesbit, daughter of the Reverend 
Mr. Nesbit, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, and his attachment was 
returned ; but it was not till 1751, when his family had ceased to stand in 
need of his protecting care, that he thought himself at liberty to complete 
a union which had, for several years, been the object of his ardent wishes. 
It is pleasant to know that the wife whom he so tardily obtained was every 
way worthy of such a husband, and that he suffered no interruption of his 
domestic happiness. 

While he was laudably occupied in promoting the welfare of his orphan 
relatives, the rebellion broke out in Scotland. " It afforded him," says 
Mr. Stewart, " an opportunity of evincing the sincerity of that zeal for the 
civil and religious liberties of his country, which he had imbibed with the 
first principles of his education; and which afterwards, at the distance of 
more than forty years, when he was called on to employ his eloquence in 
the national commemoration of the revolution, seemed to rekindle the fires 
of his youth. His situation as a country clergyman confined indeed his 
patriotic exertions within a narrow sphere ; but even here his conduct was 
guided by a mind superior to the scene in which he acted. On oneocca 
sion (when the capital was in dangerof falling into the hands of the rebels) 
the present state of public affairs appeared so critical that he thought him- 
self justified in laying aside for a time the pacific habits of his profession, 
and in quitting his parochial residence at Gladsmuir to join the volunteers 
of Edinburgh. And when, at last, it was determined that the city should 
be surrendered, he was one of the small band who repaired to Hadding- 
ton, and offered their services to the commander of His Majesty's forces." 

Widi the exce})tion of this one troubled interval he c()ntinued, for many 
years, in the tranquil performance of his pastoral duties. The hours of 
his leisure were devoted to literary researches and to laying the solid foun- 



Ti THE LIFE OF 

dation of future eminence. It was bis practice to rise early, and to read 
and write much before breakfast. The remainder of the day he devoted 
to the claims of his jirofession. As a minister of the gospel he was consci- 
entious and active ; not confining; himself to the mere routine of his sacred 
office, but endeavouring by every means to extend the comforts and influ- 
ence of religion. In the summer months it was customary for him, previous 
to the commencement of the church service, to assemble the youtht'ui part 
of his flock for the purpose of explaining to them the doctrines of (he 
catechism. By his zeal, his punctuality, and the suavity of his behaviour, 
he won the love of his parishioners ; so that, in all their difficulties, it was 
to him that they resorted for consolation and for counsel. His pulpit elo- 
quence was such as afforded delight to all classes of people ; because, 
while it was adorned with those graces of style which are required to 
satisfy men of judgment and taste, it was rendered level to the compre- 
hension of his humblest hearers, by the clearness of its argument and the 
perspicuity of its language. 

The time at length arrived when the talents of Robertson were to be 
displayed on a more extensive and public scene of action, and he was to 
assume a leading share in the government of the Scottish church. He did 
not, however, come forward among his colleagues till he had attained the 
mature age of thirty, and had thoroughly prepared hiinself to sustain his 
new and important part with untiring vigour and a decisive effect. It was 
on the question of patronage that he first exerted his powers of eloquence 
in a deliberative assembly. 

To enable the mere English reader to comprehend this subject, it may, 
perhaps, be proper to give some account of the constitution of the church 
of Scotland, and also of the right of patronage, out of which arose the 
contentions and heartburnings by which the church was disturbed for a 
considerable period. 

The church of Scotland is ruled by a series of judicatories, rising by 
regular gradation from the kirk session, or parochial consistory, which is 
the lowest in order, to the general assembly, which is the highest. The 
kirk session is composed of the ministers and lay elders of parishes ; a 
presbj'tery is formed of the ministers cf contiguous parishes, with certain 
representatives from the kirk sessions ; and a provincial synod is consti- 
tuted by the union of a plurality of presbyteries. Crowning the whole is 
the general assembly. This body consists of three hundred and sixty-four 
members, of whom two hundred and two are ministers, and the remainder 
are laymen. Of this number two hundred and one ministers and eighty- 
nine lay elders are sent by the presbyteries ; the royal boroughs elect 
sixty-seven laymen ; the universities depute five persons, who may be 
either ecclesiastics or laj^men ; and the Scottish church of Campvere in 
Holland supplies two deputies, the one lay and the other clerical. The 
annual sittings of the assembly are limited to ten days ; bijt whatever busi- 
ness it has left unsettled is transacted by a committee of the whole house 
(called the commission), which, in the course of the year, has four stated 
meetings. Among the lay members of the assembly are men of the high- 
est consequence in the kingdom ; lawyers, judges, and sometimes nobles 

Though all the ministers in Scotland are on a perfect equality with each 
other, yet each individual and each judicatory is bound to yield a prompt 
obedience to the superintending authority, and each court must punctually 
lay the record of its proceedings before the tribunal which is next in rank 
above it ; but the general assembly has the power of deciding without 
appeal, of enforcing, uncontrolled, its decrees, and, with the concurrence 
of a majority of the presbyteries, of enacting laws for the government of 
the Scottish church. 

The history of clerical patronage in Scotland since the overthrow of 
Catholicism, and of the struggles to which it has given rise, has been traced 



DR. ROBERTSON. vii 

with so much clearness by Dr. Gleig: that, though the passage is of some 
lei^th, I shall give it in his own words. " The Reformation in Scotland,'* 
says he, " was irregular and tumultuous ; and the great object of the pow- 
erful aristocracy of that kingdom seems to have been rather to get posses- 
sion of the tithes, and the lands of the dignified cler^, than to purify the 
doctrine and reform the worship of the church. Of this Knox and the 
other reformed clergymen complained bitterly ; and their complaints were 
extorted from them by their own sufferings. Never, 1 believe, were the 
eitablished cler2:y of any Christian country reduced to such indigence as 
were those zealous and well meaning men, during the disastrous reign of 
queen Mary, and the minority of her son and successor ; while the pit- 
tance that was promised to them, instead of being regularly paid, was 
often seized by the rapacity of the regents and the powerful barons who 
adhered to their cause, and the ministers left to depend for their subsist- 
ence on the generosity of the people. 

"As nearly the whole of the ecclesiastical patronage of the kingdom 
had come into the possession of those barons, partly by inheritance from 
their ancestors, and partly with the church lands which, on the destruction 
of the monasteries, they had appropriated to themselves, it is not Avonder- 
ful that, in an age when men were very apt to confound fh i illegal and 
mischievous conduct of him who exercised an undoubted right with the 
natural cc.'^.sequences of that right itself, strong prejudices were excited in 
the m'nds of the clergy and more serious part of the people against the 
law which vested in such sacrilegious robbers the right of^ presentation to 
parish churches. It is not indeed very accurately known by whom minis- 
ters were nominated to vacant churches for thirty years after the com- 
mencement of the Reformation, when there was hardly any settled 
government in the church or in the state. In some parishes they were 
probably called by the general voice of the people ; in others, obtruded 
on them by the violence of the prevailing faction, to serve some political 
purpose of*^ the day ; and in others again appointed by the superintendent 
and his council : while in a fevv the legal patron may have exercised his 
right, without making any simoniacal contract with the presentee ; v/hich, 
however, there is reason to suspect was no uncommon practice.* 

" Hitherto the government of the Protestant church of Scouand had fluc- 
tuated from one form to another, sometimes assuming the appearance of epis- 
copacy under superintendents, and at other times being presbyterian in the 
strictest sense of the word. In the month of June, 1592, an act was passed, 
giving a legal sanction to the presbyterian form of government, and resto- 
ring the ancient law of patronage. By that act the patron of a vacant 
parish was authorized to present, to the presbyterj' comprehending that 
parish, a person properly qualified to be intrusted with the cure of souls ; 
and the presbytery was enjoined, after subjecting the presentee to certain 
trials and examinations, of which its members were constituted the judge.', 
'to ordain and settle him as minister of the parish, provided no relevant 
objection should be stated to his life, doctrine, or qualifications.' 

" Though we are assured by the highest authority! that this right of 
patronage, thus conferred by the fundamental charter of presbyterian 
government in Scotland, was early complained of as" a grievance, it ap- 
pears to have been regularly exercised until the era of the rebellion against 
Charles I. during the establishment as well of the presbyterian as of the 
episcopal church. It was indeed abolished by the usurping powers, which 
in 1649 established in its stead what was then called * the gospel right of 
popular election ;' but at the restoration it was re-established together with 
episcopacy, and was regularly exercised until the revolution, when epis- 

* The reader will derive much valuable information on lliis subject from Dr. Cook's " History 
of the Reformation in Scotland." ♦ Dr. Hill, Principal of St. Mary's College, in the Uuiver- 

elty of St. AndreWf. 



Viii THE LIFE OF 

copacy was finally OTcrthrown, and, by an act passed on'lhe 26th of May, 
*tbe Presbyterian church, government, and discipline, by kirk sessions, 
presbyteries, provincial synods, and general assemblies,' established in its 
stead. The act of James VI. in 1592 was ' revived and confirmed in every 
head thereof, except in that part of it relating to patronages,' which were 
utterly abolished, though nothing was substituted in their stead until the 
19lh of July immediately succeeding. 

" It was then statuted and declared, to use the language of the act, * that, 
in the vacancy of any particular church, and for supplying the same with 
a minister, the protestant heritors and elders are to name and propose the 
person to the v/hole congregation, to be either approven or disapproven by 
them ; and if they disapprove, they are to give in their reasons, to the 
effect the affairs may be cognosced by the presbytery of the bounds ; at 
whose judgment, and by whose determination, the calling and entry of 
every particular minister is to be ordered and concluded. In recompense 
of which rights of presentation the heritors of every parish were to pay 
to the patron six hundred merks (£33 6s. 8c?. sterling), against a certain 
time, and under certain proportions. 

" Whether this sum, which at that period was very considerable, was 
actually paid to the patrons of the several parishes, I know not ; but if it 
was, or indeed whether it was or not, had it been the intention of the legis- 
lature to produce dissension in the country, it could not have devised any 
thing better calculated to effect its purpose than this mode of appointing 
ministers to vacant churches. The heritors or landholders, if the price was 
paid, would naturally contend for the uncontrolled exercise of the right 
which they, and they only, had purchased ; but it is not by any means 
probable that at such a period they could often agree in their choice of a 
minister for a vacant parish. The elders, who were men of inferior rank 
and inferior education, would, by the envy of the low, when comparing 
themselves with the high, be prompted to thwart the wishes of their land- 
lords, which the act of parliament enabled them to do effectully ; and the 
consequence must have been that two or three candidates for every vacant 
church were at once proposed to the people of the parish for their appro- 
bation or disapprobation. The people might either give the preference to 
one of the candidates proposed, or reject them all, for reasons of which the 
members of the presbytery were constituted the judges ; and as it appears 
that the presbytery generally took part with the people, a source of ever- 
lasting contention was thus established between the country gentlemen and 
the parochial clergy ; an evil than which a greater cannot easily be con- 
ceived. For these, and other reasons, this ill digested law was repealed 
in the tenth year of the reign of queen Anne, and the right of patronage 
restored as in all other established churches. 

"By many of the clergy, however, patronage seems to have been con- 
sidered as an appendage of prelacy ; though it has obviously no greater 
connexion with that form of ecclesiastical polity than with any other that 
is capable of being allied with the state ; and, till after the year 1730, 
ministers continued to be settled in vacant parishes in the manner pre- 
scribed by the act of king William and queen Mary. ' Even then,' says 
Dr. Hill, ' the church courts, although they could not entirely disregard the 
law, continued, in many instances, to render it ineffectual, and by their 
authority sanctioned the prevailing prejudices of the people against it. 
They admitted, as an incontrovertible principle in presbyterian church 
government, that a presentee, although perfectly well qualified, and unex- 
ceptionable in his life and doctrine, was nevertheless inadmissible to his 
clerical office, till the concurrence of the people who were to be under his 
ministry had been regularly ascenained.' The form of expressing this 
concurrence was by the subscription of a paper termed ' a call ;' to which 



DR. ROBERTSON. a 

many of the old ministers paid greater respect than to the deed of pre- 
sentation by the patron of the church. 

" To render the call good, however, the unanimous consent of the land- 
holders, elders, and people, was not considered as necessary, nor indeed 
ever looked for. Nay, it appears that even a majority was not in all cases 
deemed indispensable ; for (he presbytery often admitted to his charge, 
and proceeded to ordain the presentee whose call, by whatever number of 
parishioners, appeared to them to afford a reasonable prospect of his be- 
coming, by prudent conduct, a useful parish minister. On the other hand, 
presbyteries sometimes set aside the presentation altogether, when they 
were not satisfied with the call ; and when the patron insisted on his right, 
and tiie presbytery continued inflexible, the general assembly was, in such 
cases, under the necessity either of compelling the members of the presby- 
tery, by ecclesiastical censures, to do their duty, or of appointing a com- 
mittee of its own body to relieve them from that duty, by ordaining the 
presentee, and inducting him into the vacant church. To compulsion re- 
course had seldom been had ; and the consequence was that individuals 
openly claimed a right to disobey the injunctions of the assembly, when- 
ever they conceived their disobedience justified by a principle of con- 
science. 

" Such was the state of ecclesiastical discipline in Scotland when Mr. 
Robertson first took an active part in the debates of the general assembly; 
and he very justly thought that its tendency was to overturn the presbyte 
rian establishment, and introduce in its stead a number of independent 
congregational churches. He therefore supported the law of patronage, 
not merely because it was part of the law of the land, but because he 
thought it the most expedient method of filling the vacant churches. It 
did not appear to him that the people at large are competent judges of 
those qualities which a minister should possess in order to be a useful 
teacher of the truth as it is in Jesus, or of the precepts of a sound morality. 
He more than suspected that if the candidates for churches were taught 
to consider their success in obtaining a settlement as depending on a popu- 
lar election, many of them would be tempted to adopt a manner of preach- 
ing calculated rather to please the people than to promote their edification 
He thought that there is little danger to be apprehended from the abuse 
of the law of patronage ; because the presentee must be chosen from 
among those whom the church had approved, and licensed as qualified for 
the office of a parish minister ; because a presentee cannot be admitted to 
the benefice if any relevant objection to his life or doctrine be proved 
against him ; and because, after ordination and admission, he is liable to 
be deposed for improper conduct, and the church declared vacant." 

Whatever may be thought of the merits of the cause which Robertson 
espoused, it is impossible to doubt that he was a conscientious supporter of 
it. To undertake its defence some strength of nerve was, indeed, required. 
Success seemed, at the outset, to be scarcely within the verge of proba- 
bility, and there was much danger of becoming unpopular. The result, 
nevertheless, gave ample proof of what may be accomplished by per- 
severance and talents. The first time that he came forward in the assem- 
bly was in May, 1751, when a debate arose on the conduct of a minister, 
who had disobeyed the sentence of a former assembly. Seizing this 
opportunity to enforce his principles of church discipline, Robertson, in a 
vigorous and eloquent speech, contended that if subordination were not 
rigidly maintained the presbyterian establishment would ultimately be 
overthrown, and, therefore, an exemplary punishment ought to be inflicted 
on the otfending party. But, though he was heard with attention, his argu- 
ments produced so little present effect that, on the house being divided, he 
was lef^t in a minority of no more than eleven against two hundred. 

Though this decision was not calculated to encourage him, be deter- 



X THE LIFE OF 

mined to persist, and an occurrence very soon took place which enabled 
niin to renew the contest. The presbytery of Durnferline having been 
eruilty of disobedience, in refusing to admit a minister to the church of 
Tnverlceithing, the commission of the assembly, which met in Noven)ber, 
ordered Ihem to cease from their opposition, and tlireatened, that, if they 
continued to be refractory, they should be subjected to a high censure 
Notwithstanding this, the presbytery again disobeyed the mandate of th*; 
superior court. Yet, instead of carrying its threat into efTect, the commis- 
sion came to a resolution that no censure should be inflicted. 

Such a resolution as this, after the commission had gone so far as to 
resort to threats, was at least absurd. So fair an opening as this circum- 
stance afforded was not neglected by Robertson. He accordingly drew up 
a protest, intituled, " Reasons of Dissent from the Judgment and Resolution 
of the Commission." This protest, which was signed by himself. Dr. 
Blair, Home, and a few other friends, is an able and closely reasoned pro- 
duction. It boldly declares the sentence of the commission to be incon- 
sistent with the nature and first principles of society ; charges the commis- 
sion itself with having, by that sentence, gone beyond its powers, and 
betrayed the privileges and deserted the doctrines of the constitution ; con- 
siders the impunity thus granted as encouraging and inviting contumacy , 
insists on the lawfulness and wisdom of ecclesiastical censures, and on the 
absolute necessity of preserving subordination and obedience in the church ; 
and, finally, maintains that the exercise of no man's private judgment can 
justify him in disturbing all public order, that he Avho becomes a member 
of a church ought to conform to its decrees, or, " if he hath rashly joined 
himself, that he is bound, as an honest man and a good Christian, to with- 
draw, and to keep his conscience pure and undefiled." 

When the assembly met, in 1752, the question was brought before it ; 
and Robertson supported the principles of his protest with such cogency 
of argument, that he won over a majority to his side, and achieved a com- 
plete triumph. The judgment of the commission was reversed, Mr. Gil- 
lespie, one of the ministers of the presbytei-y of Durnferline, was deposed 
from his pastoral ofhce, and ejected from his living, and three other indi- 
viduals were suspended from their judicative capacity in the superior 
ecclesiastical courts. Gillespie, whose only crime was that of being 
absent on the day appointed for the induction of the presentee, was a pious 
and amiable man, and his deposition occasioned so much dissatisfaction, 
that it gave rise to a new sect of dissenters, afterwards known by the 
appellafion of" the Presbytery of Relief;" a sect which still exists, and is 
of considerable magnitude. 

From this time, though it was not till the year 176? that he became its 
avowed leader, Robertson was, in fact, at the head of the assembly ; which 
body, for the whole period of his ascendancy, he contrived to keep steady 
to his principles. In this task he was ably seconded by Dr. Drysdale, one 
of the ministers of Edinburgh. It was not, however, without many strug- 
gles that he retained his pre-eminence. Those which took place in 1765 
and 1768 were peculiarly violent ; motions having then been made, and 
vehemently contended for, to inquire into the causes of the rapid progress 
of secession from the established church ; and, in order to counteract them, 
to introduce a more popular mode of inducting the parochial ministers. 
From what is mentioned by sir Henry Wellwood, in his " Memoirs o{ 
Dr. Erskine," it appears that the exertions of Robertson were kept con- 
tinually on the stretch ; and that for his victory he was partly indebted to 
cautious management, and to patience which nothing could tire. " During 
Dr. Robertson's time," says he, " the struggle with the peoplewas perpe- 
tual ; and the opposition to presentees so extremely pertinacious, as in a 
great measure to engross the business of the assemblies. The parties in 
the church were then more equally balanced than they have ever been 



DR. ROBERTSON. xi 

since that period. The measures which were adopted, in the face of such 
perpetual opposition, it required no common talents to manage or defend ; 
especially considering that the leaders in opposition were such men as Dr. 
Dick, Dr. Macqueen, Dr. Erskine, Mr. Stevenson of St. Madois, Mr. Free- 
bairn ol' Dumbarton, Mr. Andrew Crosbie, &,c. &c. ; men of the tirst ability 
jp the country, and some of them possessed of an eloquence for a popular 
assembly to which there was nothing superior in the church or in the 
state. 

" Dr. Robertson's firmness was not easily shaken, but his caution and 
prudence never deserted him. He held it for a maxim, never wantonly 
to offend the prejudices of the people, and rather to endeavour to manage 
than directly to combat them. Some of the settlements in dispute were 
protracted tor eight or ten years together; and though the general assem- 
blies steadily pursued their system, and uniformly appointed the presentees 
to be inducted, their strongest sentences were not vindictive, and seldom 
went beyond the leading points to which they were directed." 

In 1757 an event happened, which afforded to him an opportunity of 
manifesfing the liberality of his spirit, and of exercising his influence over 
his coleagues, to moderate the vengeance which was threatened to be 
hurled on some of his brethren, for having been guilty of an act which was 
considered to be of the most profane nature. The chief offender was his 
friend Home, who was then minister of Athelstaneford. The crime con- 
sisted in Home having not only produced the tragedy of Douglas, but 
having also had the temerity to be present at the acting of it in the Edin- 
burgh theatre. With him were involved several of his clerical intimates, 
who, as much from a desire to share with him any odium or peril which 
might be incurred, as from a natural curiosity, had been induced to accom- 
pany him to the theatre on the first night of the peribrmance. The storra 
which this circumstance raised among the Scottish clergy can, in the pre- 
sent age, hardly be imagined. It seemed as if they had witnessed nothing' 
less than the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. The 
presbytery of Edinburgh hastened to summon before its tribunal such of 
its members as had committed this heinous offence, and it likewise 
despatched circulars to the presbyteries in the vicinity, recommending 
rigorous measures against all clergymen who had desecrated themselves 
by appearing in the polluted region of the theatre. The alarm thus 
sounded a\. akened all the bigotry of the circumjacent presbyteries. That 
of Haddington, to which Home belonged, cited him and his friend Car- 
lyle, of Inveresk, to answer ibr their misconduct. That of Glasgow had no 
criminals to chastise, but it was resolved not to remain silent, and, there 
fore, with a zeal which assuredly Avas not according to knowledge, it ful- 
minated forth a series of resolutions on this appalling subject. It lamented 
*' the melancholy but notorious fact, that one, who is a minister of the 
church of Scotland, did himself write and compose a play entitled the 
Tragedy of Douglas, and got it to be acted in the theatre at Edinburgh ; 
and that he, with several other ministers of the church, were present, and 
some of them oftener than once, at the acting of the snid play before a 
numerous audience;" it affirmed, in direct hostility to historical evidencet 
that stage plays had " been looked upon by the "Christian church, in all 
ages, and of all different communions, as extremely prejudicial to religion 
4nd morality; and, as a natural consequence from this, it called on the 
general assembly to reprobate publicly "a practice unbecoming the cha 
racter of clergymen, and of such pernicious tendency to the great interests 
of religion, industry, and virtue." The cry of the church was echoed from 
the press, angry disputants were arrayed on both sides, and a multitude of 
ephemeral pamphlets and pasquinades was rapidly produced. 

Throughout the v\'hole of the ecclesiastical proceedings, which on this 
occasion were instituted in the presbyteries and in the general assembly, 



xii THE LIFE OF 

Robertson exerted himself with more than common ardour and eloquence 
on behalf of his friends. Though, bein^ restrained by a promise which he 
had given to his father, he liad himself never been within the wails of a 
theatre, he did not hesitate to avow his belief that no culpability attached 
to the persons who were under prosecution, " The promise,"' said he, 
"which was exacted by the most indulgent of parents, I have hitherto 
religiously kept, and it is my intention to keep it till the day of my death. 
I am at the same time free to declare, that I perceive nothing sinful or 
inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity in writing a tragedy, which 
gives no encouragement to baseness or vice, and that I cannot concur in 
censuring my brethren for being present at the representation of such a 
tragedy, from which I was kept back by a promise, which, though sacred 
tome, is not obligatory on them." 

Wholly to overcome the prevalent spirit of bigotry was more than 
Robertson could accomplish, but it is believed to have been at least greatly 
mitigated by his laudable efforts. To his persuasive eloquence is attri- 
buted, and no doubt justly, the comparative mildness of the sentence which 
was ultimately pronounced. A declaratory act was passed by the assem- 
bly, forbidding the clergy to visit the theatres, but not extending the pro- 
hibition to the writing of plays. The silence of the assembly on the latter 
head was at least one point gained in favour of liberal principles. As to 
the offending ministers, some of them were rebuked by the presbyteries 
to which they belonged, and one or two of them were suspended from 
their otfice for a i'ew weeks. Home, however, being disgusted with the 
treatment which he had experienced, and having, perhaps, already been 
offered patronage in the Bnlisij metropolis, resigned his living of Athel- 
staneford in June. 1757, and fixed his residence in London. 

By the departure of Home, the Select Society, as it was called, lost one 
of its ablest members. This society was instituted at Edinburgh, in 1754, 
by Allan Ramsay, the painter, who was son to the poet of the same name. 
The object of it was philosophical and literary inquiry, and the improve- 
ment oi the members in the art of speaking. It held its meetings in the 
Advocates' Library, and met regularly every Friday evening, during the 
sittings of the court of session. At the outset it consisted of only fifteen 
persons, of whom Robertson was one. It, however, soon acquired such 
high reputation, that its list of associates was swelled to more than a hun- 
dred and thirty names ; among which were included those of the most 
eminent literary and political characters in the northern division of the 
kingdom. Of this number were Hume, Adam Smith, Wedderburn, after- 
wards Lord Chancellor, sir Gilliert Elliot, lord Elibank, lord Monboddo, 
lord Karnes, lord Woodhouselce, Adam Furguson, VVilkie, Dr. Cullen, 
and many others less gifted perhaps, but still rising far above mediocrity 
of talent. This society flourished in full vigour lor some years ; and is 
said by professor Stewart, to have produced such debates as have not oiten 
been heard in modern assemblies ; debates, Avhere the dignity of the 
speakers was not lowered by the intrigues of policy, or the intemperance 
of faction; and where the most splendid talents that have ever adorned 
this country were roused to their best exertions, by the libera! and enno- 
bling discussions of literature and philosophy." That such an assemblage 
of learning and genius must have done much towards diffusing through 
Scotland a taste for letters, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt. Robert- 
son took an active part, and was one of its presidents. As a speaker, it 
was remarked of him, that " whereas most of the others in their previous 
discourses exhausted the subject so nmch that there was no room for 
debate, he gave only such brief but artful sketches, as served to suggest 
ideas, without leading to a decision." 

By a few members of the society, a Review was attempted in 1755, the 
principal contributors to which were Blair, Smith, and Robertson. This 



D R. R O B E R T S O N. xUi 

undertaking was designed to form a record of the progress of Scottish lite- 
rature, and. occasionally, to criticise such English and foreign works as 
might appear to be worthy of notice. After having published two num- 
bers, which appeared in July and December, the reviewers were under 
the necessity ot relinquishing their plan. The failure is said to have arisea 
from their having lashed, with just but caustic severity, "some miserable 
effusions of fanaticism, which it was their wish to banish from the church." 
Their attack upon this mischievous trash excited such a vehement party 
outcry, that they thought it prudent to discontinue labours which, while 
they must fail of being nsetul, could not fail to expose them to vulgar 
odium, and involve them in endless disputes. Time, the great worker Oi 
changes, has since produced a marvellous alteration. At a period less than 
half a century later, the most prejudice- scorning and pungent of all 
Reviews was established in the Scottish capital, and was received with 
enthusiasm ! 

Tije hrst separate literary production of Robertson, or at least the first 
known production, was also laid before the public in 1755. It is a sermon 
which he preached in that year before the Scotch society for propagating 
Christian knowledge. He chose for his subject, "The situation of the 
world at the time of Christ's appearance, and its connexion with the suc- 
cess of his religion." Tliough this discourse never rises into a strain of 
glowing eloquence, it is a digiiihed and argumentative composition, in a 
chaste and animated style. If it does not flash and dazzle, it at least 
shines with a steady lustre. Its merit, indeed, affords us ample cause to 
regret that, before his removal from Gladsmuir, he lost a volume of ser- 
mons, on which much care is said to have been bestowed. The sole spe- 
cimen which remains of his talents as a preacher has passed through five 
editions, and has been translated into the German language by Mr. Edeling. 

The time now came when the high character for learning and talent, 
which Robertson had acquired among his friends, was to be ratified by 
the public voice. He had long been sedulously engaged on the History 
of Scotland, the plan of which he is said to have formed soon after his 
settling at Gladsmuir. By his letters to Lord Hailes we are, in some 
measure, enabled to trace his progress. It appears that as early as 1753 
he had commenced his labours, and that by the summer of 1757 he had 
advanced as far as the narrative of Cowrie's conspiracy. In the spring of 
1758 he visited London, to concert measures for publishing; and the His- 
tory, in two volumes, quarto, was given to the world on the first of Feb- 
ruary, 1759, about three months subsequent to the completion of it. While 
the last slieets were in the press, the author received, by diploma, the de- 
gree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh. 

At the period when Dr. Robertson commenced his career, this country 
could boast of few historians, possessed of philosophic views and an ele- 
gant style. Rapin, who, besides, wrote in his native language. Carte, and 
others, could not aspire to a loftier title than that of annalists ; and the re- 
cent production from the pen of SmoUet, though displaying talent, was by 
far too imperfect to give him a place among eminent historical writers. 
Hume alone had come near to the standard of excellence ; and, after en- 
during a doubtful struggle, in the course of which his spirits were well 
nigh overpowered, had at length begun to enjoy the literary honours which 
he had so painfully acquired. For a considerable time past he had been 
occupied on the reigns of the Tudor race ; and, as this subject is insepa- 
rably connected with Scottish history. Dr. Robertson was alarmed lest he 
himself should sustain injuiy from the volumes of his friend being pub- 
lished simultaneously with his own. The new candidate for f^mie endea- 
voured to induce Hume to proceed with some other portion of his narra- 
tive ; and, having failed in this, he appears to have been desirous that he 
should at least be allowed to be the hrst to claim the notice of the public. 



XIV THE LIFE OF 

" I am (says Hume in a letter to him) nearly pnnted out, and shall be sure 
to send you a copy by the stage coach, or some other conveyance. I beg 
of you to make remarks as you go along. It would have been much bet- 
ter had we communicated before printing, whicn was always my desire, 
and was most suitable to the friendship which always did, and I hope 
always will subsist between us. I speak this chiefly on my own account. 
For though I had the perusal of your sheets before I printed, I was not 
able to derive sutRcient benefits fi'om them, or indeed to make any altera- 
tion by their assistance. There still remain, I fear, many errors, of which 
you could have convinced me if we had canvassed the matter in conversa 
tion. Perhaps I might also have been sometimes no less Ibrtunate with 
you." He adds, " Millar was proposing to publish me about March ; 
but I shall communicate to him your desire, even though I think it entirely 

froundless, as you will likewise think after you have read my volume. 
le has very needlessly delayed your publication till the first week ol 
February, at the desire of the Edinburgh booksellers, who could no way 
be affected by a publication in London. I was exceedingly sorry not to 
be able to comply with your desire, when you expressed your wish that I 
should not write this period. I could not write downward. For when 
you find occasion, by new discoveries, to correct your opinion with regard 
to facts which passed in queen Elizabeth's days ; who, that has not the best 
opportunities of informing himself, could venture to relate any recent 
transactions? I must therefore have abandoned altogether this scheme of 
the English History, in which I had proceeded so far, if I had not acted as 
I did. You will see what light and force this history of the Tudors be- 
stows on that of the Stewarts. Had I been prudent 1 should have begun 
with it." 

The alarm which Dr. Robertson conceived from the rivalship of his 
friend was, however, groundless. His success was not, like that of Hume, 
the slow growth of years. It was complete and immediate. So rapid 
was the sale of the book, that, before a month had elapsed, his publisher 
informed him that it Avas necessary to set about preparing for a second edi- 
tion. It was read and admired by a part of the joyal family; and plau- 
sive and gratulatory letters were showered on him from all quarters. 
Warburlon, Horace VValpole, Lord Mansfield, Lord Lyttelton, Dr. Doug- 
las, Hurd, and many other men of eminence, all concurred in swelling the 
chorus of praise. Among the foremost to blazon his merits was his ami- 
cable rival, Hume, whose letters bear repeated testimony to the warmth of 
his friendship, and his noble freedom from the base dominion of envy. 
"I am diverting myself," says he, "with the notion of how much you 
will profit by the a;)plause of my enemies in Scotland. Had you and I 
been such fools as to have given way to jealousy, to have entertained ani- 
mosity and malignity against each other, and to have rent all our acquaint 
ance into parlies, what a noble amusement we should have exhibited to 
the blockheads, which now they are likely to be disappointed of! All the 
people whose friendship or judgment either of us value are friends to both, 
and will be pleased with the success of both, as we will be with that of 
each other. 1 declare in you I have not of a long time had a more sensi- 
ble pleasure than the good reception of your History has given me within 
tnis fortnight." In another place, with a sportiveness not unusual in his 
correspondence, he exclaims, " But though I have given this character of 
your work to Monsieur Helvelius, I warn you that this is the last time 
that, either to Frenchman or Englishman, I shall ever speak the least good 
of it. A plague take you ! Here I sat near the historical summit of Par- 
nassus, immediately under Dr. Smollet ; and you have the impudence to 
squeeze yourself by me, and place yourself directly under his feet. Do 
you imagine that this can be agreeable to me ! And must not I be guilty of 
great siaiplicity to contribute my endeavours to your thrusting me out of 



DR. ROBERTSON. xf 

my place in Paris as well as at London ? But I give you warning that you 
will find the matter somewhat ditticult, at least in the former city. A 
friend of mine, wlio is there, writes home to his father the strangest ac- 
counts on that head ; which my modesty will not permit me to repeat, but 
which it allowed me very deliciously to swallow." 

The hold which the History of Scotland thus suddenly acquired on the 

fmblic mind it yet retains, fourteen editions were published during the 
ife-time of the author, and the editions since his decease have been still 
more numerous. It has undoubtedly established itself as a classical Eng- 
Iisn production. For a while, indeed, the voice of criticism was mute ; 
and the historian had only to enjoy the luxury of his triumph. But, at 
length, some of his opinions, particularly his belief of the guilt of Mary 
found opponents in the candid and well intbrmed TytJer, the learned, 
acute, and eloquent Stuart, and the dogmatical Whitaker ; the latter of 
whom, though master of talents, erudition, and forcible reasoning, almost 
rendered truth itself repulsive by the petulance and overbearingness of 
his manner, and the ruggedness oihis style. Of his antagonists, however, 
the historian took not the slicrhfpst piJilir notice, contsnting himself with 
the silent correction of such passages in his work as his matured judgment 
had decided to be erroneous. In a letter to Gibbon he laconically notices 
Whitaker. " You will see," says he, "that I have got in Mr. Whitaker an 
adversary so bigoted and zealous, that though I have denied no article of 
faith, and am at least as orthodox as himself, yet he rails against me with all 
the asperity of theological hatred. I shall adhere to my fixed maxim of 
making no reply." 

It was not merely a harvest of unproductive fame thai was reaped by 
Dr. Robertson. He was no sooner known to the world than preferment 
was rapidly bestowed on him. In the autumn of 1758, while his work 
was in the hands of the printer, he was translated from Gladsmuir to one 
of the churches of the Scottish metropolis. I believe the church to which 
he was removed to have oeen that of the Old Gray Friars, in which, some 
years afterwards, his friend Dr. Erskine became his coadjutor. On the 
History issuing from the press, he was appointed chaplain of Stirling Cas- 
tle, and, in 1761, one of his Majesty's chaplains in ordinary for Scotland. 
The dignity of Principal of the College of Edinburgh was conferred on 
him in 1762 ; and, two years subsequently to this, the office of Historio- 
grapher for Scotland, which, since the death of Crawfurd, in 1726, had 
been disused, was revived in his favour, with an annual stipend of two 
hundred pounds. 

By the remuneration which he had received for his history, and the 
salaries which arose from his various appointments, Dr. Robertson was 
now in possession of an income far greater than had ever before been pos- 
sessed by any Scotch presbyterian minister, and certainly not falling short 
of that which had been enjoyed by some bishops at the period when the 
church of Scotland was under episcopal government. A tew of his indis- 
creet friends seem, however, to have thought that his talents were not ade- 
quately rewarded, and even that the clerical profession in the northern 
part of our island did not afford for them a sphere of action sutficiently ex- 
tensive. The church of England held forth richer prospects to ambition 
and to mental endowments ; and they were of opinion that, by transferring 
his services to that church, he might obtain a share in its highest dignities 
and emoluments. To this scheme allusions may be found in the Tetters 
which, about this time, were addressed to him by Dr. John Blair, Sir Gil- 
bert Elliot, and Mr. Hume. But Dr. Robertson had a larger share of 
foresight and prudence than his advisers, and he rejected their dangerous 
though well intended counsel. It is, perhaps, more than doubtful whether, 
nad it been executed, their plan would have produced the desired effect. 
This kind of transplanting has often been tried, but seldom, if ever, with 



XVI THE LIFE OF 

any degree of success. The plant, vigorous on its native bed, languishes 
and is uvvarfed on an alien soil. Dr. Robertson had now reached tne ma- 
ture age of forty-one; his opinions, his habits, his connexions, had all been 
formed with a reference to the circle in which he moved, and it was not 
probable that they could be suddenly bent with advantage in an opposite 
direction. In Scotland he had no competitors who could rise to a level 
with him ; in England he would, perhaps, have had many; and he may 
be supposed to have thought with Ccesar, that it is better to be the first 
man in a village than the second at Rome. Nor was there any room in 
England for the exercise of that kind of eloquence in which he particularly 
excelled; the eloquence which is manifested in debate. By the force of 
his oratory he left far behind all his rivals and opponents, and wielded at 
will the general assembly of the Scottish church ; but, since the convoca- 
tion was shorn of its controversial and declamatory glories, since it was 
smitten with an incapacity of embarrassing the government, fostering theo- 
logical rancour, and displaying the unseemly spectacle of Christian divines 
arrayed in worse than barbarian hostility to each other, there has not in 
this ccuntry existed any deliberative clerical body in which Dr. Robert- 
son could nave exerted those argumentative and rhetorical powers that, 
among his fellow ministers, obtained for him so entire an ascendancy. His 
preferment might also have stopped short of the point which his sanguine 
friends expected it to attain ; and, whatever its degree, it would in all pro- 
bability have been looked on with a jealous eye by many of his brethren 
on the south of the Tweed. There was, besides, another and still more 
powerful reason that must have influenced his decision. He had ibr nearly 
twenty yeare been a leading minister of the presbyterian establishment ; 
and his now quitting it to enter into a prelatical church, which, as being 
deemed a scion from the hated stock of Rome, was still held in abomina- 
tion by many of his countrymen, could scarcely have failed to be considered 
as an interested and base sacrifice of his principles and his character at the 
shrine of lucre and ambition. To be branded as a deserter by the zealots 
of the one institution, and by the envious of the other, was not a favourable 
auspice under which to commence his new career ; and he therefore acted 
wisely, as well as honourably, in remaining a member of the Scottish 
church. 

Having resolved to remain in Scotland, and to rely chiefly on his pen for 
the advancement of his- fortune, Dr. Robertson had now to choose another 
theme on which his talents could be profitably employed. To the com- 
position of history, in which he had met with such stimulating success, he 
wisely determined to adhere. It was, indeed, in that department that he 
was peculiarly qualified to excel, by his power of vivid description, and 
his happy delineation of character. His friends were consulted on this 
occasion ; each had some favourite plan to suggest to him ; and he seems 
to have been absolutely embarrassed by the affluence of subjects, many 
of which were worthy of his best exertions to illustrate and adom them, 
if a ludicrous simile may be allowed, we may say that he found it no less 
difficult to fix his choice, than it was tor Mr. Shandy to decide to what pur- 
pose he should apply the legacy which was left to him by his sister Dinah. 
Dr. John Blair strenuously recommended to him to write a complete His- 
tory of England, and assured him that Lord Chesterfield had declared his 
readiness to move, in the house of peers, for public encouragement to him, in 
case of his undertaking a work %vhich might with justice oe considered as 
being a national one. But from adopting this project, though it was one which 
he had early cherished. Dr. Robertson was deterred by his honourable un- 
willingness to interfere with his friend Hume, who was now putting the 
finishing hand to his great labour. Hume himself advised him to under- 
take a series of modern lives, in the manner of Plutarch. " You see," 
said he, " that in Plutarch the life of Caesar may be read in half an hour. 



DR. ROBERTSON. xvu 

Were you to write the life of Henry the Fourth of France after that model, 
you mijht pillage all the pretty stories in Sully, and speak more of his 
mistresses than of his battles. In short, you might 2;allier the flower of all 
modern history in this manner. The remarkable popes, the kings of Swe- 
den, the great discoverers and conquerors of the >»ew World, even the 
eminent men of letters might furnish you with matter, and the quick des- 

Fatch of every different work would encourage you to begin a new one 
f one volume were successful, you might compose another at your leisure, 
and the field is inexhaustible. There are persons whom you nnght meet 
with in the corners of history, so to speak, who would be a subject ot en- 
tertainment quite unexpected ; and as lon^ as you live, you might give and 
receive amusement by such a work." That so excellent an idea should 
not have been acted upon must be regretted by every one wIjo is a lovei 
of literature. By Horace Walpole two subjects, of no trivial interest, 
were pointed out. These were the History oi Learning, and the History 
of the reigns of Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and the two Antonines ; the latter 
of which Walpole declared'that he should be tempted to denominate the 
History of Humanity. Dr. Robertson himself seems, at one time, to have 
thought, though but transiently, of tracing the events which occurred in 
the age of Leo the Tenth. There is no reason to lament that he did not 
undertake this task, which was once meditated on by Warton, and has 
since beer) performed by a writer whom nature has largely gifted, and who 

Sossesscs a profound kno'.vledge of the records, arts, and language of Italy, 
lut the two plans which had the ascendancy in his mind, and between 
which he lonp; hesitated, were the History of Greece, and the History of 
Charles the Fifth. At length, notwithstanding the objections Avhich were 
urged hy Hurne and Horace Walpole, he made choice of the reign of 
Charles as the suliject of his second attempt. 

When he had for about a year been engaged, partly in those preliminary 
researches ^vhich are necessary to give value to a work like that on which 
he was occupied, and partly in coiriposilion, his progress was suddenly 
suspended, by the intervention of a personage of such elevated rank as to 
render it almost impossible tor him to decline a compliance with that 
which was required from hitn. It has been seen, that he was early desirous 
to be the historian of his native island, and that tVieiidship alone prevented 
him from being so. He was now informed that the wishes of the British 
sovereign were in unison with his own. In the latter part of July, 1761, 
he was v/ritten to on this head by lord Cathcart. " Lord Bute told me the 
king's thoughts as well as his own," said lord Cathcart, " with respect to 
your History of Scotland, and a wish his majesty had expressed to see a 
History of England by your pen. His lordship assured me, ever}' source 
of information which goverimient can command would be open to you , 
and that great, laborious, and extensive as the work must be, he would 
take care your encouragement should be proportioned to it. He seemed 
to be aware of some objections you once had, founded on the apprehen- 
sion of clashing or interfering with 3Ir. David Hume, who is your friend : 
but as your performance and his will be upon plans so different from each 
other, and as his will, in point of time, have so much the start of yours, 
these objections did not seem to him such as, upon reflection, were likely 
to continue to have much weight with you. t must add, that though 1 
did not think it right to inquire into lord Bute's intentions before 1 knew a 
little of your mind, it appeared to me plain, that they were higher than 
any views which can open to you in Scotland, and which, I believe, he 
would think inconsistent with the attention the other subject would neces- 
sarily require." 

A proposition thus powerfully enforced it would, under any circum- 
stances, have been difficult for Dr. Robertson to reject. But, in fact, the 
reasons which formerly influenced his conduct had ceased to exist. Hume 
Vol. I.— C 



xviii THE LIFE OF 

had now completed his history, it was before the public, and its fate mast 
be irrevocably decided before a line of the rival narrative could be com- 
mitted to paper. Dr. Robertson was convinced of this, and therefore he 
did not hesitate to embrace the opportunity which was offered to him. 
'After the first publication of the History of Scotland, and the favourable 
reception i( met with," said he in his answer to lord Cathcart, " I had both 
very tempting offers from booksellers, and very confident assurances of 
public encouragement, if I would undertake the History of England 
But as Mr. Hume, with whom, notwilhslanding the contrariety of our sen- 
timents both in religion and politics, I live in great friendship, was at that 
time in the middle of the sulyect, no consideration of interest or reputation 
would induce me to break in upon a field of vvhicii he had taken prior pos- 
session ; and I determined that my interference with him should never be 
any obstruction to the sale or success of his work. Nor do I yet repent of 
my having resisted so many solicitations to alter this resolution. But the 
case I now think is entirely changed. His History will have been pub- 
lished several years before any work of mine on the same suiyect can 
appear; its first run will not be marred by anyjustling with me, and it 
will have taken that station in the literary system which belongs to it. 
This objection, therefore, which 1 thought, and still think, so weighty at 
that time, makes no impression on me at present, and 1 can now justify my 
undertaking the English History, to myself, to the world, and to him. 
Besides, our manner of viewing the same subject is so different or peculiar, 
that (as was the case in our last books) both may maintain their own rank, 
have their own partisans, and possess their own merit, without hurting 
each other." 

To enable him to accomplish so arduous a labour, he considered it neces- 
sary, not only that he should be established in such a manner as would 
divest him of all anxiety as to pecuniary concerns, but that he should like- 
wise have the power of devoting to study a larger portion of his time than 
it was now possible for him to allot to that purpose. "Were 1 to carve 
out my own fortune," said he, " 1 should wish to continue one of his ma- 
jesty's chaplains for Scotland, but to resign my charge as a minister of 
Edinburgh, which engrosses more of my time than one who is a stranger to 
the many minute duties of that office can well imagine. I would wish to 
apply my whole time to literary pursuits, which is at present parcelled out 
among innumerable occupations. In order to enable me to make this resig- 
nation some appointment must be assigned me for life. What that should 
be, it neither becomes ine, nor do I pretend to say. One thing, however 
I wish with some earnestness, that Ujc thing might be executed soon, both 
as it will give me great vigour in my studies to have my I'uture fortune 
ascertained in so honourable a manner, and because, by allowing me to 
apply myself wholly to my present work, it will enable me to finish it in 
a less time, and to begin so much sooner to my new task." But though he 
was desirous to obtain some appointment, in order that he might not be 
"reduced entirely to the profession of an author," he at the same moment, 
with becoming spirit, declared that he did not wish to derive any emolu- 
ment from it before he could commence the particular task for which the 
appointment was to be given. The proposal that he should remove to 
London, he was averse trom complying with, though he did not put a 
direct negative on it : and he could not consent to begin the History of 
Bntam till he had completed that of Charles the Fifth. 

This scheme, which seems to have been almost brought to maturity, 
was, nevertheless, di-opped ; but for what reason is unknown. Mr. Stewart 
is disposed to believe that the failure of it may in part be attributed to the 
resignation of lord Bute. It was certainly so much a favourite with Dr. 
Bobertson that he long cherished it, and abandoned it with reluctance 
We rnay, perhaps, be allowed to smile, or to wonder, that a sovereign 



DK. ROBERTSON. xix 

should have selected a writer confessedly of Whig principles to compose 
a History of England, in opposition to one produced by a friend of arbi- 
trary power; and we may also be allowed to doubt, whether, as far as 
regarded its sentiments, such a work, written by a Whig under the auspices 
of a court, would have proved quite satisfactory either to the monarch or 
to the people. There might, at least, have been some danger that it would 
have justified the sarcasm which was uttered by Horace Walnole, on ano- 
ther occasion " You must know, sir," said Dr. Robertson to nim, " that 
I look upon myself as a moderate Whig." — " Yes, doctor," replied Wal- 
pole, " I look on you as a very moderate Whig." 

As soon as this negotiation was broken off, he bent all his exertions to 
the task which he had commenced. The public curiosity was highly 
excited, and it was long kept on the stretch before it was gratified. In 
the summer of 1761, he stated that one third of the work was finished, and 
that two years more would be required to bring the whole to perfection. 
But there never yet was an author who did not deceive himself, and con- 
sequently deceive others, as to the period at which his labour would be 
completed. The stupid, the thoughtless, and the malignant (and there are 
many persons, not literary, thousrh connected with literature, who belong 
to these classes) consider as intended for the purpose of deception the 
erroneous estimate which authors are thus apt to form. They either can 
not or will not be taught that, in spite of Dr. Johnson's bold assertion to 
the contrary, no man is at all hours capable of thinking deeply, or of 
clothing his thoughts in an attractive dress ; that he who is dependent on his 
reputation for existence ought not to be compelled to hazard it by crude 
and slovenly efforts, the product of haste ; that he who draws up a narra- 
tive from widely scattered, numerous, and conflicting documents must 
often, in painful research and in balancing evidence, spend more months 
than he had calculated on spending weeks; that the discovery of a single 
paper, the existence of which was previously unknown, may not only 
throw a new light upon a subject, but give to it an entirely new colour, 
and may compel a writer to modify, to arrange, and even to cancel, much 
that he had supposed to have rt,^eived his last touches ; and, therefore, 
that the delay which, as being a proof of literary indolence, is so fre- 
quently and so unfeelingly an object of censure, ought rather in many cases 
to be rewarded with praise, because it is a duty which an author con- 
scientiously, and at his own cost, performs to society and to truth. Impe- 
diments of this kind no doubt retarded the progress of Dr. Robertson ; to 
which must be added his multifarious avocations, as principal of the uni- 
versity, a minister of one of the churches of the Scottish metropolis, and 
an active member of the general assembly, in which body, as Mr. Stewart 
informs us, taction was running high at that epoch. The transactions 
relative to America he likewise found to be of too vast a magnitude, to 
allow of their being compressed into an episode. He was under the neces- 
sity of reserving them for a separate history ; and this circumstance obliged 
him in some degree to make a change in his original plan. It is, there- 
fore, not wonderful that the publication of his work was protracted six 
years beyond the time which he had himself assigned for it. 

At length, early in 1769, appeared, in three volumes quarto, the History 
of Charles the Fifth. It had been perused, while in the press, by Hume, 
and probably by other friends, and had gained the warmest praise. " I 
got yesterday from Strahan," says Hume, in one of his letters, " about 
thirty sheets of your History, to be sent over to Suard, and last night and 
this morning have run them over with great avidity. I could not deny 
myself the satisfaction (which I hope also will not displease you] of 
expressing presently my extreme approbation of them. To say only tney 
are very well written, is by far too faint an expression, and much inferior 
to the sentiments I feel : they are composed with nobleness, with dignity, 



M THE LIFE OF 

with elegance, and with judgment, to which there are few equals. They 
even excel, and I think in a sensible degree, your History of Scotland. I 
propose to myselfgreat pleasure in being the only man in England, during 
some months, who will be in the situation of doing you justice, after which 
you may certainly expect that my voice will be drowned in that of the 
public." 

Hume's anticipation was prophetic. Soon alter the work had come out, 
he wrote to his friend, in the following unequivocal terms. " The success 
has answered my expectations, and 1, who converse with the great, the 
fair, and the learned, have scarcely heard an opposite voice, or even whis- 
per, to the general sentiments. Only I have heard that the Sanhedrim at 
Mrs. Macaulay's condemns you as little less a friend to government and 
monarchy than myselt." Horace Walpole was almost equally laudatory; 
lord Lyltelton testitied his admiration; and, as Hume had long beforf 
done, recommended to the historian to write, in the manner of Plutarch, 
the lives of eminent persons. Voltaire, also, paid a flattering tribute. " It 
is to you and to Mr. Hume," said he, "that it belongs to write history 
You are eloquent, learned, and impartial. I unite with Europe in esteem 
ing you." Nor was the fame of the author contined to his native island. 
Through the intervention of the baron D'Holbach, M. Suard was induced 
to translate the work into French, while it was being printed in England, 
and his masterly translation is said to have established his own literary 
character, and to have been the means of his obtaining a seat in the French 
academy. The remuneration which the author himself received was mag- 
niiicent ; especially in an age when it was not customary to give a large 
sum of money for the purchase of copyright. It is affirmed to have been no 
less than four thousand five hundred pounds. 

It is not to be imagined, however, that the History of Charles the Fifth 
could entirely escape the severity of criticism, which appears to be the 
common lot of all literary productions. By the Abbe Mably it was attacked 
in rude and contemptuous language; which, without having the power to 
injure the work, was disgraceful to the person who descended to use it. 
Gilbert Stuart likewise assailed it ; but with more skill than the French 
critic, and with a vigour which was animated by personal resentment. 
That his acuteness detected many inaccuracies, it would be absurd to dis- 
pute ; but no one can doubt thai he pushed his censure farther than was 
consonant with justice, when he characterized Dr. Robertson as an author 
"whose total abstinence from all ideas and inventions of his own permitted 
Dim to cany an undivided attention to other men's thoughts and specula- 
tions." \Valpole, too, in later life, asserted that the reading of Dr. Kobert- 
son was not extensive, that the Introduction to the History of Charles 
abounds with gross errors, and that in many instances he has mistaken 
exceptions for rules. The work, however, still maintains its station; and, 
even admitting all that truth or ingenious prejudice can urge against it, 
who is there who will now have the boldness to deny that it forms a splen- 
did addition to our historical treasures ? 

After having completed this arduous undertaking. Dr. Robertson allowed 
himself some respite from literary toil ; a respite which, in fact, was neces- 
sary for the preservation of his health. His mind was, however, too active 
to refmain long unoccupied, and he hastened to resume the pen. As a se- 
quel to the history of Charles, he had promised to give to the public a nar- 
rative of the Spanish discoveries, conquests, and proceedings in America. 
This plan he soon resolved to enlarge, so as to include in it the transactions 
of all the European colonizers of the American continent. To the origin 
and progress of the British empire in that quarter, it was originally his in 
tention to devote an entire volume. Than the History of the New World 
It was impossible for him to have chosen a subject more fertile, more 
attractive, or better calculated for the display of his peculiar talents 



DR. ROBERTSON. xxi 

There was " ample room and voi-ge enough" for eloquence to expatiate 
in. The rapidly succeeding events wliich he ',vas to describe were 
scarcely less marvellous than those ot' an on'eritai fiction ; one of his hej'oes, 
the dauntless explorer of unknown oceans, will always excite the wonder, 
admiration, and pitj' of m-ankind ; others, though villains, were at least 
villains uf no common powers ; and the characters, the customs, the man- 
ners, the scenery, every thing in short that was connected with the work, 
possessed throughout the charm of novelty, and, in many instances, that of 
the most picturesque and forcible contrast. 

To the first part of his subject, that which relates to the discovery of the 
New World, and the conquests and policy of the Spaniards, eight years 
of studious toil were devoted by Dr. Robertson. At length, in the spring 
of 1777, he put forth, in two quartos, the result of his labours. The pub- 
lic again received him with enthusiasm, and his literary friends again 
pressed forward to congratulate and to praise him. Hume was no longer 
in existence ; but his place was supplied by Gibbon, wdio testified his entire 
approbation of the volumes even before he had wholly perused them. 
" I have seen enough," said he, " to convince me that the present publica- 
tion will support, and, if possible, extend the fame of the author ; that the 
materials are collected with care, and arranged with skill ; that the pro- 
gress of discovery is displayed with learning and perspicuity; that the 
dangers, the achievements, and the views of the Spanish adventurers, are 
related with a temperate spirit ; and that the most original, perhaps the 
most curious portion of human manners, is at length rescued from the 
hands of sophists and declaimers." 

But, perhaps, of all the applause which was bestowed on Dr. Robert- 
son, none was more gratifying than that which was given by Burke; a 
man eminent at once as a writer, an orator, and a statesman. " I am per- 
fectly sensible," says he, " of the very flattering distinction I have received 
in your thinking me worthy of so noble a present as that of j^our History 
of America, i have, however, suOfered my gratitude to lie under some 
suspicion, by delaying my acknowledgment of so great a favour. But my 
delay was only to render my obligation to you more complete, and my 
thanks, if possible, more merited. The close of the session brought a 
great deal of very troublesome though not important business on me at 
once. I could not go through your work at one breath at that time, though 
[ have done it since. I am now ena()led to thank you, not only for the 
honour you have done me, but for the great satisfaction, and the infinite 
variety and compass of instruction, I have received from your incomparable 
work. Every thing has been done w hich was so naturally to be expected 
from the author of the History of Scotland, and of the Age of Charles th« 
Pifth. I believe few books have done more than this, towards clearing up 
lark points, corre.jting errors, and removing preju(iices. You have too 
he rare secret of rekindling an interest on subjects that had so often been 
created, and in which every thing Avhich could feed a vital flame appeared 
t ) have been consumed. I am sure I read many parts of your History 
uUh that fresh concern and anxiety which attend those who a?e not pre- 
viously apprized of the event. You have, besides, thrown quite a new 
light on the present state of the Spanish provinces, and furnished both ma- 
terials and hints for a rational theory of what may be expected from them 
in future 

" The part which 1 read with the greatest pleasure is the discussion on 
the manners and character of the inhabitants of the New World. 1 have 
always thought with you, that we possess at this time very great advan- 
tages towards the knowledge of human nature. We need no longer go to 
history to trace it in all its ages and periods. History, fro'u its compara- 
tive youth, is but a poor instructer. When the Egvplians called the Greeks 
childien ia antiquities, w« may well call them children ; and so we maj 



xxii THE LIFE OF 

call all those nations which "vvere able to trace the progress of society oniy 
within their own limits. But nov/ the great map of niatjkind is unrolled 
at once, and there is no state or gradation of barbarism, and no mode of 
refinement, which we have not at the same moment under our view ; (he 
very different civility of Europe and of China; the barbarism of Persia 
and of Abyssinia ; the erratic manners of Tartary and of Arabia ; the 
savage state of North America and New Zealand. Indeed you have made 
a noble use of the advantages you have had. You have employed philo- 
sophy to judge on manners, and from manners you have drawn new re- 
sources for philosophy. I only think that in one or two points you have 
hardly done justice to the savage character." 

The honours which were paid to him by foreigners were equally grati 
fying. The Royal Academy of History at Madrid unanimously elected 
him a member on the eighth of August, in 1777, "in testimony of their 
approbation of the industry and care with which he had applied to the 
study of Spanish History, and as a recompense for his merit in having con- 
tributed so nmcli to illustrate and spread the knowledge of it in foreign 
countries." It likewise appointed one of its members to translate the His- 
tory of America into the Spanish language, and considerable progress is 
believed to have been made in the translation. But the latter measure 
excited alarni in an absurd and decrepit government, which sought for 
safety in concealment rather than in a bold and liberal policy, and, like 
the silly bird, imagined that by hiding its own head it could escape from 
the view of its pursuers. The translation was, therefore, officially ordered 
to be suppressed, with the vain hope of keeping the world still in the 
dark, with respect to the nature of the Spanish American commerce, and 
of the system of colonial administration. 

It was not from Spain alone that he received testimonies of respect. In 
1781, the Academy of Sciences at Padua elected him one of its foreign 
membei-s ; and, in 1783, the same compliment was paid to him by the Im- 
perial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburgh. The empress Catharine 
also, who, numerous as were her fiults, was a woman of a strong and en- 
lightened intellect, also conferred on him a flattering distinction. She 
ordered his friend, Dr. Rogerson, to transmit to him, as a mark of her 
esteem, a gold snuffbox, richly set with diamonds ; observing at the same 
time, that a person whose labours had afforded her so much satisfaction 
merited some attention from her. So much, indeed, was she delighted 
with the works of the Scottish author, that she did not hesitate to assign to 
him the place of first model in historical composition, to express much 
admiration of the sagacity and discernment which he displayed in painting 
the human mind and character, and to declare that the History of Charles 
the Fifth was the constant companion of her journeys, and that she was 
never tired of perusing it, particularly the introductory volume. 

As soon as enthusiasm had subsided, criticism began its labours in search 
of defects. It was objected to the author, that he had shown a disposition 
to palliate or to veil the enormities of the Spaniards, in their American 
conquests, and that he had shed an illusive lustre round the daring and 
intelligent but sanguinary and unprincipled Cortes. Even Professor Stew- 
art, notwithstanding his honourable affection for the memory of his friend, 
shrinks from vindicating him on this score, and contents himself with oppo- 
sing to the charge "those warm and enlightened sentiments of humanity 
which in general animate his writings." Unwilling to censure severely, 
and unable to exculpate, Bryan Edwards suggests, as an apoloery for Dr 
Robertson, that this is one of the cases in which the mind, shrinking from 
the contemplation of alleged horrors, wishes to resist conviction, and to re- 
lieve itself by incredulity. Dr. Gleig, however, the latest biographer of 
the historian, indignantly rejects this apology as absurd ; and, more enter 
j.rising than his predecessors, partly labours to invalidate the accusation, 



DR. ROBERTSON. xxiii 

by lessening the sum of Spanish cruelties, and partly to render it of no 
weig^ht, by pleading that the writer probably considered the conquests of 
Mexico and Peru as means employed by Providence to accomplish the no- 
blest and most beneficent purposes. That Dr. Robertson did really regard 
those conquests in such a light we may easily believe ; since, in his ser- 
mon on the state of the world at the appearance of Christ, he manifests 
iimilar sentiments with respect to the measureless and unslumbering ambi- 
tion of those universal robbers the Romans, whom he is pleased to style 
" the noblest people that ever entered on the stage of the world." But 
this defence is merely sophistical. Though we are not ignorant that a wise 
and benignant Providence educes good from evil, it is not the business of 
an historian to diminish the loathing which evil deeds ought to excite ; nor 
does it appear that morality is likely to be much benefited, by teaching 
tyrants and murderers to imagine that, while they are giving the rein to 
their own furious and malignant passions, they are only performing their 
destined tasks as instruments of the Deify. 

This was by no means all that was urged again.st tne History of Ame- 
rica. It is, in fact, not now attempted to be denied that, in many instances, 
Dr. Robertson was led astray by his partiality to the brilliant but fallacious 
theories of De Pauw and BufTon. Clavigero, in his History of Mexico, 
detected and somewhat harshly animadverted on several errors, a part of 
which were subsequently rectified. Bryan Edwards, too, pointed out some 
contradictions, and some erroneous statements. But the most severe cen- 
sor is Mr. Southey, a man eminently well informed on ancient Spanish and 
American events. In his History of Brazil, after having described the 
mode of reckoning in use among the transatlantic tribes, he adds, " when 
Pauw reasoned upon the ia^norance of tlie Americans in numbers, did he 
suppress this remarkable fact, or was he ignorant of it? The same ques- 
tion is applicable to Dr. Robertson, who, on this, and on many other sub- 
jects, in what he calls his History of America, is guilty of such omissions, 
and consequent misrepresentations, as to make it certain either that he had 
not read some of the most important documents to which he refers, or that 
he did not choose to notice the facts which he found there, because they 
were not in conformity to his own preconceived opinions. A remarkable 
example occurs respecting a circulating medium ; when he mentions cocoa- 
nuts, which were used as money in Mexico, and says, ' this seems to be the 
utmost length which the Americans had advanced towards the discovery 
of any expedient for supplying the use of money.' Now, it is said by 
Cortes himself, that when he was about to make cannon, he had copper 
enough, but wanted tin ; and having bought up all the plates and pots, 
which he could find among the soldiers, he began to inquire among the 
natives. He then found, that in the province of Tachco, little pieces of 
tin, like thin coin, were used for money, there and in other places. And 
this led him to a discovery of the mines from whence it was taken. The 
reputation of this author must rest upon his History of Scotland, if that can 
support.it. His other works are grievously deficient." 

Such are the defects which are attributed to Dr. Robertson's History 
On the other hand, it ought to be remembered, that many sources of know- 
ledge, which were then hidden, have since become accessible, that no 
man is at all times exempted from the dominion of prejudice, that the most 
cautious vigilance may sink into a momentary slumber, and that to him 
who has achieved much, a tribute of gratitude is due, even though it may 
be discovered that he has left sotnething undone. Were the History of 
the Spanish Conquests proved to be tnerely a fiction, it would nevertheless 
continue to be read, such attraction is there in the general elegance of the 
language, the skilful delineation of the characters, and the sustained inter- 
est and spirit of the narrative. 

In the preface to this portion of his labours, he made known bis intention 



XXIV THE LIFE OF 

to resume the subject at a future period ; and he assigned the ferment 
which then agitated our North American colonies as a reason for suspend- 
ing, at present, the execution of that part of his plan which related to 
British America. At the very beginnin;^, in truth, of the contest with the 
colonies, he congratulated himself on his not having completed his narra- 
tive. " It is lucky," said he, in a letter to Mr. Straban, " that my American 
History was not finished before this event. How many plausible theories 
that I should have been entitled to form, are contradicted by what has 
now happened." A fragment of this History, which, however, was care- 
fully corrected by him, and which he preserved when he committed his 
manuscripts to the flames, was all that he subsequently wrote of the work ; 
and this was published by his son to prevent it from tailing into ihe hands 
of an editor who might make alterations and additions, and obtrude the 
whole on the public as the genuine composition of the author. 

With respect to a separation between the mother country' and the colo- 
nists. Dr. Robertson seems to have somewhat varied in his sentiments, and 
to have contemplated the probability of such an event with much more 
dislike in 1775 than he did in 1766. In the latter year, speaking of the 
repeal of the stamp act, he said, "I rejoice, from my love of the human 
species, that a million of men in America have some chance of running the 
same great career which other free people have held before them. I do 
not apprehend revolution or independence sooner than these must oj should 
come. A very little skill and attention in the art of governing may pre- 
serve the supremacy of Britain as long as it ought to be preserved." But, 
in 1773, though he still acknowledged that the colonies must ultimately 
become independent, he was anxious that their liberation should be 
delayed till as distant a period as possible, and was clearl}' of opinion that 
they had as yet no right to throw off their allegiance. Nor was he sparing 
of his censure on the ministers for the want of policy and firmness, which 
he considered them to have displayed at the commencement of the quar 
rel. "I agree with you about the affairs of America," said he, in a letter, 
which was written in the autumn of 1775, " incapacity, or want of informa- 
tion, has led the people employed there to deceive the ministry. Trust- 
ing to them, they have been trifling for two years, when they should iiave 
been serious, until they have rendered a very simple piece of business 
extremely perplexed. They have permitted colonies, disjoined by nature 
and situation, to consolidate into a regular systematical confederacy; and 
when a tew regiments stationed in each capital would have rendered it 
impossible for them to take arms, they have suffered them quietly to levy 
and train forces, as if they had not seen against whom they were prepared. 
But now we are fairly committed, and I do think it fortunate that the vio- 
lence of the Americans has brought matters to a crisis too soon for them- 
selves. From the beginning of the contest I have always asserted that 
independence was their object. The distinction between taxation and 
regulation is mere folly. There is not an argument against our rigiit of 
taxation that does not conclude with tenfold force against our power of 
regulating their trade. They may profess or disclaim what they please, 
and hold the language that best suits their purpose; but, if they have any 
meaning, it must be that they should be free states, connected with us by 
blood, by habit, and by religion, but at liberty to buy and sell and trade 
where and with whom they please. This they will one day attain, but 
not just now, if there be any degree of political wisdom or vigour remain- 
ing. At the same time one cannot but regret tiiat prosperous growing 
states should be checked in their career. As a lover of mankind, I bewail 
it ; but as a subject of Great Britain, I must wish that their dependence 
on it should continue. If the wisdom of government can terminate the 
contest w^ith honour instantly, that would be the most desirable issue. 
This, however, 1 take to be now impossible ; and I will venture to fore* 



DR. ROBERTSON. sxr 

tell, that if our leaders do not at once exert the power of the British em- 
pire in its full force, the struggle will be long, dubious, and disgraceful 
We are past the hour of lenitives and half exertions. If the contest be 
protracted, the smallest interruption of the tranquillity that reigns in 
Europe, or even the appearance of it, may be fatal. 

It must be owned, that language like this goes very far towards justify- 
ing the sarcasm of Horace Walpole, that the reverend historian was " a 
ucry moderate Whig." Perhaps, also, his belief that, at the outset, a few 
regiments in each capital would have sufficed to trample down the resist- 
ance of the Americans, may now appear difficult to be reconciled with a 
knowledge of military afifairs, or of human nature. Yet we must, at the 
same time, remember that this erroneous idea was held by him in com- 
mon with many other men of intellect, and that it was even brought for- 
ward in the British senate as an undeniable truth. 

Though the American war precluded Dr. Robertson from bringing to a 
close his history of the British settlements, it is not easy to discover why 
he could not continue it to a certain point ; or why, at least, he could not 
proceed with that part of his narrative which related to the colonization of 
Brazil, and the violent struggles between the Dutch and the Portuguese in 
that country — an extensive subject, and worthy of his pen, as it would have 
afforded him abundant opportunities for the display of his delineative 
talents. Our curiosity on this head is not satisfied by the reason which, 
as we have recently seen, he himself gave, in his preface and in his letter 
to Mr. Strahan. That reason, however, he repeated in a correspondence 
with his friend Mr. Waddilove, and it is now in vain to seek for a better. 
It is certain that a wish to retire from literary toil was not his motive ; for, 
at the same moment that he postponed his History of America, he declared 
that it was "neither his inclination nor his interest to remain altogether 
idle." As a proof of his sincerity, he projected a History of Great Bri- 
tain, from the revolution to the accession of the House of Hanover, and 
even began to collect the necessary documents. Notwithstanding this 
seems to have been, for a while, a favourite scheme, it was speedily relin- 
quished; a circumstance which may justly be regretted. Hume then sug- 
gested the History of the Protestants in France. " The events," said he, 
"are important in themselves, and intimately connected with the great 
revolutions of Europe : some of the boldest or most amiable characters of 
modern times, the admiral Coligny, Henry IV., &c. would be your peculiar 
heroes ; the materials are copious, and authentic, and accessible ; and the 
objects appear to stand at that just distance which excites curiosity with- 
out inspiring passion." 

The hint given by Hume was, however, not adopted. About the year 
1779 or 1780, Dr. Robertson seems, indeed, to have seriously resolved to 
write no more for the public, but to pursue his studies at leisure, and for 
lis own amusement. " His circumstances," says professor Stewart, " were 
independent: he was approaching to the age of sixty, with a constitution 
considerably impaired by a sedentary life; and a long application to the 
compositions he had prepared lor the press had interfered with much of 
the gratification he might have enjoyed, if he had been at liberty to follow 
the impulse of his own taste and curiosity. Such a sacrifice must be more 
or less made by all who devote themselves to letters, whether with a view 
to emolument or to fame ; nor would it perhaps be easy to make it, were 
It not for the prospect (seldom, alas! realized) of earning by their exer- 
tions, that learned and honourable leisure which he was so fortunate as to 
attain." 

We must now contemplate Dr. Robertson in another point of view — that 
of his ecclesiastical and academical character ; in which, no less than in 
his literary capacity, he occupied a prominent station. The eminence, 
however, which he had not attained without diflSculty, he did not hold 

Vol. I.— D 2 



XXVI THE LIFE OF 

entirely without danger. In one instance he was near falling a vicfim to his 
spirit of liberality. In 1778, the British legislature relieved the English 
Roman catholics from some of the severest of the barbarous jenallies to 
which they had been subjected nearly a century before. Encouraged by 
this event, the Scottish catholics determined to petition parliament to extend 
the benefit to themselves. To this measure Dr. Robertson was friendly, 
and he successfully exerted his influence, and that of his partisans, to pro- 
cure the rejection of a remonstrance against it, which was brought forward 
in the general assembly. But on this occasion, as, unhappi!)', on too many 
others, bigotry and ignorance triumphed over sound policy and Christian 
charity. The trumpet of fanaticism was immediately sounded, and men 
of the most opposite principles and interests hurried to obey the call. 
Presbyterians, seceders, and even episcopalians, the latter of whom uere 
themselves under the lash of penal statutes, all combined in the crusade 
against papistry. Pamphlets and speeches were lavished, to prove that 
the constitution in church and state must inevitably perish, if an iota of 
relief were granted to the faithless members of an idolatrous and sanguinary 
church. The Roman catholics were so terrified at the fury that was thus 
aroused, that the principal gentlemen among them informed the ministry 
that they would desist from appealino- to parliament ; and they endeavoured 
to calm the popular tempest, by puolishing in the daily papers an account 
of their proceedings. But the enlightened mob of Edinburgh had sngeiy 
resolved that the catholics should not even dare to wish for the sliahtest 
participation in the privileges of British subjects, without being punished 
Tor their temerity. Accordingly, on the 2d of February, 1779, nuillitudes 
of the lowest classes, headed by disguised leaders, assembled in the Scottish 
capital, burnt the house of the popish bishop and two chapels : and, in 
their even-handed justice, were on the point of committing to the flames 
an episcopal chapel, when they were propitiated, by being told that an 
episcopal clergyman was the author of one of the ablest tracts which had 
been published against popery. As, however, they could not consent to 
remit their vengeance, but only to change its object, they turned their 
wrath upon those who had expressed opinions favourable to the claims of 
the catholics. Dr. Robertson was marked out as one of the most guilty, 
and nothing less than the destruction of his property and life was considered 
as sufficient to atone lor his crime. Fortunately his friends had provided 
for his safety, and, when the self-appointed champions of religion reached 
his house, it was found to be defended b}' a military force, which they had 
not enough of courage to look in the face. As they had come only to 
destroy and to murder, they, of course, retreated, when they discovered 
that, to accomplish their purpose, it would also be necessary to fight. Dr. 
Robertson is said to have manifested great firmness and tranquillity during 
this trying scene. 

In selecting Dr. Robertson as the person most worthy of suffering by 
their summary process of punishment without trial, the mob of Edinburgh 
acted with a more than mobbish share of injustice. Though desirous that 
the catholics should be released from their thraldom, he was not disposed 
to put any thing to the hazard for the furtherance of that object, and had 
already withdrawn his patronage from such obnoxious clients. He was 
not one of those who, as Goldsmith says of Burke, are '* too fond of the 
ris^ht to pursue the expedient." With him prudence was a governing 
principle. When, therefore, he saw that his countrymen were adverse 
to the measure, he advised the ministry to forbear from lending their coun- 
tenance to it. In an eloquent speech, delivered in the general assembly, 
he afterwards explained and vindicated the view which he originally took 
of the subject, and the manner in which he finally acted. The perusal of 
that which he urged, on the latter point, will not merely show what were 
his motives in this instance, but also afford some insight into his general 



DR. ROBERTSON. xxvii 

character. How far his system of policy is consonant with dignity or 
wisdom, which, indeed, are inseparable, 1 shall not stop to inquire. It 
mig-hl, perhaps, not improperly, be objected to him, that he mistakes the 
voice of a blind infuriated multitude for the voice of the people ; though 
it is impossible for any tv.'o things to be more different in their nature. It 
might be asked, too, why the fanatical prejudices of a Scottish mob were 
to be treated with more respect than the complaints of the American 
colonists ; why the one were to be indulged or complied with, while the 
other were to be silenced Ly " a few regiments stationed in each capital ?" 
"As soon," says he, "as I perceived the extent and violence of the flame 
which the discussion of this subject had kindled in Scotland, my ideas 
concerning the expedience at this juncture of the measure in question, began 
to alter. For although I did think, and I do still believe, that if the pro- 
testants in this country had acquiesced in the repeal as quietly as our 
brethren in England and Ireland, a fatal blow would have been given to 
popery in the British dominions ; I know, that in legislation, the sentiments 
and dispositions of the people, tor whom laws are made, should be attended 
to with care. I remembered that one of the wisest men of antiquity de- 
clared, that he had framed for his fellow-citizens not the best laws, but 
the best laws which they could bear. I recollected with reverence, that 
the divine Legislator himself, accommodating his dispensations to the frailty 
of his subjects, had given the Israelites for a season statutes which were 
not good. Even the prejudices of the people are, in my opinion, respectable ; 
and an indulgent legislator ought not unnecessarily to run counter to them. 
It appeared manifestly to be sound policy, in the present temper of the 
people, to sooth rather than to irritate them ; and, however ill founded 
their apprehensions might be, some concession was now requisite in order 
to remove them." 

This was, I believe, the last speech which he made in the General As- 
sembly. While he was yet in the vigour of his faculties, and in the exer- 
cise of undiminished influence in that assembly, he came to a resolution to 
withdraw himself entirely from public business. It was in the year 1780, 
about the time when he ceased to be an historian, and when he was only 
fifty-nine, that he adopted this resolution. Several causes seem lo have 
concurred in producing his retirement. It has been supposed by some, 
that he did not wish to remain on the scene till he was eclipsed by younger 
rivals ; and it is known that he felt disgusted by the conduct of the violent 
men of his own party, who, though he had yielded many points to them 
against his better judgment, were nevertheless dissatisfied that he refused 
to resort to stronger measures than he deemed to be either right or pru- 
dent, and who, in consequence, tormented him with letters of remonstrance 
and reproach, which, as from their nature may easily be imagined, were 
written in a petulant and acrimonious style. In addition, there was one 
subject, which had long been a particular annoyance to him, and on which 
be had been more pertinaciously urged and fretted than on every other. 
This was a scheme for abolishing subscription to the Confession of Faith 
and Formula. Into this scheme, which he had avowed his determination 
to resist, whatever shape it might assume, many of his friends had zealously 
entered, and his patience was severely tried by their " beseeching or be- 
sieging" him with respect to so important an object. By his cautious and 
persuasive policy, he had for a considerable period prevented the contro- 
versy from being agitated in the assemblies ; but he was of opinion that it 
would ultimately compel attention, and would give rise to vehement dis- 

{)utes ; and it was this circumstance, as he himself confessed, that "at 
east confirmed his resolution to retire." 

Having rendered triumphant a cause which, to say the least, had nume- 
rous enemies, it was hardly to be supposed that his character would not 
be aspersed by many of those who were mortified to witness his success. 



xxvin THE LIFE OF 

Accordingly, the charge of having deserted the genuine principles of the 
Scottish church was often urged against him by some of his antagonists. 
Others, who had more of the zealot in their composition, did not stop here. 
These went so far as to accuse him of being indifferent to Christianity 
itself ; and, in proof of this, they alleged his habits of intimacy with Hume, 
and his correspondence with Gibbon. It is difficult to say whether this 
stupid calumny ought to excite anger or contempt. 

This, however, was the language of only malignant hearts, or little 
minds. By the great majority, even of those who were in opposition to 
him, full justice was done to his virtues, his talents, and the purity of his 
motives. Among those who, believing patronage to be a nuisance, were 
the most strenuous in contending with him, was Dr. Erskine, his college 
mate, and colleague in the ministry. That venerable and learned person 
always preserved for him a warm esteem, and, after the historian was no 
more, paid to his memory an animated and affectionate tribute from the 
pulpit. "His speeches in church courts," says Dr. Erskine, " were ad- 
mired by those whom they did not convince, and acquired and preserved 
him an influence over a majority in them, which none before him enjoyed ; 
though his measures were sometimes new, and warmly, and with great 
strength of argument, opposed, both from the press, and in the General 
Assembly. To this influence many causes contributed : his firm adhe- 
rence to the principles of church policy, which he early adopted ; his 
sagacity in forming plans ; his steadiness in executing them ; his quick dis- 
cernment of whatever might hinder or promote his designs ; his boldness 
in encountering difficulties ; his presence of mind in improving every occa- 
sional advantage; the address with which, when he saw it necessary, he 
could make an honourable retreat; and his skill in stating a vote, and 
seizing the favourable moment for ending a debate and urging a decision. 
He guided and governed others, without seeming to assume any superiority 
over them ; and fixed and strengthened his power, by often, in matters of 
form and expediency, preferring tlie opinions of those with whom, he acted, 
to his own. In former times, hardly any rose up to speak in the General 
Assembly, till called upon by the Moderator, unless men advanced in years, 
of high rank, or of established characters. His example and influence en- 
couraged young men of abilities to take their share of public business ; 
and thus deprived Moderators of an engine for preventing causes being 
fairly and impartially discussed. The power of others, who formerly had 
in some measure guided ecclesiastical affairs, was derived from ministers 
of state, and expired with their fall. He remained unhurt amidst fretjuent 
changes of administration. Great men in office were always ready to 
countenance him, to co-operate with him, and to avail themselves oi his 
aid. But he judged for himself, and scorned to be their slave, or to submit 
to receive their instructions. Hence, his influence, not confined to men of 
mercenary views, extended to many of a free and independent spirit, who 
supported, because they approved, his measures ; which others, from the 
same independent spirit, thought it their duty steadily to oppose. 

" Deliberate in forming his judgment, but, when formed, not easily 
moved to renounce it, he sometimes viewed the altered plans of otiiers 
with too suspicious an eye. Hence, there were able and worthy men, ol' 
whom he expressed himself less favourably, and whose later appearances 
in church judicatories he censured as inconsistent with principles they had 
formerly professed : while they maintained, that the system of managing 
church affairs was changed, not their opinions or conduct. Still, however, 
keen and determined opposition to his schemes of ecclesiastical policy 
neither extinguished his esteem nor forfeited his friendly offices, when he 
saw opposition carried on without rancour, and when he believed that it 
originated from conscience and principle, not from personal animosity, or 
envy, or ambition." 



DR. ROBERTSON. Mix 

Of his private character, Dr. Erskine adds, that " he enjoyed the boun- 
ties of Providence, without running into riot ; was temperate without aus- 
terity; condescending and affable without meanness; and in expense nei- 
ther sordid nor prodigal. He could feel m injury, and yet bridle his pas- 
sion ; was grave, not sullen ; steady, not obstinate ; friendly, not officious ; 
prudent and cautious, not timid." 

Than the triumph whicli the principles of Dr. Robertson obtained in 
the General Assembly notliing could be more complete; and it was the 
more llattering, inasmuch as it was consummated after he had ceased to 
take a part in the debates. It had, from the year 1736, been the custom, 
annually, for the Assembly to instruct the Commission, " to make due ap- 
plication to the king and parliament for redress of the grievance of patron- 
age, in case a favourable opportunity for doing so should occur." So cau- 
tious was the policy of Dr. Robertson, that, although he had entirely sub- 
verted the very groundwork on which this instruction was raised, he never 
chose to move that it should be expunged. He knew that it was popular 
whh the great body of the people, and, therefore, he did not think it ex- 
pedient to risk the chance of dissension in the Assembly, by an unnecessary 
and idle attack upon this shadow of a shade. In the year 1784, however, 
it was omitted, without any struggle being made in its favour, and it has 
never since been renewed. 

Whether the system established by him has contributed to the harmony 
and welfare of the Scottish church is a question which yet remains unde- 
cided. It is urged, by the friends of the system, that it has given peace 
to the church ; that the General Assembly is no longer occupied with angry 
appeals and tumultuous disputes; that instead of there being, as formerly, 
a necessity to call in a military force, to protect the presbytery in the act 
of induction, ministers are now peaceably settled ; and that the \yorst that 
ever happens is the secession of the discontented part of the parishioners, 
and the consequent erection of a separate place of worship, which they 
frequent only till iheir zeal cools, and then desert to rejoin the kirk. But, 
on the other hand, it is contended, that the peace is rather in appearance 
than in reality ; that, though the people have ceased to appeal to the As- 
sembly, their silence arises from disgust and weariness, and not from satis- 
faction ; that, grown too wise to enter into a protracted and fruitless con- 
test, they immediately set themselves to rear a seceding meeting house, 
which often carries off a large proportion of the parishioners ; and that, by 
this quiet but continual increase of seceding meetings, the influence of the 
established church has been gradually weakened and contracted, a spirit of 
disunion has been spread, and a heavy additional burden has been imposed 
on property of every kind. 

But, whatever doubt may exist on this point, there seems to be none 
with respect to another. It is generally acknowledged that Dr. Robertson 
conduced greatly to give a more dignified character to the proceedings of 
the General Assembly, to introduce an impartial exercise of the judicial 
authority of the church, and to diffuse the prmciples of tolerance among 
men who had hitherto prided themselves on their utter contempt of them. 
In such respect are his decisions held, that they still form a sort of com 
mon law m the church ; and the time which elapsed between his being 
chosen Principal of the University and his withdrawing from public life, 
is distinguished by the name of Dr. Robertson's administration 

It is in his capacity of Principal that he is next to be considered. In this 
important office he displayed his wonted activity and talent. He began 
the performance of his duties, as his predecessors had done, by delivering 
annually a Latin discourse before the University. Of these orations, the 
first, the object of which was to recommend the study of classical learn- 
ing, was delivered on the third of February, 1763. It is said, among nu- 
merous other splendid passages, to have contained a beautiful panegyric 



XXX THE LIFE OF 

on the stoical philosophy. In the following year, his discourse "consisted 
chiefly of moral and literary observations, adapted to the particular cir 
cumstances of youth," and the style is affirmed to be " uncommonly elegant 
and impressive, and possessed of all the distinguishing characteristics of 
his English compositions." In 1765 and 1766, he chose for his theme the 
comparative advantages of public and private education; a subject which 
fae treated in a masterly manner. After 1766 these annual lectures ceased 
his time being too fully occupied to allow of the continuance of them. 

But, though his lectures were of necessity discontinued, he never remit- 
ted in his attention even to the minutest duties of his office. He appeai-s, 
indeed, to have fell a filial anxiety to omit nothing which could assist in 
giving lustre to the University at which his own talents had been cultivated. 
vVith very slender funds, he made large additions to the public library; 
he planned or reformed most of the literary and medical societies, which 
have raised Edinburgh to such eminence as a seminary of learning, and a 
focus ot literature ; and he contrived to preserve an uninterrupted harmony 
among the numerous members of the body which he superintendedf. 
"The good sense, temper, and address," says professor Stewart, "with 
which he presided for thirty years at our university meetings, were 
attended with effects no less essential to our prosperity; and are attested 
by a fact which is perhaps witliout a parallel in the annals of any other 
literary community, that during the whole of that period there did not 
occur a single question which was not terminated by a unanimous 
decision." 

To his exertions Scotland is also chiefly indebted for its Royal Society, 
which received its charter of incorporation in March, 1763. The basis of 
this establishment was the Philosophical Society, the founder nf which was 
the celebrated Maclaurin. In his zeal to give all possible lustre to the new 
institution, by drawing together men of every species ot merit. Dr. Ro- 
bertson seetns, lor once, to have acted with less than his usual liberality. 
An antiquarian society, at the head of which was the earl of Buchan, had, 
two years lj«fore, been formed in the Scottish metropolis ; and this body 
also was desirous to obtain the royal charter. The application which it 
made to the crown was, however, eagerly opposed, in a " Memorial from 
the principal and professors of the University of Edinburgh." This me- 
morial is signed by Dr. Robertson ; but it is so feeble in composition as 
well as in reasoning, that it is difficult to believe it to have flowed from his 
pen. The argument on which it wholly relies is, that " narrow countries" 
cannot supply materials tor more than one society ; that Scotland is such a 
country ; and, therefore, that it "ought not to form its literary plans upon 
the model of the more extensive kingdoms in Europe, but in imitation of 
those which are more circumscribed." To this hostile proceeding the 
antiquaries responded, in a long memorial, which was penned with much 
acuteness, and was naturally expressive of some degree of resentment. 
They were successful in the contest, and their charter was granted. 

The labours of Dr. Robertson, as a writer, were closed by a work which 
entered largely info antiquarian investigation, as connected with history 
In 1791 he published a qu irto volume, containing his "Historical Disqui- 
sition concerning the Knowledge whicii the Ancients had of India; and the 
Progress of Trade with that Country prior to the Discovery of the Passage 
to it by the Cape of Good Hope." An Appendix was dedicated to ob- 
servations on the civil policy, the laws and judicial proceedings, the arts, 
the sciences, and the religious institutions of the Indians. This subject, which 
occupied him twelve months, was suggested to him by the perusal of major 
Rennell's Memoirs for illustrating his History of Hindostan, and was origi- 
nally taken up with nootherobject than his own amusement and in:5truction. 
That it would become as popular as his other productions was, tVom its 
nature, not to be expected, but it obtained an honourable share of public 



DR. ROBERTSON. xsxi 

approbation ; and, though it has since been partly superseded by more 
elaborate inquiries, which, however, were grounded on more ample mate- 
rials, it will always retain a certain degree of value, and will be con- 
sidered as a proof of his industry, of his habits of research, and of the 
solidity of his judgment. 

The latter years of Dr. Robertson's existence were passed in the well 
earned enjoyment of honourable leisure. But, though he ceased to write, 
he did not cease to be studious. Till the end of his life he is said to have 
risen early, and to have given up no part of his time to company before 
the hour of dinner. What he was in the moments of social ease has been 
so excellently described by professor Stewart, that his own words ought 
to be used. "A rich stock of miscellaneous information, acquired from 
books and trom an extensive intercourse with the world, together with a 
perfect acquaintance at all times with the topics of the day, and the 
soundest sagacity and good sense applied to the occurrences of common 
life, rendered him the most instructive and agreeable of companions. He 
seldom aimed at art; but, with his intimate friends, he often indulged a 
sportive and fanciful species of humour. He delighted in good natured, 
characteristical anecdotes of his acquaintance, and added powerfully to 
their effect by his own enjoyment in relating them. He was, in a remark- 
able degree, susceptible of the ludicrous ; but on no occasion did he foiget 
the dignity of his character, or the decorum of his profession ; nor did he 
ever lose sight of that classical taste which adorned his compositions. His 
turn of expression was correct and pure; sometimes, perhaps, inclining 
more than is expected, in the carelessness of a social hour, to formal and 
artificial periods; but it was stamped with his own manner no less than his 
premeditated style : it was always the language of a superior and a culti- 
vated mind, and it embellished every subject on which he spoke. In the 
co'upany of strangers, he increased his exertions to amuse and to inform ; 
and the splendid variety of his conversation was commonly the chief cir- 
cumstance on which they dwelt in enumerating his talents; and yet, I 
must acknowledge, for my own part, that much as 1 always admired his 
powers when they were thus called forth, I enjoyed his society less than 
when I saw him in the circle of his intimates, or in the bosom of his 
family." 

It is not one of the least amiable features of his character, that, though 
he was not forward to volunteer his advice, yet, when he was consulted by 
his young acquaintance, as was very often the case, " he entered into their 
concerns with the most lively interest, and seemed to have a pleasure and 
a pride in imparting to them ail the lights of his experience and wisdom." 

It was about the end of the year 1791 that the health of Dr. Robertson 
began to manliest indications of decline. Strong symptoms of jaundice 
next appeared, his constitution was sapped, and a lingering and fatal illness 
ensued. His spirits, however, remained unbroken. Till within a few 
months of his death, he persisted in ofhciating as a minister. When his 
decaying strength no longer allowed him to perform his clerical duties, he 
retired to Grange House, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, that he might 
have the advantage of more quiet, a pure air, and the sight of those rural 
and picturesque objects in which he had ever delighted. "While he was 
able to walk abroad," says Mr. Stewart, "he commonly passed a part of 
the day in a small garden, enjoying the simple gratifications it affcrded 
with all his wonted relish. Some who now hear noe will long remember, 
among the trivial yet interesting incidents which marked these last weeks 
of his memorable lite, his daily visits to the fruit trees (which were then 
in blossom), and the smile with which he, more than once, contrasted the 
interest he took in their progress, with the event which was to happen 
before their maturity." It was while be was thus lingering on the \eiy.e 
of the grave, that he was visited by two gentlemen from New-York, who 



xxsii LI FE OF DR. Robertson. 

were extremely anxious for an interview with him. He rallied all his 

Eowers to entertain his guests, and to inspire in their minds a feelins: of 
indness towards the parent land of the late colonists; and, on their rising; 
to take leave, he said to them, in accents at once dignitied and pathetic, 
" When you go home, tell your countrymen that you saw the wreck of Dr. 
Rohertson." In less than two months that wreck disappeared in the ocean 
of eternity. He expired, with the fortitude which became him, on the 
11th of July, 1793, in the seventy-first year of his age, and the fiftieth of his 
ministry. 

So much has been written hy others, respecting the literary merit of 
Dr. Robertson, that on this point it is unnecessary, even would my con 
fined limits permit me, to enter into a lengthened discussion. His style 
has less of careless easy grace, but has more of equable dignity, than that 
of Hume ; it does not display the masterly modulation, but it f)as none of 
the occasional obscurity and meretricious ornament, of that of Gibbon ; it 
is well balanced, unstained by vulgarisms, more idiomatically English 
than might be expected from a native of Scotland, and is defective, per- 
haps, only in being too uniformly of an elevated tone. In arranging and 
linking together into one harmomous whole the scattered parts of his sub- 
ject, he is eminently happy ; and in delineating characters, manners, and 
scenery, in making vividly present to the mind that which he describes, 
he has few rivals, and no superiors. If all that has been urged against his 
works be admitted, and some of it cannot be denied, it may nevertheless 
safely be affirmed, that the balance heavily preponderates in his favour, 
and that he will always continue to rank in the first class of modern 
historians. 



PREFACE. 

In fulfilling the engagement which I had come under to the Public with 
respect to the History of America, it was my intention not to have pub- 
lished any part of the Work until the whole was completed. The present 
state of the British colonies has induced me to alter that resolution. While 
they are engaged in civil war with Great Britain, inquiries and specula- 
tions concerning their ancient forms of policy and laws, which exist no 
longer, cannot be interesting. The attention and expectation of mankind 
4re now turned towards their future condition. In whatever manner this 
unhappy contest may terminate, a new order of things must arise in North 
America, and its affairs will assume another aspect. I wait with the soli- 
citude of a good citizen, until the ferment subside, and regular government 
be re-established, and then I shall return to this part of my work, in which 
I had made some progress. That, together with the history of Portuguese 
America, and of the settlements made by the several nations of Europe in 
the West India Islands, will complete my plan. 

The three volumes which I now publish contain an account of the dis- 
covery of the New World, and of the progress of the Spanish arms and 
colonies there. This is not only the most splendid portion of the American 
story, but so much detached, as by itself to form a perfect whole, remark- 
able for the unity of the subject. As the principles and maxims of the 
Spaniards in planting colonies, which have been adopted in some measure 
by every nation, are unfolded in this part of my work; it will serve as a 
proper introduction to the history of all the European establishments in 
America, and convey such information concerning this important article of 
policy, as may be deemed no less interesting than curious. 

In describing the achievements and institutions of the Spaniards in the 
New World, I have departed in many instances, from the accounts of pre- 
ceding historians, and have often related facts which seem to have been un- 
known to them. It is a duty I'owe the Public to mention the sources from 
which I have derived such intelligence which justifies me either in placing 
transactions in a new light, or in forming any new opinion with respect to 
their causes and effects. This duty I perform with greater satisfaction, as 
it will afford an opportunity of expressing my gratitude to those benefactors 
who have honoured me with their countenance and aid in my researches. 

As it was from Spain that I had to expect the most important information, 
with regard to this part of my work, I considered it as a very fortunate 
circumstance for me, when Lord Grantham, to whom I had the honour of 
being personally known, and with whose liberality of sentiment, and dis- 
position to oblige, I was well acquainted, was appointed ambassador to 
the court of Madrid. Upon applying to him, I met with such a reception 
as satisfied me that his endeavours would be employed in the most proper 
manner, in order to obtain the gratification of my wishes ; and I am per- 
fectly sensible, that what progress I have made in my inquiries among the 
Spaniards, ought to be ascribed chiefly to their knowing how much his 
lordship interested himself in my success. 

But did I owe nothing more to Lord Grantham than the advantages 
which I have derived from his attention in engaging Mr. Waddilove, the 
chaplain of his embassy, to take the conduct of my literary inquiries in 
Spain, the obligations I lie under to him would be very great. During five 
years that gentleman has carried on researches for my behoof, with such 
activity, perseverance, and knowledge of the subject, to which his attention 
was turned, as have filled me with no less astonishment than satisfaction. 
He procured for me the greater part of the Spanish books which I have 
consulted ; and as many of them were printed early in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, and are become extremely rate, the collecting of these was such an 



4 PREFACE. 

occupation as alone required much time and assiduity. To his friendly 
attention I am indebted for copies of several valuaTjIe manuscripts, con- 
taining facts and details which I might have searched for in vain in works 
that have been made public. Encourai2:ed by the invitins: good will with 
which Mr. Waddilove conferred his favours, I transmitted to him a set of 
queries, with respect both to the customs and policy of the native Ameri- 
cans, and the nature of several institutions in the Spanish settlements, 
framed in such a manner that a Spaniard might answer them without dis- 
closing any thing that was im]iroper to be conununicated to a foreigner. 
He translated these into Spanish, and obtained from various persons who 
had resided in most of the Spanish colonies, such replies as have aflbrded 
me much instruction. 

Notwithstanding those peculiar advanta<^es with which my inquiries 
were carried on in Spain, it is with regret I am obliged to add, that their 
success must be ascribed to the bencfirenre a( individuals, not to any 
communication by public authority. By a singular arrangement of Philip 
II. the records of the Spanish monarchy are deposited in the Jlrchivo of 
Simancas, near Valladolid, at the distance of a hundred and twenty miles 
from the seat of government and tiie supreme courts of justice. The 
papers relative to America, and chiefly to that early period of its history 
towards which my attention was directed, are so numerous, that they alone, 
according to one account, fill the largest apartment in the Archivo; and, 
according to another, they compose eight hundred and seventy-lliree large 
bundles. Conscious of possessing, in some degree, the industiy which 
belongs to an historian, tlie prospect of such a treasure excited my most 
ardent curiosity. But the prospect of it is all that I have enjoyed. Spain, 
with an excess of caution, has uniformly thrown a veil over her transactions 
in America. From strangers they are concealed with peculiar solicitude. 
Even to her own subjects the Archivo of Simancas is not opened without 
a particular order from the crown; and, after obtaining that, papers cannot 
be copied without pajn'ng fees of office so exorbitant that the expense 
exceeds what it would be proper to bestow, when the gratification of lite- 
rary curiosity is the only object. It is to be hoped, that the Spaniards will 
at last discover this system of concealment to be no. less impolitic than 
illiberal. From what I have expeiienced in the course of my inquiries, I 
am satisfied, that upon a more minute scrutiny into their early operations 
in the New World, however reprehensible the actions of individuals may 
appear, the conduct of the nation will be placed in a uiore favourable light. 

In other parts of Europe very different sentiments prevail. Having 
searched, without success, in Spain, for a letter of Cortes to Charles V., 
written soon after he landed in the Mexican Empire, which has not hitherto 
been published; it occurred tome, that as the Emperor was setting out 
for Germany at the time when the messengers from Cortes arrived in 
Europe, the letter with which they were intrusted might possibly be pre- 
served in the imperial library at ^^ienna. I conmiunicated this idea to 
Sir Hobert Murray Keilh, with whom I have long had tlie honour to live 
in friendship, and 1 had soon the pleasure to learn, that upon his application 
her !n\per!al Majesty had been graciously p!e;:sed to issue an order-, that 
not only a copy of that letter (if it were found), hut of any other pajieis in 
thft library which could throw light upon the History oi Arnerica. "iiouid 
be transmitted to me, The letter frotn Cortes is tiof in the Impciiai 
library; btit an authentic copy, allested .by a iiotary, of the 'eiier vxiiiien 
by the magistrates of the colony planted by hiu) at Vera Cruz, which I 
have mentioned, p. ~1 J, having been found, it w-.s transcrifed, ?nd seni to 
me. As this letter is no 'ess curious, .-^nd ?s little knc-wti ;'.^.tl;al wl ich 
was ihe object of my i.iqui ies,"! h; ve jriven sor' e f1c6 i.'r".t, in it? \, o; er 
plyre,o'" whit is most .\orrhv,oi not'cedo it. ': 0}ie".he;v, ith t, I leceived 
a c.)tiy of a letter fro";i Cories. r(:n*ai..i(ir a .'>ir.g ; ccout.t of lus expedition 
to Honduras, with respect to which Lciid^n.oi IJtiiM" ii •»ecc'ssary to ente*- 



PREFACE. 5 

into any particular detail ; and likewise those curious Mexican paintings, 
which I have described, p. 321. 

My inquiries at St. Petersburg were carried on with equal facility and 
success. In examining into the nearest communication between our conti- 
nent and that of America, it became of consequence to obtain authentic 
information concerning the discoveries of the Russians in their navigation 
from Kamchatka towards the coast of America. Accurate relations of 
their first voyage, in 1741, have been published by MuJler and GmeJin. 
Several foreign authors have entertained an opinion that the court of Russia 
studiously conceals the progress whicli has been made by more recent 
navigators, and suffers the Public to be amused with false accounts of their 
route. Such conduct appeared to me unsuitable to those liberal senti- 
ments, and that patrona2;e of science, for which the present sovereign of 
Russia is eminent; nor could I discern any political reason, that might 
render it improper to apply for information concerning the late attempts of 
the Russians to open a communication between Asia and America. My 
ingenious countryman. Dr. Rogerson, first physician to the Empress, pre- 
sented my request to Her Imperial Majesty, who not only disclaimed any 
idea of concealment, but instantly ordered the journal of Captain Krenitzin, 
who conducted the only voyage of discovery made by public authority 
since the year 1741, to be translated, and his original chart to be copied 
for my use. By consulting them, I have been enabled to give a more 
accurate view of the progress and extent of the Russian discoveries than 
has hitherto been communicated to the Public. 

From other quarters I have received information of great utility and 
importance. M. le Chevalier de Pinto, the minister from Portugal to the 
court of Great Britain, Avho commaniied for several years at Matagrosso, a 
settlement of the Portuguese in the interior part of Brazil, where the 
Indians are numerous, and their original manners litUe altered by inter- 
course with Europeans, was pleased to send me veiy full answers to some 
queries concerning the character and institutions of the natives of America, 
which his polite reception of an application made to him in my name 
encouraged me to propose. These satisfied me, that he had contemplated 
with a discerning attention the curious objects Avhich his situation presented 
to his view, and I have often followed him as one of my best instructed guides. 

M. Suard, to Avhose elegant translation of the History of the Reign of 
Charles V., 1 owe the favourable recej)tion of that work on the continent, 
procured me answers to the same queries from M. de Bougainville, who 
had opportunities of observing the Indians both of North and South Ame- 
rica, and from M. Godin le Jeune, who resided fifteen years among Indians 
in Quito, and twenty years in Cayenne. The latter are more valuable from 
having been examined by M. de la Condamine, who, a few weeks before 
his death, made some short additions to them, which may be considered 
as the last effort of that attention to science which occupied a long life. 

My inquiries were not confined to one region in America. Governor Hutch- 
inson took the tiouble of recommending the consideration of my queries 
to Mr. Hawley and Mr. Brainoni, two protestant missionaries employed 
among the Indians of the Five Nations, who favoured me with answers 
which discover a considerable knowledge of the people whose customs 
they describe. From William Smith, Esq. the ingenious historian of New 
York, I received some useful information. When I enter upon the History 
of our Colonies in North America, I shall have occasion to acknowledge 
how much I have been indebted to many othergentlemen of that countr}-. 

From the valuable Collection of Voyages made by Alexander Dalryinpic, 
Esq., with whose attention to the History of Navigation and Discovery the 
Public is well acquainted, I have received some very rare books, particu- 
larly two large volumes of Memorials, partly manuscript and partly in 
)rint, which were presented to the court of Spain during the reigns of 
^^hilip III. and Philip IV. From these 1 have learned many curious par- 



f. 



6 PREFACE. 

ticulars with respect to the interior state of the Spanish colonies, and the 
various schemes formed for their improvement. As this collection of 
Memorials formerly belonged to the Colbert Library, I have quoted them 
by that title. 

All those books and manuscripts I have consulted with that attention 
■vfrhich the respect due from an Author to the Public required; and by 
minute references to them, I have endeavoured to authenticate Avhatever I 
relate. The longer I reflect on the nature of historical composition, the 
more I am convinced that this scrupulous accuracy is necessary. The his- 
torian who records the events of his own time, is credited in proportion to 
the opinion which the Public entertains with respect to his means of infor- 
mation and his veracity. He who delineates the transactions of a remote 
period, has no title to claim assent, unless he produces evidence in proof of 
his assertions. Without this he may write an amusing tale, but cannot be 
said to hav(^ composed an authentic histoiy. In those sentiments I have 
been confirmed by the opinion of an Author,* whom his industry, erudition, 
and discernment, have deservedly placed in a high rank among the most 
eminent historians of the age. Imboldened by a hint from tiim, I have 
published a catalogue of the Spanish books which I have consulted. This 
practice was frequent in the last cenlury, and was considered as an evi- 
dence of laudable industry in an author; in the present, it may, perhaps, 
be deemed the effect of ostentation ; but, as many of these books are 
unknown in Great Britain, 1 could not otherwise have referred to them as 
authoriti('S, without cncumljering the page with an insertion of their full 
titles. To any person who may choose to follow me in this path of 
inquiry, the catalogue must be veiy useful. 

My readers will observe, that in mentioning sums of money, I have 
uniformly followed the Spanish method of computing by pesos. In Ame- 
rica, the peso fiierte, or duro, is the only one known ; and that is ahvays 
meant when any sum imported from America is mentioned. The peso 
fuerte, as well as other coins, has varied in its numerary value; but I have 
been advised, without attending to such minute variations, to consider it as 
equal to four shillings and six-pence of our money. It is to be remembered, 
however, that, in the sixteenth century, the effective value of a peso, i. e. 
the quantity of labour which it represented, or of goods which it Avould 
purchase, was five or six times as much as at present. 

N. B. Since this edition was put into the press, a History of Mexico, in two 
volumes in quarto, translated from the Italian of the Abbe D. Francesco Sa- 
verio Clavigero, has been publii^hed. From a person v,-ho is a native of New 
Spain, who has resided forty years in that country, and who is acquainted with 
the Mexican language, it was natural to expect much new information. Upon 
perusing his work, liowever, I find that it contains hardly any addition to the 
ancient History of the Mexican empire, as related by Acosta and Hcrrera, but 
what is derived from the improbable narratives and fanciful conjectures of Tor- 
quemada and Botuilni. Having copied their splendid descriptions of the high 
6tate of civilization in the Mexican empire, M. Clavigero, in the abundance of 
Ills zeal for the honour of his native country, charges mo with having mistaken 
some points, and with having misrepresented others, in the history of it. Wlien 
an author is conscious of having exerted industry in research, and impartiality 
in decision, he may, without presumption, claim what praise is due to these 
qualities, and he cannot be insensible to any accusation tliat tends to weaken 
the force of his claim. A feeling of this kind has induced me to examine such 
strictures of M. Clavigero on my history of America as merited an)' attention, 
especially as these are made by one who seemed to possess the means of ob- 
tainmg accurate information ; and to show that the greater part of them is des- 
titute of any just foundation. This I have done in notes upon the passages in 
my History which gave rise to his criticisms. 

College of Edinburgh, MarcK 1, 1783. 

♦ Mt Cjljhon 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 

Progress of Navigation among 
the ancients — View of their dis- 
coveries as preparatory to those 
of the moderns — Imperfection of 
ancient navigation and geogra- 
piiy — Doctrine of the zones — 
Further discoveries checked by 
the irruption of barbarous na- 
tions — Geographical knowledge 
still preserved in the East, and 
among the Arabians — Revival 
of commerce and navigation in 
Europe — favoured by the Croi- 
sades — extended by travellers 
into the East — promoted by the 
invention of the mariner's com- 
pass — First regular plan of dis- 
covery formed by Portugal — 
State of that kingdom-Schemes 
of Prince Henry-Early attempts 
feeble — Progress along the west- 
ern coast of Africa — Hopes of 
discovering a new route to the 
East Indies — Attempts to ac- 
complish this — prospects of suc- 
cess 

feoOK II. 

Dirth and education of Columbus 
— acquires naval skill in the ser- 
vice of Portugal — conceives 
Lopes of reaching the East In- 
dies by holding a westerly course 
— his system founded on the 
ideasof the ancients, and know- 
ledge of their navigation — and 
on the discoveries of the Portu- 
guese — his negotiations with dif- 
ferent courts — Obstacles which 
he had to surmount in Spain — 
Voyage of discovery — difficul- 
ties — success — return to Spain 
— Astonishment of mankind on 
this discovery of a new world 
— Papal grant of it — Second 
voyage — Colony settled — Fur- 
ther discoveries — War with the 
Indians — First tax imposed on 
them — Third voyage — He dis- 
covers the Continent — State of 



17 



Page 

the Spanish colonj' — Errors in 
the first system of colonizing — 
Voyage of the Portuguese to the 
East Indies by the Cape of Good 
Hope — Effects of this — discove- 
ries made by private adventurers 
in the New World — Name of 
America given to it — Machina- 
tions against Columbus — dis- 
graced a,nd sent in chains to 
Europe — Fourth voyage of Co- 
lumbus — His discoveries — dis- 
asters — death 42 

BOOK in. 

State of the colony in Hispaniola 
— New war with the Indians — 
Cruelty of the Spaniards — Fatal 
regulations concerning the con- 
dition of the Indians — Diminu- 
tion of that people — Discoveries 
and settlements — First colony 
planted on the Continent — Con- 
quest of Cuba — Discovery of 
Florida — of the South Sea — 
Great expectations raised by 
this — Causes of disappointment 
M'ith respect to these for some 
time — Controversy concerning 
the treatment of the Indians — ■ 
Contrary decisions — Zeal of the 
ecclesiastics, particularly of Las 
Casas — Singular proceedings of 
Ximenes — Negroes imported in- 
to America — Las Casas' idea of 
a new colony — permitted to at- 
tempt it — unsuccessful — Disco- 
veries towards the West — Yu- 
catan — Campeachy— New Spaiii 
— preparations for invading it . 02 

BOOK IV. 

View of America when first dis- 
covered, and of thr manners 
and policy of its most uncivil- 
ized inhabitants — Vast extent 
of America — grandeur of the 
objects it presents to view — its 
mountains — rivers — Inkes — its 
form favourable to commerce — 
temperature — predominance of 
cold — causes of this — unculti- 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
vated — unwholesome — its ani- 
mals — soil — Inquiry how Ameri- 
ca was peopled — various theo- 
ries — what appears most proba- 
ble — Condiiion and character of 
the Americans — All, the Mexi- 
cans and Peruvians excepted, in 
the state of savages — Inquiry 
confined to the uncivilized tribes 
— Difficulty of obtaining infor- 
mation — various causes of this 
— Method observed in the in- 
quiry — I. The bodily constitu- 
tion of the Americans considered 
— II. The qualities of their minds 
— III. Their domestic state — IV. 
Their political state and institu- 
tions — V. Their system of war 
and pul)lic security — VI. The 
arts with which they were ac- 
quainted — VII. Their religious 
ideas and institutions — VIII. 
Such singular and detached cus- 
toms as are not reducilile to any 
of the former heads — IX. Gene- 
ral review and estimate of their 
virtues and defects .... 122 

BOOK V. 

History of the cor.quest of New 
Spain by Cortes 197 

BOOK VI. 

History of the conquest of Peru 
by Pizarro — and of tlie dissen- 
sions and civil wars of the Spa- 
niards in that country — Origin, 
progress, and effects of these . 261 

BOOK VII. 

View of the institutions and mati- 
nerii of the Mexicans and Pe- 
ruvians — Ci VI lized.-:tates in com- 
parison of other Americans — 
Recent origin of the Mexicans 
— Facts which prove their pro- 
gress in civilization-Vie w of their 
policy in its various branches — 
of their arts — Facts which indi- 
cate a small progress in civiliza- 
tion — What opinion should be 
formed on coiiiparitig those con- 
tradictory facts — Genius of their 
religion — Peruvian monarchy 
more ancient — its policy founded 
on religion — Singular effects of < 
this — Peculiar slate of property 
among the Peruvians — Their 
public works and arts — roads — 
bridges — buildings — Their un- 



Page 

warlike spirit — View of other 
dominions of Spain in America 
— Cinaloa and Sonora — Califor- 
nia — Yucatan and Honduras — 
Chili — Tucuman — Kingdom of 
Tierra Firme — New Kingdom of 
Granada 313 

BOOK VIII. 

View of the interior government, 
commerce, &c. of the Spanish 
colonies-- Depopulation of Ame- 
rica — first cti'ects of their settle- 
ments — not the consequence of 
any system of policy — nor to be 
imputed to religion — Number of 
Indians still reuiaming — Funda- 
mental maxims on which the 
Spanish system of colonization 
is luuiided — Condition ot' diifer- 
ent orders of men in their colo- 
nies—Chapetoncs— Creoles — Ne- 
groes — Indians — Ecclesiastical 
state and policy — Character of 
secular and regular clergy-Small 
progress of Christianity among 
the natives — Mines, chief object 
of their attention — Mode of 
working these — their produce — ■ 
Effects of encouraging this spe- 
cies of industry — Other com- 
modities of Spanish America — 
First eflects of this new com- 
merce v.ith America on Spain — 
Why the Spanish colonies have 
not been as beneficial to the pa- 
rent state as those of other na- 
tions — Errors in the Spanish 
system of regulating this com- 
merce — confined In one port — • 
carried on by annual fleets — 
Contraband trade — Decline of 
Spain both in population and 
wealth — Remedies proposed — 
View of the wise regulations of 
the Bourbon princes — A new and 
more liberal system introduced 
— beneficial effects of this — pro- 
bable consequences — Trade be- 
tween New Spain and the Phi- 
lippines—Revenue of Spain from 
America — whence it arises — to 
what it amounts 34" 

BOOK IX. 

History of Virginia to the year 1688, 389 

BOOK X. 

History of New England to the 
year 1632 426 



CATALOGUE 

OF 

SPANISH BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. 



A Carf.tte de Biscay, Relation des 
Voyages dans la Kiviere Je la Plata, et 
dc la par I'erre au Perou. Exst. Recueil 
do Theveiiot. Part IV. 

A Voyage up the River dc 

la Plata, and thence by Land to Peru. 
8vo. London, itiaS. 

Acosta (P. Jos. de) Historia Natu- 
ral y Moral de las Indias. 4to. Ma- 
drid, 1590. 

(Joseph de) Histoire Natu- 

rclle et Morale des Indes tant Orien- 
tales qu' Occidentales. 8vo. Paris, 
1600. 

Novi OrbisHistoria Naturalis 

et Moralis. Exst. in Collect. Theod. 
de Bry. Pars IX. 

De Natura Novi Orhis, Libri 

duo, et de procuranda Indorum Salute, 
Libri sex. Salmant. 8vo. 15o9. 

(Christ.) Tratadodelas Dro- 

gasyMedocinas,de las Indias Occiden- 
tales, con sus Plantas Dibuxadas al 
vivo. 4to. Burgos, 1578. 

Acugna (P. Christoph.) Relation de 
la Reviere des Amazones. 12mo. Tom. 
ii. Paris, 1G8-2. 

Acugna's Relation of the great River 
of the Amazons in South America. 
8vo. London, 1698. 

Alarchon (Fern.) Navigations a 
Scoprere il Regno di sette Citta. Ra- 
musio iii. 363. 

Albuquerque Coello (Duart6 de) 
Memorial de Artcs de la Guerra del 
Brasil.4to. Mad. 1634. 

Alcafarado (Franc.) An Historical 
Relation of the Discovery of the Isle of 
Madeira. 4to. Lond. 1675. 

Al(,edo y Herrcra (D. Dionysio de) 
Aviso Historico-Politico-Geografico. 
con las Noticias mas particulares, del 
Peru, Tiorra Firrao, Chili, y Nuevo 
Reyno de Granada. 4to. Mad. 1740. 

Al(;edo Compendi Historico de la 
Provinciay Puerto de Guayaquil. 4to. 
Mad. 1741. 

^Memorial sobre diferentes 

Puntos tocantcs al estado de la real 
hazienda y del commcrcio, &c. en las 
Indias. fol. 

Vol.. 1.-^2 



Aldama y Guevara (D. Joe. Augus- 
tin de) Arde de la Lengua Mexicana. 
l^nio. Mexico, 1754. 

Alvarado (Pedro de) Dos Relaciones 
a Iiern. Cortes rei'eriendole sus Expc- 
diciones y Conquistas en \ arias Pro- 
vincias de N. Espagna. Exst. Barcia 
Hisloriad. Primit. torn. i. 

Lettere due, &c. Exst. Re>- 

mus. iii. 296. 

Aparicio y Leon (D. Lorenzo de) 
DiscursoHistorico-Politico del Hospital 
San Lazaro de Lima. 8vo. Lim. 1761. 

Aranzeles Reales delos Ministros de 
la Real Audiencia de N. Espagna. 
fol. Mex. 1727. 

Argensola (Bartolome Leonardo de) 
Conquista de las Islas Malucas, fol. 
Mad. 1609. 

Analcs de Aragon. fol. Sara- 

go<;a, 1630. 

Arguello (Eman.) Sentum Confee- 
sionis. 12mo. Mex. 1703. 

Arriago (P. Pablo Jos. de) Extirpa- 
cian de la Idolatria de Peru. 4to. Lima, 
1621. 

Avendagno (Didac.) Thesaurus In- 
dicus, ceu Gcneralis Instructor pro Re- 
gimine Conscientia;, in ijs quas ad In- 
dias spectant. fol. 2 vols. Antwerp, 1660. 

Aznar (D Bern, Fran.) Discurso 
tocante a la real hazienda y adminifi- 
tracion de ella. 4to. 

Bandini (Angelo Maria) Vita 4 Let- 
tere di Armerigo Vespucci . 4to. Firenzc. 
1745. 

Barcia (D. And. Gonzal.) Historia- 
dores Primitivos de las Indias Occiden- 
tales, fol. 3 vols. Mad. 1749. 

Barco-Centincra (D. Martin de) Ar- 
gentina y Conquista del Rio de la 
Plata : Poema. Exst. Barcia Histo- 
riad. Primit. iii. 

Barros (Joao de) Decadas de Asia, 
fol. 4 vols. Lisboa, 1682. 

BcUcsteros (D. Thomas de) Orde- 
nanzas del Peru.fol.2 vols. Lima, 1685. 

Beltran (P. F. Pedro) Artcdeelldi- 
oma Maya reducido a sucintas roglae, 
y Semilexicon. 4to. Mex. 1746. 



10 



A CATALOGUE OF 



Benzo (Hieron.) Novi Orbis Histo- 
riee — De Bry America, Part IV, V, VI. 

Betancurt y P'igueroa (Don Luis) 
Dcrecho de las Inglesias Metropoli ta- 
nas do las Indias. 4to. Mad. 1637. 

Blanco (F. Matias Ruiz) Conversion 
tie Piritu de Indios Cumanagotos y 
otros. 12mo. Mad. 1090. 

Boturini Bcnaduci (Lorenzo) Idcade 
una nueva Historia general de la Ame- 
rica Septentrional, f undada sobre ma- 
terial copiosa de Figuras, Symbolas, 
Caracieres, Cantares, y Manuscritos de 
Autores Indios. 4to. Mad. 1746. 

Botello de Moraes y Vasconcellos 
(D. Francisco do) El Nuevo Mundo : 
Poema Heroyco. 4to. Barcelona, 1701. 

Botero Benes (Juan) Description de 
Todas las Provincias, Reynos, y Ciu- 
dades del Mundo. 4to. Girona, 1748. 

Brietius (Phil.) Paralela Geographise 
Veteris et Novae. 4to. Paris, 1648. 

Cabeza de Baca (Alvar. Nugnez) 
Kelacion de los Naufragios. Exst. Bar- 
cia Hist. Prim. torn. i. 

Examen Apologetico 

de la Historica Narration de los Nau- 
fragios. Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim. torn. i. 

Commentarios de lo 

euccedido duarante su gubierno del Rio 
de la Plata. Exst. ibid. 

Cabo de Vacca, Relatione de. Exst. 
Ramus, iii. 310. 

Cabota (Scbast.) Navigazione dc. 
Exst. Ramus, ii. 211. 

Cadamustus (Aloysius) Navigatio 
ad Terras incognitas. Exst. Nov. Orb. 
Gryncei, p. 1. 

Calancha (F. Anton, de la) Cronica 
moralizada del Orden de San Augustin 
on el Peru. fol. Barcelona, 1638. 

California — Diario Historico de los 
Viages dc Mar y Tierra hechos en 1768, 
al Norte de California di orden del 
Marques dc Croix Vi-rey de Nueva £s- 
pagna, &c. MS. 

Callc (Juan Diaz de la) Memorial 
Informatorio de lo que a su Magostad 
Provien de la Nueva Espagna y Peru. 
4to. 1645. 

Campomanes (D. Pedro Rodrig.) 
Antiguedad Maritima de la Republica 
de Cartago, con en Periplo de su Gene- 
ral Hannon traducido e illustrado. 4to. 
Mad. 1756. 

Discurso sobre el fo- 

rncnto de la Industria popular. 8vo. 
Mad. 1774. 

Discurso sobre la 

Educacion popular de los Artesanos. 
8vo. 5 voL Mad. 1775, &c. 



Caracas — Real Cedulade Fundacion 
de la Real Compagnia Guipuscoana 
de Caracas. 12mo. Alad. 1765. 

Caravantes (Fr. Lopez de) Rclacion 
de las Provincias que tiene el Govier- 
Ho del Peru, los Otficios que en el sa 
Provien, y la Hacienda que alii tiene 
su Magestad, lo que se Gasta dc cUa 
y le qucda Libre, Szc. &c. Dedicado al 
Marques de Santos Claros, Agr..o de 
1611. MS. 

Cardenas y Cano (Gabr.) Ensayo 
Chronologico para la Historia general 
de la Florida, fol. Mad. 1733. 

Carranzana (D. Gonqales) A Geo- 
graphical Description of the Coasts, 
(fcc. of the Spanish West Indies. 8vo. 
Lond. 1740. 

Casas (Bart, de las) Brevissima Re- 
lacion dc la Destruycion do las Indias. 
4to. 1552. 

(Bart, de las) Narratio Icon- 

ibus illustrata per Theod. de Bry. 4to. 
Oppent. '614. 

(Bart, de las) An Account of 

the firsts oyages and Discoveries of the 
Spaniarnj hi America. 8vo. Lond. 1693. 

Cassa^j ; (P. Joseph) Historia de la 
Provincia de Compagnia de Jesus del 
Nucvo Reyno de Granada, fol. Mad. 
1741. 

Castanhcda (Fern. Lop. de) Historia 
do Dcscobrimento e Conquista de India 
pelos Portugueses, fol. 2 vol. Lisb. 1552. 

Castellanos (Juan de) Primera y Se- 
cunda de las Elegias de Varones Illus- 
tres de Indias. 4to. 2 vol. Mad. 1583. 

Castillo (Bernal Dias del) Historia 
Vcrdodcra de la Conquista de Nueva 
Espagna. fol. Mad. 1632. 

Castro, Figueroa y Salazar (D. Pe- 
dro de) Relacion di su ancimiento j 
servicios. 12mo. 

Cavallero (D. Jos. Garcia) Brieve 
Cotejo y Valance de las Pesas y Medi- 
das di varias Nacioncs, rcducidas a las 
que Corren en Castilla. 4to. Mad. 1731. 
Cepeda (D. Fern.) Relacion Universal 
del Sitio en quo esta fundada la Ciu- 
dad de Mexico, fol. 1637. 

Cie<;a dc Leon (Pedro de) Chronica 
del Peru. fol. Seville. 1533. 

Cisneros (Diego) Sitio, Naturaleza, 
y Propriedades de laCiudad do Mexico. 
4to. Mexico. 1618. 

Clenicnte (P. Claudio) Tablas Chro 
nologicas, en que contiencn los Suce- 
SOS Ecclesiasticos y Secularcs de Indias. 
4to. Val. 1689. 

Cogullado (P. Fr. Diego Lopez) 
Historia de Yucatan, fol. Mad. 1688. 

CoUecao dos Brives Pontificos e 



SPANISH BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. 



11 



I,eyes Regias quo Forao Expedidos 
y Publicadas desde o Anno 1741, sobre 
a la Liberdada das Pessoas bene e 
Commercio dos Indos dc Bresil. 

CoUeccion General de la Providen- 
cias hasta aqui tomadas par el Gobier- 
no sobre el Estragnimento, y Occupa- 
cion deTemporalidades de los Regulares 
de la Compagnia de Espagna, Indias, 
&c. Partes IV. 4to. Mad. 1767. 

Colon (D. Fernando) La Historia 
del Almirante D. Christoval Colon. 
Exst. BarciaHist. Prim. I. 1. 

Columbus (Christ.) Navigatio qua 
multas Rcgiones hactenus incognitas 
invenit. Exst. Nov. Orb. Gryna^i, p. 90. 

(Ferd.) Life and Actions of 

his Father Admiral Christoph. Colum- 
bus. Exst. Churchill's Voyages, ii. 479. 

Compagnia Real de Commercio para 
las Islas de S'o- Domingo Puerto-rico, 
y la Margarita. 12mo. 

Compendio General de las Contri- 
buciones y gattos que occasionan todos 
los effectos, frutos, caudales, &c. que tra- 
fican entre los reynos de Castilla y 
America. 4to. 

Concilios Provinciales Primero y Se 
gundo celebrados en la muy Noble y 
muy Leal Ciudad de Mexico en los Ag- 
nos de 1555 y 1565. fol. Mexico, 1769. 

Concilium Mexicanum Provinciale 
tertium celebratum Mexici, anno 1585. 
fol. Mexici, 1770. 

Continente Americano, Argonauta 
de las costas de Nucva Espagna y 
Tierra Firme. 12mo. 

Cordeyro (Antonio) Historia Insula- 
na das Ilhas a Portugas sugeytas no 
Oceano Occidental, fol. Lisb. 1717. 

Corita (Dr. Alonzo) Breve y suraa- 
ria Relacion de los Segnores, Manera, 
y Differencia de ellos, que havia en la 
Nueva Espagna, y otras Provincias sus 
Comarcanas, y de sus Leyes, Usos, y 
Costumbres, y de la Forma que tenian 
en Tributar sus Vasallos en Tiempo de 
su Gentilidad, &:c. MS. 4to. pp. 307. 

Coronada (Fr. Vasq. dc) Sommario 
di due sue Lettere del Viaggio fatto del 
Fra. Marco da Nizza al sette Cilta de 
Cevola. Exst. Ramusio iii. 354. 

(Fr. Vasq. de) Relacion 

Viaggio alle sette Citta. Ramus, iii. 359. 

Cortes (Hern.) Quattro Cartas diri- 
gidas al Emperador Carlos V. en que 
ha Relacion de sus Conquistas en la 
Nueva Espagna. Exst. Barcia Hist. 
Prim. tom. i. 

Cortessii (Ferd.) Delnsulisnuper in- 
ventis Narrationes ad Car. V. fol. 1532. 



Cortese (Fern.) Relacioni, &:c. Exct. 
Ramusio ii. 225. 

Cubero (D. Pedro) Peregrinacion 
del Mayor Parte del Mundo. Zaragoss. 
4to. 1688. 

Cumaua, Govierno y Noticia de. fol. 
MS. 

Davila Padilla (F. Aug.) Historia de 
la Fundacion y Discurso de Provincia de 
St. Jago de Mexico, fol. Bruss. 1625. 

(Gil Gonzalez) Teatro 

Ecclesiastico de la Primitiva Iglesia de 
los Indias Occidentales. fol. 2 vols. 1649. 

Documentos tocantesalaPcrsecucion, 
que los Regulares de la Compagnia sus- 
citaron contra Don B. do Cardenas 
Obispo de Paraguay. 4to. Mad. 1768. 

Echaveri (D. Bernardo Ibagnez dc) 
El Reyno Jesuitico del Paraguay. 
Exst. tom. iv. CoUeccion de Documen- 
tos. 4to. Mad. 1770. 

Echavey Assu (D.Francisco de) La 
Estrfellade Limacovertida en Sol sobre 
sur tres Coronas, fol. Amberes, 1688. 

Fguiara El Egueren (D. J. Jos.) Bib- 
liotheca Mexicana, sive Eruditorum 
Historia Virorum in America Borcali 
natorum, &c. tom. prim. fol.Mex. 1775. 
N. B. No more than one volume of this 
work has been published. 

Ercilla y Zuniga (D. Alonzo de) La 
Araucana: Poema Eroico. fol. Mad. 
1733. 

2 vols. 8vo. Mad. 1777. 

Escalona (D. Caspar de) Gazophy- 
lacium Regium Peruvicum. fol. Mad, 
1775. 

Faria y Sousa (Manuel de) Historia 
del Reyno de Portugal. fol.Amber.1730. 

Faria y Sousa, History of Portugal 
from the first Ages to the Revolution 
under John IV.. 8vo. Lond. 1698. 

Fernandez (Diego) Prima y secunda 
Parte de la Historia del Peru. fol. Se- 
vill. 1571. 

(P. Juan Patr.) Relacion 

Historial do las Missioncs de los Indias 
que claman Chiquitos. 4to. Mad. 1726. 

Feyjoo (Benit. Gcron.) Espagnolos 
Americanos — Discurso VI. del. tom. iv. 
del Teatro Critico. Mad. 1769. 

Solucion del gran Pro- 

blema Historico sobre la Poblacion de 
la America — Discurso XV. del tom. 
V. de Teatro Critico. 

(D. Miguel) Relacion De- 

scriptiva de la Ciudad y Provincia 
Truxiilo del Peru. fol. Mad. 1763. 



12 



A CATALOGUE OF 



Freyre (Ant.) Piratas de la America. 
4 to. 

Frasso (D. Petro) De Regio Patronatu 
Indiarum. fol.2 vols. Matriti, 1775. 

Galvao (Antonio) Tratado dos Des- 
cobrimeiitos Antigos y Modernos. fol. 
Lisboa, 1731. 

Galvano (Ant.) the Discoveries of 
the World from the first Original unto 
the Year 1355. Osborne's Collect, ii. 
354. 

Gamboa (D. Fran. Xavier de) Co- 
mentarios a los ordinanzas de Minas. 
fol. Mad. 1761. 

Garcia (Gregorio) Historia Ecclesi- 
astica y Seglar de la India Oriental y 
Occidental, y Predicacion de la Santa 
Evangelia en ella. 12mo. Baeca, 1626. 

(Fr. Gregorio) Origen de los 

Indies del Nuevo Mundo. fol. Mad. 1729. 

Gastelu (Ant. Velasquez) Arte de 
Lengua Mexicana. 4to. Puibla de los 
Angeles. 1716. 

Gazeta de Mexico por los Annos 
1728, 1729, 1730. 4to. 

Girava (Hieronymo) Dos Libros de 
Cosmographia. Milan, 1556. 

Godoy (Diego de) Relacion al H. 
Cortes, qua trata del Descubrimiento 
di diversas Ciudade?, y Provincias, y 
Guerras que tuio con los Indios. Exst. 
Barcia Hist. Prim. torn. i. 

Lettcra a Cortese, Sic. Exst. 

Ramusio iii. 300. 

Gomara (Fr. Lopez de) La Historia 
general de las Indias. 12mo. Anv.1554. 

Historia general de las Indias. 

Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim. tom. ii. 

(Fr. Lopez de) Chronica de 

laNuevaEspagnao Conquistade Mex- 
ico. Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim. tom. ii. 

Guatemala — Razon puntual de los 
Successos mas memorabiles, y de los 
Estragos y dannos que ha padecido la 
Ciudad do Guatemala, fol. 1774. 

Gumilla (P.Jos.) El Orinoco illustra- 
doydefendido; Historia Natural, Civil, 
y Geographica de este Gran Rio, &c. 
4to. 2tom. Mad. 1743. 

Histoire Naturelle, Civile, et 

G^ographiquede POrenoque. Traduite 
par M. Eidous. 12mo. tom. iii. Avig. 
1738. 

Gusman (Nugno de) Relacion scritta 
in Omitlan Provincia de Mechuacan 
dolla maggior Spagna nell 1530. Exst. 
Ramusio iii. 331. 

Henis (P. Thadeus) Ephemerides 
Belli Guiaranici, ab Anno 1734. Ex^l. 



CoUeccion general de Docum, tom. 
iv. 

Hernandes (Fran.) Plantarum Ani- 
malium, et Mineralium Mexicanorum 
Historia. fol. Rom. 1651. 

Herrera (Anton, de) Historia gene- 
ral de los Ilechos de los Caetellanos on 
las Islas y Tierra Firma de Mar Ocea- 
no. fol. 4 vols. Mad. 1601. 

Historia General, Sic. 4 vola. 

Mad. 1730. 

General History, Sic. Trans- 
lated byStephens. 8vo. 6 volLond.1740. 

Descriptio Indice Occidenta- 

lis. fol. Amst. 1622. 

Huemez y Horcasitas (D. .Juan 
Francisco de) Extracto de los Aut03 
de Diligencias y reconocimicntos de Iob 
rios, lagunas, vcrtientes, y dcsaguas de 
Mexico y su valie, &c. fol. Mex. 1748. 

Jesuitas — CoUeccion de las applica- 
ciones que se van haciendo de los Cie- 
nes, Casas y Coligios que fueron de la 
Compagnia de Jesus, expatriados de 
estos Reales dominios. 4to. 2 vols. 
Lima, 1772 y 1773. 

CoUeccion General de Pro- 

videncias hasta aqui tomadas por el 
Gobierno sobre el Estrannamiento y 
Occupacion de temporalidades, de los 
Regulares de la Compagnia de Espag- 
na, Indias, e Islas Filipmas. 4to. Mad. 
1767. 

Retrato de los Jesuitas for- 

mado al natural. 4to. 2 vols. Mad. 1768. 

Relacion Abbreviada da Re- 

publicaque os Religiosos Jesuitas esta- 
belcceraon. 12mo. 

Idea del Origen, Gobierno, 

&c. de la Compagnia de Jesus. 8vo. 
Mad. 1768. 

Lcevinins (ApoUonius) Libri V. de 
Peruvioe Invention, et rebus in eadem 
gestis. 12mo. Ant. 1367. 

Leon (Fr. Ruiz de) Hernandia, Poe- 
ma Heroyco de Conquista de Mexico. 
4to. Mad. 1753. 

(Ant. dc) Epitome de la Biblio- 

theca Oriental y Occidental, Nautica 
y Geografica. fol. Mad. 1737. 

Lima : A true Account of the Earth- 
quake which happened there 28th of 
October, 1746. Translated from the 
Spanish. 8vo. London, 1748. 

Lima Gozosa, Description de las fes- 
tibas Demonstraciones, con que esta 
Ciudad celebr6 la real Proclamacion 
de el Nombre Augusto del Catolico 
MonarchoD. Carlos III. Lim.4to. 1760. 



SPANISH BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. 



13 



Llano Zapata (D. Jos. Euseb.) Pre- 
liminar al Tomo 1. de las Memorias 
Historico-Physicas, Critico-Apologeti- 
cas do la America Meridional. 8vo. 
Cadiz, 1759. 

Lopez. (D. Juan Luis) Discurso His- 
torico Politico en deleuso de la Juris- 
dicion Real. fol. 168.5. 

(Thorn.) Atlas Geographico de 

la America Septentrional y I\leridional. 
12mo. Par. 1758. 

Lorenzana (D. Fr. Ant.) Arzobispo 
de iMexico, ahora dc Toledo, Historia 
de Nueva Espagna, escrita por su Es- 
clarecido Conquistador Hernan. Cor- 
tes, Aumentada con otros Documentos 
y Notas. fol. Mex. 1770. 

Lozano (P. Pedro) Description Cho- 
rogiaphica, del Terretorios, Arboles, 
Aniniales del Gran Ciiaco, y de los Ri- 
tes y Costumbres de las innumerabiles 
Naciones que la habitan. 4to. Cordov. 
1733. 

Historia de la Compagnia de 

Jesus en la Provincia del Paraguay, 
fol. 2 vols. Mad. 1753? 

Madriga (Pedro de) Description du 
Gouverneinent du Perou. Exst. Voy- 
ages qui ont servi a TEtablisspment de 
la Comp. des Indes, torn. ix. 105. 

Mariana (P. Juan de) Discurso de 
les Enfermedadcs de la Compagnia de 
Jesus. 4to. Mad. 1658. 

Martinez de la Puente (D. Jos.) 
Compcndio de las Historiasde los Des- 
cubrimientos, Conqui.stas, y Guerras 
de la India Oriental, y sus Islas, desde 
los Tiempos del Infante Don Enrique 
de Portugal su Inventor. 4to. Mad. 
1681. 

Martyr ab Angleria (Petr.) Do Re- 
bus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe Decades 
tres. 12rao. Colon. 1574. 

De Insulis nuper inventis, 

et de Moribus Incolarum. Ibid. p. 329. 

Opus Epistolarum. fol. 

Amst. 1670. 

11 Sommario cavato della 

sua Historia del Nuevo Mundo. Ra- 
musio iii. i. 

Mata (D. Geron. Fern, de) Ideas po- 
liticas y morales. 12mo. Toledo, 1640. 

Mechuacan — Relacion de las Cere- 
monias, Ritos, y Poblacion de los In- 
dies de Mechuacan hecha al I. S. D. 
Ant. de Mendoza Vi-rey de Nueva 
Espagfna. fol. MS. 

Melendez (Fr. Juan) Tesoros Vcr- 
daderos de las Indias Historia de la 
Provincia de S. Juan Baptista del Peru, 



del Orden de Predicadores. fol. 3 vols. 

Rom. 1681. 

Memorial Adjustado por D. A. 
Fern, de Heredia Gobernador de Ni- 
caragua y Honduras, fol. 1753. 

Memorial Adjustado contra los OflB- 
ciales de Casa do Moneda a Mexico de 
el anno 1729. fol. 

Mendoza (D. Ant. de) Lettera al 
Imperatore del Descoprimento della 
Terra Firma della N. Spagna verso 
Tramontano. Exst. Ramusio iii. 355. 

(Juan Gonz. de) Historia del 

gran Reyno de China, con un Itinera- 
rio del Nucvo Mundo. 8vo. Rom. 1585. 

Miguel (Vic. Jos.) Tablas de los Su- 
cesos Ecclesiasticos en Africa, Indias 
Orientales y Occidentales. 4to. Val. 
1689. 

Miscellanea Economico-Politico, &:c. 
fol. Pampl. 1749. 

JNIolina (P. F. Anton.) Vocabulario 
Casteilano y Mexicano. fol. 1571. 

Monardes(El Dottor) Primera y Se- 
gunda y Tercera Parte de la Historia 
Medicinal, de las Cosas que se traen de 
nuestras Indias Occidentales, que sir- 
ven en Medicina. 4to. Sevilla, 1754. 

Moncada (Sancho de) Restauracion 
Politica de Espagna, y de seos Publi- 
cos. 4to. Mad. 1746. 

Morales (Ambrosio de) Coronica 
General de Espagna. fol. 4 vols. Alca- 
la, 1574. 

Moreno y Escaudon (D. Fran. Ant.) 
Descripcion y Estado del Virreynato 
de Santa F^, Nuevo Reyno de Grana- 
da. &c. fol. MS. 

Munoz (D. Antonio) Discurso sobre 
Economia politica. 8vo. Mad. 1769. 

Nizza (F. Marco) Relatione del Viag- 
gio fatta per Terra al Cevole, Regno di 
cette Citta. Exst. Ramus, iii. 356. 

Nodal — Relacion del Viage que hicie- 
ron los Capitanes Earth, y Gonz. de 
Nodal al descubrimiento del Estrecho 
que hoy es nombrado de Maire, y re- 
conocimiento del de Magellanes. 4to. 
Mad. 

Noticia Individual de los derechoB 
segun lo reglado en ultimo provecto de 
1720. 4to. Barcelona, 1732.' 

Neuva Espagna — Historia fle los In- 
dies dcNueva Espagna dibidida en tres 
Partes. En la primera trata de los Ri- 
tos, Sacrificios y Idolatrias del Tiempo 
de su Gentilidad. En la seguiida de su 
maravillosa Conversion a la F6, y mo- 
do de celebrar las Fiestas de Neustra 
Santa Iglesia. En la tercera del Go- 



!4 



A C A T A L o (> U £ OF 



nio y Caractcr de aquella Gente ; y 
Figuras con que iiolaban sus Aconte- 
ciinientos,con otras particularidades ; y 
Noticias de las principales Ciudades an 
aquel Reyno. Escrita en cl Agno 1541 
por uno de los doce lleligiosos Francis- 
cos que primero passaron a entender en 
su Conversion. MS. fol. pp. 618. 

Ogna (Pedro de) Arauco Domado. 
Poema. 12mo. Mad. 1605. 

Ordenanzas del Conscjo real de las 
Indias. fol. Mad. 1681. 

Ortega (D. Casiiniro de) Refumen 
Historjco del primer Viagc hecho al 
redcdor del Mundo. 4to. Alad. 1769. 

Ossorio (Jerome) History of the 
Portuguese during the Reign of Em- 
manuel. 8vo. .2 vols. Loud. 175;^. 

Ossorius (Hieron.) De Rebus Ema- 
nuelis LusitaniiB Regis. 6vo. Col. 
Agr. 1752. 

Ovalle (Alonso) Historica Relacion 
del Reyno de Chili, fol. Rom. 1646. 

An Historical Relation of the 

Kingdom of Chili. E.xst. Churchill's 
Collect, iii. 1. 

Oviedo y Bagnos (D. Jos.) Historia 
de la Conquista y Publicaciori de Vene- 
zuela, fol. Mad. 1723. 

Sommaria, (fee. Exst. Ra- 

musio iii. 44. 

(Gonz. Fern, de) Relacion 

Sommaria de la Historia Natural de los 
Indias. Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim. tom. i. 

Historia Generale et Natu- 

ralc dell Indie Occidentale. Exst. 
Ramusio iii. 74. 

Relatione dclla Navigatione 

por la grandissima Flume Maragnon, 
Exst. Ramus, iii. 415. 

Palacio (D. Raim. Mig.) Discurso 
Economico Politico. 4to. ]Mad. 1778. 

Palafox y Mendoza (D. Juan) Vir- 
tudes del Indios, o Naturaliza y Cos- 
tumbres de los Indios de N.Espagna. 4to. 

Vic de Venerable Dom. Jean 

Palafox Evequedel'Angelopolis. 12mo. 
Cologne, 1772. 

Pegna (Juan Nugnez de la)Conquista 
y Antiguedades de las Islas de Gran 
Canaria. 4to. Mad. 1676. 

Pegna Montenegro (D. Alonso de la) 
Ituierario para Parochos de Indios, en 
quo tratan les materias mas particu- 
lares, tocantes a ellos para se buen ad- 
ministracion. 4to. Amberes, 1754. 

Penalosa y Mondragon (Fr. Benito 
de) Cinco Excellencius del Espagnol 
que des peublan a Espagna. 4to. 
Pampl. 1629 



Peralta Barnucvo (D. Pedro de 
Lima fundada, o Conquista del Peru, 
Poema Eroyco. 4to. Lima, 1732. 

Calderon (D. Mathias de) EL 

Apostol de las Indias y nueves gentes 
San Francisco Xavier de la Compagnia 
de Jesus Epitome de sus Apostolicos 
Hechos. 4to. Pampl. 1665. 

Pereira de Berrido (Bernard.) An- 
nales Historicos do Estado do Maran- 
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Peru — Relatione d'un Capitano 
Spagnuolo del Descoprimento y Con- 
quista del Peru. Exst. Ramus, iii. 371. 

Relatione d'un Secretario do 

Franc. Pizarro della Conquista del 
Peru. Exst. Ramusio iii. 371. 

Relacion del Peru. MS. 

Pesquisa de los Oydores de Panama 
contra D. Jayme Mugnos, fcc. por ha- 
verlos Commerciado illicitamente en 
tiempo de Guerra. fol. 1755. 

Philipinas — Carta que escribe un 
Rcligioso antiguo de Philipinas, a un 
Amigo suyo en Espagna, que le pre- 
gunta cl Naturel y Gcnio de los Indios 
Naturales de estas Islas. MS. 4to. 

Piedrahita (Luc. Fern.) Historia 
general de las Conquistas del Nuevo 
Reyno do Granada, fol. Ambres. 

Pinelo (Ant. de Leon) Epitome de 
la Bibliotheca Oriental y Occidental 
en que so continen los Escritores de 
las Indias Orientales y Occidentales. 
fol. 2 vols. JNlad. 1737. 

Pinzoniussocius AdmirantisColumbi 
— Navigatio et Res per eum repertOB. 
Exst. Nov. Orb. Grynaei, p. 119. 

Pizarro }• Orellana (D.Fern.) Varones 
aiustres del N. Mundo. fol. Mad. 1639. 

Planctus Judorum Christianorum in 
America Peruntina. 12mo. 

Puente (D. Jos. Martinez de la) 
Compcndio de las Historias de los Des- 
cubrimientos de la India Oriental y sua 
Islas. 4to. Mad. 1681. 

Quir (Ford de) Terra Australis in- 
cognita ; or a new Southern Discovery, 
containing a fifth part of the World, 
lately found out. 4to. Lond. 1617. 

j Ramusio (Giov. Battista) Racolto 
I delle Navigationi e Viaggi. fol. 3 vols. 
Venet. 1588. 

Real Compagnia Guipuzcoana de 
Caracas, Noticias historiales Practicas, 
de los Sucesos y Adelantamientos de 
esta Compagnia desde su Fundacion 
en 1728 hasta 1764. 4to. 1765. 

Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos 
de las Indias. fol. 4 vols. Mad. 1756. 



SPANISH BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS. 



IS 



Reglamento y Aranceles Reales para 
el Commercio de Espajna a Indias. 

Relatione d'un Gentiibuomo del Sig. 
Fern. Cortese della gran Citta Temis- 
tatan, Mexico, et della altre cose delle 
Nova Spagna. Exst. Ramus, iii. 304. 

Rernesal(Fr.Ant.)Historia general de 
las Indias Occidentales j particular de 
la G ovcmacion dc Chiapa a Guatimala. 

Ribadenejra (De Diego Porlichuelo) 
de Relacion del Viage desde qui salio 
de Lima, hasta que lllego a Espagna. 

Ribadeneyra y Barrientos (D. Ant. 
Joach.) Manuel Compcndio de el Rcgio 
Patronato Indiano. Ibl. Mad. 1755. 

Ribas (Andr. Perez de) Historia de 
los Triumphos de Xuestra Sta Fe,entre 
Gentes la mas Barbaras, en las Mis- 
siones de Nueva Espagna. Mad. 1645. 

Riol (D.'SantiagOj Represcntacion 
a Philipe V. sobre el Estado actual de 
los Papeles universales de la Monar- 
chia. MS. 

Ripia (Juan de la) Practica de la 
Administracion y CoLranza de las ren- 
tas reales. fol. Mad. 1768. 

Rocha Pitta (.Sobastiano de) Historia 
de America Portougueza desde o Anno 
de 1500 du su Descobrimento ate o de 
1724. fol. Lisboa, 1730. 

Rodriguez (Manuel) Explicacion de 
la Bulla de la Santa Cruzada. 1589. 

(P. Man.) El Maragnon y 

Amozonas Historia de los Descubrimi- 
entos,Entradas y Redacion deXaciones. 

Roman (Hieron.) Republicas del 
Mundo. fol. 3 vols. 'Mad. 15y5. 

Roma y Rosell (De Franc.) Las scg- 
nales de la felicidad de Espagna y me- 
dios de hacerlas efncaces. JIad. 1768. 

Rosende (P. Ant. Gonz. de) Vida del 
Juan de Palafox Arzobispo de Mexico. 

Ptubaclava (Don Jos. Gutierrez de) 
Tratado Histonco-Politico y Legal de 
el Commercio de las IndiasOccidentales. 

Ruiz (P. Ant.) Conquista Espiritual 
hecha por los Religiosos de la Com- 
pagnia de Jesus, en las Provincias de la 
Paraguay, Uraguay, Parana y Tape. 

Salazar de Mendoza (D. Pedro) Mo- 
narquia de Espagna, torn. i. ii. iii. 

y Olarte (D. Ignacio) His- 
toria de la Conquista de Mexico — 
Segunda parte. Cordov. 1743. 

Salazar de Mendoza y Zevallos (D. 
Alonz. Ed. de) Constitucionos y Orde- 
nanzas antiguas Agnadidas y Modemas 
de la Real Universidad y estudio gene- 
ral sle San Marcos de la Ciudad dc los 
Reyes del Peru. fol. En la Ciudad 
de los Reyes, 1735. 



Sanchez (Ant. Ribero) Dissertation 

sur I'Origine de la ilaladie Venerienne, 
dans laquelle on prouve qu"elle n'a 
point 6t& port^e de TAmerique. 1765. 

Sarmisnto de Gamboa (Pedro de) 
Viage el Estrecho de Magellanes. 1768. 

Santa Cruz (El Marq.) Commercio 
Suelto y en Conipanias General. 1732. 

Sta. Domingo, Puerto Rico, y Marga- 
rita, Real Corcpagnia de Commercio. 

Scheraidel (Hulderico) Historia y 
Discubrimiento del Rio de la Plata y 
Paraguay. Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim, 
torn. iii. 

Scbara da Sylva (Jos. de) Recueil 
Chronologique et Analytique de tout 
ce qu'a fait en Portugal la Soci6te dite 
de Jesus, depuis son Entree dans ce 
Royaume en 1540 jusqu'^ son Expul- 
sion 1759. 12mo. 3 vols. Lisb. 1769. 

Segni (D. Diego Raymundo) Anti- 
quario Noticiosa General de Espagna 
y BUS Indios. 12mo. 1769. 

Sepulveda (Genesius) Dialogus de 
justis Belli Causis, praesertim in Indos 
Novi Orbis. MS. 

(Jo. Genesius) Epist. Lib.VIL 

Sepulveda de Regno. Libri III. 1570, 

Seyxas y Lovero, (D. Fr.) Theatro 
Naval Hydrographico. 4to. 1648. 

Descripcion Gcographica y 

Derrotera de la Religion Austral Ma- 
gellanica. 4to. Mad. 1690. 

Simon (Pedro) Noticias Historiales 
de las Conquistas de Tierra Firmc en 
las Indias Occidentales. Cuenca, 1627. 

Solis (D. Ant. de) Historias de las 
Conquistas de Mexico. Mad. 1684. 

History Df the Conquest of ilex 

ico. — Translated by Townshend. 1724 

Solarzono y Pereyrra (Joan) Politica 
Indiana, fol. 2 vols. Mad. 1776. 

De Indianun Jure, sive dc justa 

IndiarumOccidentaliumGubematione. 

Obras Varias posthumas. 1776. 

Soto y Marne (P. Franc, de) Copia de 
la Relacion de Viage qui desde la Ciudad 
de Cadiz a la Cartagena de Indias hizo. 

Spilbergenet Le Maire SpeculumOri- 
entalis Occidentalisque Navigationuni, 

Suarez de Figueroa (Chris.) Hechos 
de D. Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza. 

Tanco (Luis Bezerra) Felicidad de 
ilexico en la admirable Aparicion deN. 
Signora di Guadalupe. Mad. 1745. 

Tarra£rones (Hieron. Gir.) DosLibros 

de Cosmographia. 4to. Milan, 1556. 

Techo (F. Nichol. de). The History 

of the Provinces Paraguay, Tucuman, 

I Rio de la Plata, ice. Exst. Cburchiira 

I CoU. vi. 3. 



16 



A CATALOGUE OF SPANISH BOOKS, &c. 



Torquemada (Juan de) Monarquia 
Indiana, fol. 3 vols. Mad. 1723. 

Torres (Sim. Per. de) Viago del 
Mundo. Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim. iii. 

(Franc. Caro de) Historia de 

las Ordenes Militares do Santiago, Ca- 
latrava y Alcantara, desde su Funda- 
cion hasta el Key D. Felipe II. Ad- 
ministrador perpetuo dcilas. 1629. 

Torribio (P. F. Jos.) Aparato para 
la Historia Natural Espagnala, fol. 
Mad. 1754. 

Dissertacion Historico-Politica 

y en mucha parte Geographica de las 
Islas Philipinas. 12mo. Mad. 1753. 

Totanes (F. Sebastian de) Manual 
Tagalog para auxilio de Provincia de 
las Philipinas. 4to. Samplai en las 
Philipinas. 1745. 

Ulloa (D. Ant. de) Voyage Historique 
de I'Amerique Meridionale. 4to. 2 tom. 
Paris, 1752. 

(D. Ant. do) Noticiae Ameri- 

canas, Entretenimientos Physicos-His- 
toricos, sobre la America Meridional y 
la Septentrional Oriental. Mad. 1772. 

(D. Bern, de) Restablecimiento 

de las Fabricas, Trafico, y Commercio 
maritinio de Espagna. IVIad. 1740. 

(Franc.) Navigatione per scop- 

rire Flsole delle Specierie fine all Mare 
detto Vermejo nel 1539. Exst. Ramus, 
iii. 339. 

(D. Bernardo) Retablissement 

des Manufactures et du Commerce 
d'Espagne. 12mo. Amst. 1753. 

Uztanz (D. Geron.) Theoria y Prac- 
tlca de Commercio y de Marina, fol. 
Mad. 1757. 

The Theory and Practice of 

Commerce, and Maritime Affairs. 8vo. 
2 vols. Lond. 1751. 

Verages (D. Thom. Tamaio de) Re- 
stauraci(m do la Ciudad del Salvador y 
Baia de Todos Sauctos en la Provincia 
del Brasil. 4to. Mad. 1628. 

Vargas Machuca (D. Bern. de)Milicia 
yDescripcion do las Indias. Mad. 1699. 

Vega (Garcilasso de la) Histoire de 
la Conqugte de la Floride. Traduite 
par Richelet. 12ino. 2tom. Leyd. 1731. 

Royal Commentaries of Peru, 

by Rycaut. fol. Lond. 1688. 

Vega (L'Ynca Garcilasso de la) His- 
toires des Guerres Civiles des Lspag- 
Roles dans les Indee, par Baudoin. 1648. 

Veitia Linage (Jos.) The Spanish 
Rule of Trade to the West Indies. 

Declamacion Oratoria en 

Defensa de D. Jos. Fern. Veitia Linage. 



Veitia Linage Norte de la Contra- 
tacion de las Indias Occidentales. fol. 
Sevill. 1672. 

Venegas (Miguel), a Natural and 
Civil History of California. 8vo. 2 vole. 
Lond. 1759. 

Verazzano (Giov.) Relatione delle 
Terra per lui scoperta nel 1524. Exst. 
Ramusio iii. p. 420. 

Vesputius (Americus) Duaj Naviga- 
tiones sub Auspiciis Ferdiiiandi, <Sic. 
Exst. de Bry America. Pars X. 

Navigatio prima, secunda, 

tertia, quarta. Exst. Nov. Orb. Gry- 
nffii, p. 155. 

Viage de Espagna. 12mo. 6 tom. 
Mad. 1776. 

Victoria (Franc.) Relationes Theolo- 
gies de Indis et de Jure Belli contra eos. 

VierayClavijo(D. Jos.)Noticiasdela 
Historia general de las Islac de Canaria. 

Villalobos (D. Juan de) Manifesto 
sobre la introduccion de esclavos Negros 
en las Indias Occidentales. 4to. 1682. 

Villagra (Gasp, de) Historia de Nu- 
eva RIexico, Poema. Alcala, 1610. 

Villa Segnor y Sanchez (D. Jos. Ant.) 
Theatro Americano. Descripcion ge- 
neral de los Reynos y Provincias de la 
Nueva Espagna. 2 tom. Mex. 1746. 

Res puesta sobre el precio 

de Azogue. 4to. 

Vocabulario Brasiliano y Portugues. 
4to. MS. 

Ward (D. Bernardo) Proyecto Eco- 
nomico sobre la poblacion de Espagna, 
la agricultura en todos bus ramos, y de 
mas establecimientos de industria, co- 
mercio con nuestra marina, arreglo de 
nuestra intereses en America, libertad 
del comercio en Indias, &;c. MS. 

Xercs (Franc, de) Verdadera Relacion 
de laConquista del Peru y Provincia da 
Cuzco, Embiada al Emperador Carlos V. 
Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim. tom. iii. 

Relatione, &;c. &c. Exst. 

Ramusio iii. 372. 

Zarate (Aug. de) Historia del Des- 
cubrimiento y Conquista de la Provin- 
cia del Peru. Exst. Barcia Hist. Prim, 
tom. iii. 

Histoire de la D^couverte et 

de la Conquete du Perou. Paris, 1742. 

Zavala y .'\ugnon (D. Miguel de) 
Represcntacion al Rey N. Segnor D. 
Philipe V. dirigida al mas seguro Au- 
nionto del Raal Erario. 1732. 

Zevallos (D. Pedro Ordognez de) 
Historia y Viagc del Mundo. 1091. 






THE 



HISTORY OF AMERICA. 



BY WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D.D. 

raiNCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, E 1 C. ETC. 



THE 



HISTORY OF AMERICA. 



BOOK I. 



The prog^-ess of men, in discovering and peopling the various parts of the 
earth, has been extremely slow. Several ages elapsed before they removed 
far from those mild and fertile regions in which they Avere originally placed 
by their Creator. The occasion of their first general dispersion is known ; 
but we are unacquainted with the course of their migrations, or the time 
when they took possession of the dlQerent countries which they now inhabit. 
Neither liistory nor tradition furnishes such information concerning these 
remote events, as enables us to trace, with any certainty, the operations of 
tlie human race in the infancy of society. 

We may conclude, however, that all the early migrations of mankind 
were made by land. The ocean which surrounds the habitable earth, as 
well as the various arms of the sea which separate one region from another, 
though destined to facilitate the communication between distant countries, 
seem, at first view, to be formed to check the progress of man, and to mark 
the bounds of that portion of the globe to which nature had confined him. 
It was long, we may believe, before men attempted to pass these formidable 
barriers, and became so skilful and adventurous as to commit themselves 
to the mercy of the winds and waves, or to quit their native shores in quest 
of remote and unknown regions. 

Navigation and shipbuilding are arts so nice and complicated, that they 
require the ingenuity, as well as experience, of many successive ages to 
bring them to any degree of perfection. From the raft or canoe, which 
first served to carry a savage over the river that obstructed him in the chase, 
to tbe construction of a vessel capable of conveying a numerous crew with 
safety to a distant coast, the progress in improvement is immense. Many 
efforts would be made, many experiments Avould be tried, and much labour 
as well as invention would be employed, before men could accomplish this 
arduous and important undertaking. The rude and imperfect state in which 
navigation is still found among all nations which are not considerably civil- 
ized, corresponds with this account qf its progi-ess, and demonstrates that 
in early times the art was not so far improved as to enable men to undertake 
distant voyages, or to attempt remote discoveries. 

As soon, however, as the art of navigation became known, a new species 
of correspondence among men took place. It is from this era that we 
must date the commencement of such an intercourse between nations as 
deserves the appellation of commerce. Men arc, indeed, far advanced in 
improvement betbre commerce becomes an object of great importance to 
them. They must even have made some considerable progress towards 
civilization, before they acquire the idea of property, and ascertain it so 

Vol. I. —3 3 



18 HISTORY OF [BookI. 

perfectly as to be acquainted with the most simple of all contracts, that of 
exchanging by barter one rude commodily for another. But as soon as this 
important riu:ht is established, and every individual feels that he has an 
exclusive title to possess or to alienate whatever he has acquired by his 
own labour and dexterity, the wants and ingenuity of his nr.iure suggest 
to him a new method of increasing his acquisitions and enjoyments, by 
disposing of what is superfluous in his own stores, in order to procure 
what is necessary or desirable in those of other men. Thus a commercial 
intercourse begins, and is carried on am.ong the members of the same com- 
munity. By degrees, they discover that neighbouring tribes possess what 
they themselves want, and enjoy comforts of which they wish to partake. 
In the same mode, and upon the same principles, that domestic traffic is 
carried on within the society', an external commerce is established with 
other tribes or nations. Their mutual interest and mutual wants render this 
intercourse desirable, and imperceptibly introduce the maxims and laws 
which facilitate its progress and render it secure. But no very extensive 
commerce can take place between contiguous provinces, Avhose soil and 
climate being nearly the same }n"eld similar productions. Remote countries 
cannot convey their commodities, by land, to those places where on 
account of their rarity they are desired, and become valuable. It is to navi- 
gation that men are indebted for the power of transporting the superfluous 
stock of one part of the earth to supply the wants of another. The luxu- 
ries and blessings of a particular climate are no longer confined to itself 
alone, but the enjoyment of them is communicated to the most distant 
regions. 

In proportion as the knowledge of the advantages derived from naviga- 
tion and commerce continued to spread, the intercourse among nations ex- 
tended. The ambition of conquest, or the necessity of procuring new set- 
tlements, were no longer the sole moti\es of visiting distant lands. The 
desire of^gain became a new incentive to activity, roused adventurers, and 
sent them forth upon long voyages, in search ot countries Avhose products 
or wants might increase that circulation which nourishes and gives vigour 
to commerce. Trade proved a great source of discover}^ : it opened un- 
known seas, it penetrated into new regions, and contributed more than any 
other cause to bring men acquainted with the situation, the nature, and com- 
modities of the different parts of the globe. But even after a regular com- 
merce was established in the world, after nations were considerably civil- 
ized, and the sciences and arts were cultivated with ardour and success, 
navigation continued to be so imperfect, that it can hardly be said to have 
advanced beyond the infancy of its improvement in the ancient world. 

Among all the nations of antiquity, the structure of their vessels was ex- 
tremely rude, and their method of working them very defective. Tliey 
were unacquainted with several principles and operations in navigation, 
which are now considered as the fii'st elements on which that science is 
founded. Though that property of the magnet hj which it attracts iron 
was well known to the ancients, its more important and amazing virtue of 
pointing to the poles had entirely escaped their observation. Destitute of 
this faithful guide, which now conducts the pilot with so much certainty in 
the unbounded ocean, during the darkness of night, or when the heavens are 
covered with clouds, the ancients had no other method of regulating their 
course than by observing the sun and stars. Their navigation was of con- 
sequence uncertain and timid. They durst seldom quit sight of land, but 
crept along the toast, exposed to all the dangers, and retarded by all the ob- 
structions, unavoidable in holding such an awkward course. An incredible 
length of time was requisite for performing ^oyages which are now 
finished in a short space. Even in the mildest climates, and in seas the 
least tempestuous, it was only during the summer months that the ancients 
ventured out of their harbours. The remainder of the year was lost in in- 



AMERICA. 19 

activitv It would have been deemed most inconsiderate rashness to have 
braved the fury ot" the Avirds and waves during winter.* 

\Vhile both the science and practice of navigation continued to be so de- 
fective, it was an undertaking of no small difficulty and danger to visit any 
remote region of the earth. Under every disadvantage, however, the 
active ■spirit of commerce exerted itself. The Egj^ptians, soon after the 
establisiunent of their monarchy, are said to have opened a trade between tlie 
Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, and the western coast of the great Indian conti- 
nent. The commodities which they imported from the East, were carried 
by land from the Arabian Gulf to the banks of the Nile, and conveyed down 
that river to the Mediterranean. But if the Egyptians in early times ap- 
plied themselves to commerce, their attention to it was of short duration. 
The fertile soil and mild climate of Egypt produced the necessaries and 
comforts of life with such profusion, as rendered its inhabitants so inde- 
pendent of other countries, that it became an established maxim among that 
people, whose ideas and institutions differed in almost every point from 
those of other nations, to renounce all intercourse with foreigners. In con- 
sequence of this, they never went out of their own country ; they held all 
seafaring persons in detestation, as impious and profane ; and fortifying 
their own harbours, they denied strangers admittance into them.t It was in 
the decline of their power, and when their veneration for ancient maxims 
had greatly abated, that they again opened their ports, and resumed any 
communication with foreigners. 

The character and situation of the Phenicians were as favourable to the 
spirit of commerce and discovery as those of the Egyptians were adverse 
to it. They had no distinguishing peculiarity in their manners and institu- 
tions ; they were not addicted to any singular and unsocial form of super- 
stition ; they could mingle with other nations without scruple or reluctance. 
The territory which they possessed was neither large nor fiertile. Com- 
merce Avas the only source from which they could derive opulence or 
power. Accordingly, the trade carried on by the Phenicians of Sidon and 
Tyre, was more extensive and enterprising than that of any state in the an- 
cient world. The genius of the Phenicians, as well as the object of their 
policy and the spirit of their laws, were entirely commercial. They were 
a people of merchants, who aimed at the empire of the sea, and actualljr 
possessed it. Their ships not only frequented all the ports in the Medi- 
terranean, but they were the first who ventured beyond the ancieiit boun- 
daries of navigation, and, passing the Straits of Gades, visited the v/estern 
coasts of Spain and Africa. In many of the places to which they resorted, 
they planted colonies, and communicated to the rude inhabitants some 
knowledge of their arts and improvements. While they extended their dis- 
coveries towards the north and the west, they did not neglect to penetrate 
into the more opiilent and fertile regions of the south and east. Having 
rendered themselves masters of several commodious harbours towards the 
bottom of the Arabian Gulf, they, after the example of the Egyptians, esta- 
blished a regular intercourse with Arabia and the continent ol India on the 
one hand, and with the eastern coast of Africa on the other. From these 
countries they imported many valuable commodities unknown to the rest 
of the world, and during- a long period engrossed that lucrative branch ol 
commerce without a rival, [l] 

The vast wealth which the Phenicians acquired by monopolizing the 
trade carried on in the Red Sea, incited their neighbours the Jews, under 
the prosperous reigns of David and Solomon, to aim at being admitted to 
some share of it. This they obtained, partly by their conquest of Idumea, 
■which stretches along the Red Sea, and partly by their alliance with Hi- 

• Vegitiua de Re railit. lib. iv. t Diod. Bicul. tib. i. p. 78. ed. WesBoUngii. Amst. 1733. 3tn- 
bo, lib. xvii. p, 1142. ed. Amet. lTO7. 



20 HISTORY OF [Book I. 

ram, kin? of Tyre. Solomon fitted out fleets, which, under the direction of 
Phenician pilots, sailed from the Red Sea to Tarshish and Ophir. These, 
it is probable, were ports in India and Africa, which their conductors were 
accustomed to frequent, and from them the Jewish ships returned with such 
valuable cargoes as suddenly diffused wealth and splendour through the 
Kingdom of Israel.* But the singular institutions of the Jews, tfie ob- 
servance of which was enjoined by their divine Legislator, with an inten- 
tion of preserving them a separate people, uninfected by idolatry, formed 
a national character, incapable of that open and liberal intercourse with 
strangers which commerce requires. Accordingly, this unsocial genius of 
the people, together with the disasters which befell the kingdom of Israel, 
prevented the commercial spirit which their monarchs laboured to introduce 
and to cherish, from spreading among them. The Jews cannot be num- 
bered among the nations which contributed to improve navigation, or to ex- 
tend discovery. 

But though the instructions and example of the Phenicians were unable 
to mould the manners and temper of the Jews, in opposition to the tendency 
of their laws, thsy transmitted the commercial spirit with facility, and 
in full vigour, to their own descendants the Carthaginians. The common- 
wealth ot Carthage applied to trade and naval affairs, with no less ardour, 
ingenuity, and success, than its parent state. Carthage early rivalled and 
soon surpassed Tyre in opulence and power, but seems not to have aimed 
at obtaining any share in the commerce with India. The Phenicians had 
engrossed this, and had such a command of the Red Sea as secured to them 
the exclusive possession of that lucrative branch of trade. The commercial 
activity of the Carthaginians Avas exerted in another direction. Vv'ithout 
contending for the tiade of the East %vilh their mother country, they extend- 
ed tlieir navigation chiefly towards the west and north. Following the 
course ^vhich the Phenicians had opened, they passed the Strai-ts of Gades, 
and pushing their discoveries far beyond tiiose of the j)arent state, visited 
not only all the coasts of Spain, but those of Gaul, and penetrated at last 
into Britain. At the same time that they acquired knowledge of new coun- 
tries in this part of the globe, they gradually carried their researches towards 
the south. They made considerable progress by land into the interior pro- 
vinces of Africa, traded with some ot them, and subjected others to their 
empire. They sailed along the western coast of that great continent alnx>st 
to the tropic of Cancer, and planted several colonies, in order to civilize the 
natives and accustom them to commerce. They discovered the Fortunate 
Islands, now known by the name of the Canaries, the utmost boundary of 
ancient navigation in the western ocean.f 

Nor Avas the progress of the Phenicians and Carthaginians in their 
knowledge of the globe, owing entirely to the desire of extending their 
trade from one country to another. Commerce was followed by its usual 
effects among both these people. It awakened curiosit)', enlarged the ideas 
and desires of men, and incited them to bold enterprises. Voyages were 
undertaken, the sole object of which Avas to discover new countries, and to 
explore unknown seas. Such, during the prosperous age of the Cartha- 
ginian republic, were the famous navigations of Hanno and Himlico. Both 
their fleets were equipped by authority of the senate, and at public ex- 
pense, flanno Avas directed to steer tOAvards the south, along the coast of 
Africa, and he seems to haA-e advanced much nearer the equinoctial line 
than any former navigator.j Himlico had it in charge to proceed toAvards 
the north, and to exaniine the Avestern coasts of the European continent.§ 
Of the same nature Avas the extraordinary navigation of th'T Phenicians 

* Mimoirr sur le Pavs d'Opliir, par M. d'Anville, Mem. de I'.Acadi^m. dog TnR'ript. &c. 1cm. 
XXX. 83. t I'liiiii Nat. Mist. lib. vi. c. 37. edit, in usum Delpli. 4:o. "08.). i Plinii Iwil. Hi.n. lib.v. 
c. 1. Har.uonis Pe.iplus np. r;pn?raph. minores, edit. Hudsoiii, vol. i. p. 1. ^ Pliiri \at. Hist. lib. 
I' c. 67. Festus Avienus apud Bochart. Geogr. Sacer. lib. i. c. CO. p. 6r>2. Oper.'vol. iii. L. Cat. 1707. 



AMERICA. 21 

round Africa. A Phemcian fleet, we are told, fitted out by Necho king of 
Egypt) took its departure about six hundred and four years before the 
Christian era, from a port in the Red Sea, doubled the southern promontory 
of Africa, and after a voyage of three years returned bj^ the Straits of 
Gades to the mouth of the Nile.* Eudoxus of Cyzicus is said to have heli 
the same course, and to have accomplished the same arduous undertaking.! 

Tiiese voyages, if performed in the manner which I have related, may 
justly be reckoned the greatest effort of navigation in the ancient world ; 
and if we attend to the imperfect state of the art at that time, it is ditTicult 
to determine whether we should most admire the courage and sagacity 
with which the design was formed, or the conduct and good fortune with 
which it was executed. But unfortunately all the original and authentic 
accounts of the Phenician and Carthaginian voyages, whether undertaken 
by public authority or m prosecution of their private trade, have perished. 
The information which we receive concerning them from the Greek and 
Roman authors is not only obscure and inaccurate, but if we except a short 
narrative of Haiino's expedition, is of suspicious authority. [2] Whatever 
acquaintance with the remote regions of the earth tlie Fheniciansor Cartha- 
ginians may have acquired, was concealed from the rest of mankind with a 
mercantile jealousy. Eveiy thing relative to the course of their navigation 
was not only a mystery of trade, but a secret of state. Extraordinary facts 
are related concerning their solicitude to prevent other nations from pene- 
trating into what they wished should remain undivulged.J Many of their 
discoveries seem, accordingly, to have been scarcely known beyond the 
precinctsof their own states. The navigation round Africa, in particular, is 
recorded by the Greek and Roman writers rather as a strange amusing tale, 
which they did not comprehend or did not believe, than as a real transac- 
tion which enlarged their knowledge and influenced their opinions. [3] As 
neither the progress of the Phenician or Carthaginian discoveries, nor the 
extent of their navigation, were communicated to the rest of mankind, all 
memorials of their extraordinary skill in naval affairs seem, in a great mea- 
sure, to have perished, when the maritime power of the former was anni- 
hilated by Alexander's conquest of Tyre, and the empire of the latter was 
overttirned by the Roman arms. 

Leaving, then, the obscure and pompous accounts of the Phenician and 
Carthaginian voyages to the curiosity and conjectures of antiquaries, history 
must rest satisfied with relating the progress of navigation and discovery 
among the Greeks and Romans, Avhich, though less splendid, is better as- 
certained. It is evident that the Phenicians, who instructed the Greeks in 
many other useful sciences and arts, did not communicate to them that ex- 
tensive knowledge of navigation which they themselves possessed ; nor did 
the Piomans imbibe that commercial spirit and ardour for discovery which 
distinguished their rivals die Carthaginians. Though Greece be almost 
encompassed by the sea, which formed many spacious bays and commo- 
dious harbours : though it be surrounded by a great number of fertile islands, 
yet, notwithstanding such a favourable situation, which seemed to invite 
that ingenious people to apply themselves to navigation, it was long before 
this art attained any degree of perfection among them. Their early voy- 
ages, the object of which was piracy rather than commerce, were so incon- 
siderable that the expedition of the Argonauts from the coast of I'hessaly 
to the Euxine Sea, appeared such an amazing effort of skill and courage, 
as entitled the conductors of it to be ranked among the demigods, and ex« 
alted the vessel in which they sailed to a place among the heavenly con- 
stellations. Even at a later period, when the Greeks engaged in the famous 
enterprise against Troy, their knowledtre in naval affairs seems not to have 
been much improved. According to the account of Homer, the only poet 

• Herodot. lib. iv. c. 43. t Plinii iVat. Hist. lib. ii c. 67. t Suab. Geogr. lib. iii. p. 365. lib.xviiJ. 
1164. 



22 HISTORY OF [Book I. 

to whom histoiy ventures to appeal, and who, by his scrupulous accuracy 
in describinc:^ the manners and arts of early ai^es, merits this distinction, the 
science of iiavioalion at that time had hardly advanced beyond its rudest 
state. Tlie Greeks in tlie heroic a^e seem to have been unacquainted vvitli 
the use of iron, the most serviceable of all the metals, witliout which no 
considerable prog;ress was ever made in the mechanical arts. Their ves- 
sels were of inconsiderable burden, and mostly without decks. They had 
only one mast, Avhich was erected or taken down at pleasure. They were 
strangers to the use of anchors. Ail their operations in sailing; were clumsy 
and unskilful. They turr)ed their observations towards stars, which were 
improper for regulating their course, and their mode of observing them was 
inaccurate and fallacious. When they had finished a voyage they drew 
their paltry barks ashore, as savages do their canoes, and these remained on 
dry land until the season of returning to sea approached. It is not then in 
the early heroic ages of Greece that we can expect to observe the science 
of navigation, and the spirit of discover}", making any considerable progress. 
During that period of disorder and ignorance, a thousand causes concurred 
in restraining curiosity and enterprise within veiy narrow bounds. 

But the Greeks advanced with rapidity to a state of greater civilization 
and refinement. Government, in its most liberal and perfect form, began to 
be established in their different communities ; equal laws and regular po- 
lice were gradually introduced ; the sciences and arts which are useful or 
ornamental in life were carried to a high pitch of improvement ; and seve- 
ral of the Grecian commonwealths applied to conunerce with such ardour 
and success, that they were considered, in the ancient world, as maritime 
powers of the first rank. Even then, however, the naval victories of the 
Greeks must be ascribed rather to the native spirit of the pt;op!e, and to 
that courage which the enjoyment of liberty inspires, than to any extraordi- 
nary progress in the science of navigation. In the Persian war, those ex- 
ploits, which the genius of the Greek historians has rendered so famous, were 
performed by fleets composed chiefly of small vessels without decks ;* 
the crews of which rushed forward with impetuous valour, but little art, to 
board those of the enemy. In the war of Peloponnesus, their ships seem 
still to have been of inconsiderable burden and force. The extent of their 
trade, how highlj' soever it may have been estimated in ancient times, "was 
in proportion to this low condition of their marine. The maritime states 
of Greece hardly carried on any commerce beyond the limits of the Medi- 
terranean sea. Their chief intercourse was with the colonies of their country- 
men planted in the Lesser Asia, in Italy, and Sicily. They sometimes vi- 
sited the ports of Egypt, of the southern provinces of Gaul, and of Thrace ; 
or, passing through the Hellespont, they traded with the countries situated 
around the Euxine sea. Amaziirr instances occur of their ignorance, even 
of those countries which lay within the narrow precincts to which their 
navigation was confined. When the Greeks had assembled their combined 
fleet against Xerxes at Egina, they thought it unadvisable to sail to Samos, 
because they believed the distance between that island and Egina to be as 
great as the distance between Egina and the Pillars of Hercules.j They 
were either utterly unacquainted with ail the parts of the globe beyond the 
Mediterranean sea, or what knowledge they had of them was founded on 
conjecture, or derived trom the information of a tew persons vviiom curiosity 
and the love of science had prompted to travel by land into the Upper 
Asia, or by sea into Egypt, the ancient seats of wisdom and arts. After all 
that the Oreeks learned from them, they appear to have been ignorant of 
the most important facts on which an accurate and scientific knowledge of 
Ithe slobe is Ibunded. 

The expedition of Alexander the Great into the East considerably en- 

• Tiucyd. lib. i, o. 14. t Herodofc lib viii. c 031 



AKERICA. 23 

larged the sphere of navi2:ation and of geoe;raphicaI knowledge among the 
Greeks. That extraordinary man, notwithstanding the violent passions 
•which incited him at some times to the wildest actions and the most extra- 
vagant enterprises, possessed talents which fitted him, not only to conquer, 
but to govern the world. He was capable of framing those bold and ori- 
ginal schemes of policy, which gave a new form to human affairs. The 
revolution in commerce, brought about by the force of his genius, is hardly 
inferior to that revolution in empire occasioned by the success of his arms. 
It is probable that the opposition and efforts of the republic of Tyre, which 
clificked him so long in the career of his victories, gave Alexander an op- 
portunity of observing the vast resources of a maritime power, and convey- 
ed to him some idea of the immense wealth which the Tyrians derived 
from their commerce, especially that with the East Indies. As soon as he 
had accomplished the destruction of Tyre, and reduced Egj'pt to subjection, 
he formed the plan of rendering the empire which he proposed to establish, 
the centre of commerce as well as the seat of dominion. With this view 
he founded a great cit}', which he honoured with his own name, near one 
of the mouths of the river Nile, that by the Mediterranean sea, and the 
neighbourhood of the Arabian Gulf, it might command the trade both of the 
East and West.* This situation was chosen with such discernment, that 
Alexandria soon became the chief commercial city in the world. Not only 
during the subsistence of the Grecian empire in Egypt and in the East, but 
amidst all the successive revolutions in those countries trom the time of the 
Ptolemies to the discovery of the navigation by the Cape of Good Hope, 
commerce, particulaiiy that of the East Indies, continued to flow in the 
channel which the sagacity and foresight of Alexander had marked out 
for it. 

His ambition was not satisfied with having opened to the Greeks a com- 
munication with India by sea ; he aspired to the sovereignty of those regions 
which furnished the rest of mankind with so many precious commodities, 
and conducted his army thither by land. Enterprising, however, as he was, 
he may be said rather to have viewed than to have conquered that country. 
He did not, in his progress towards the East, advance beyond the banks of 
the rivers that fall into the Indus, which is now the western boundary of the 
vast continent of India. Amidst the wild exploits which distinguish this 
part of his history, he pursued measures that mark the superioiity of his ge- 
nius as well as the extent of his views. He had penetrated as far into India 
as to confirm his opinion of its commercial importance, and to perceive that 
immense wealth might be derived from intercourse with a country where 
the arts ol elegance, having been more early cultivated, were arrived at 
gr'^ater perfection than in any other part of the earth. t Full of this idea, he 
resolved to examine the course of navigation from the mouth of the Indus 
to the bottom of the Persian Gulf; and, if it should be found practicable, to 
establish a regular communication between them. In order to effect this, 
he proposed to remove the cataracts, with which the jealousy of the Per- 
sians, and their aversion to correspondence with foreigners, had obstructed 
the entrance into the Euphrates :J. to carry the commodities of the East up 
that river, and the Tiaris, which unites with it, into the interior parts of liis 
Asiatic dominions ; while, by the way of the Arabian Gulf and the river 
Nile, they might be conveyed to Alexandria, and distributed to the rest of 
the world. Nearchus, an officer of eminent abilities, was intrusted with the 
command of the tleet fitted out for this expedition. He performed this 
voyage, which was deemed an enterprise so arduous and important, that 
Alexander reckoned it one of the most extraordinary events which distin- 
guished his reign. Inconsiderable as it may now appear, it was at that 

• Strab. Geoer. lib. xvii. p 1143. 1140. t Strab. Gecgr. lib. xv. p. 1030. O. Curtius, lib. xvUJ. 
Ck 9. } Strab. G«ogr> lib. xvk p. 1073. 



24 HISTORYOF [Book 1. 

time an iimlertaking; of no little merit and difliciilty. In the prosecution of 
it, strikiiis; instances occur of the small progi-css which the Greeks had made 
in naval Kiiowlcdsze-t'O Having never sailed beyond the bounds of the 
Mediterranean, wliere the ebb and tlow of the sea are hardly perceptible, 
Avhen they i'nyl observed this phenomenon at the mouth of the Indus, it ap- 
peared to them a prodigy, by which the gods Icstilied the displeasure of 
heaven ag^aiiist their enterprise. [5] During their whole course, they seem 
never to have lost sight ol land, but followed the bearings of the coast so 
perviloiy, that they could not avail themselves of those periodical winds 
which facilitate navigation In the Indian ocean. Accordingly they spent 
no less than ten months in performing this voyage,* which, from the mouth 
of thfi Indus to that of the Persian Gulf, does not exceed twenty degrees. 
It is probable, that amidst the convulsions and frequent revolutions in the 
East, occasioned by the contests among the successors of Alexander, the 
navigation to Imlia by the coui-se which Ncarchus had opened was discon- 
tinued. The Indian trade carried on at Alexandria, not only subsisted, but 
was so much extended, under the Grecian monarchs of Egypt, that it proved 
a great source of the wealth -which distinguished their kingdom. 

The progress whrch the Romans made in navigation and discovery, Avas 
still more inconsiderable than that of the Greeks. The genius of the Ro- 
man people, their militaiy education, and the spirit of their laws, concurred 
in estranging them from commerce and naval affairs. It was the necessity 
of opposing a formidable rival, not the desire of extending trade, which 
first prompted them to aim at maritime power. Though they soon per- 
ceived, that in order to acquire the univei-sal dominion alter which they as- 
pired, it was necessary to render themselves masters of the sea, they still 
considered the naval service as a subordinate station, and reserved for it 
such citizens as were not of a rank to be admitted into the legions.f In 
the liistoiy of the Roman republic, hardly one event occurs, that marks 
attention to navigation any further than it was instrumental towards conquest. 
When the Roman valour and discipline had subdued all the maritime states 
known in the ancient A\orld ; when Carthage, Greece, and Egypt had sub- 
mitted to their power, the Romans did not imbibe the commercial spirit of 
the conquered nations. Among that people of soldiers, to have applied to 
trade would have been deemed a degradation to a Roman citizen. They 
abandoned the mechanical arts, commerce, and navigation, to slaves, to 
freednien, to provincials, and to citizens of the lowest cfnss. Even alter the 
subversion of liberty, when the severity and haughtiness of ancient manners 
began to abate, commerce did not rise into high estimation among the 
Romans. The trade of Greece, Egypt, and the other conquered countries, 
continued to be carried on in its usual channels, alter they were reduced 
into the form of Roman pro\ inces. As Rome w.-^s the capital of the world, 
and the seat of government, all the wealth and valuable productions of the 
provinces flo^ved naturally thither. The Romans, satisfied with this, seem 
to have sutTered commerce to remain almost entirely in the hands of the 
natives of the respective countries. The extent, hoAvevcr, of the Roman 

f)Ower, v\ hith reached over the greatest part of the known world, the vigi- 
ant inspection of the Roman magistrates, and die spirit of the Roman 
government, no less intelligent than active, gave such additional security to 
commerce as animated it with vew vigour. The union among nations was 
never so entire, nor the intercoui-se so perfect, as Avithin the bounds of this 
vast empire. Commerce, under the Roman dominion, was not obstructed 
by the jealousy of rival states, interrupted by tVequent hostilities, or limited 
by partial restrictions. One superintending power moved and regulated 
the industry of mankind, and enjoyed the fruits of their joint eflorts. 
Navigation felt its iniduence, and improved under it. As soon as the 

• Plhi. Hist K&U lib. vi. c. 2a t Polyb. Ub. v. 



AJW E R I C A. 2d 

Romans acquired a taste for the luxuries of the East, the trade with India 
through Egypt was pushed with new vigour, and carried on to greater 
extent. I^y trcquenting llie Indian continent, navigalor-s became acquainted 
with the periodical cour.'^e of the wind.<, whicli, in the ocean that separate?. 
Africa from India, blow with little variation during one half of the year from 
the east, and,during the other half blow with equal steadiness from the west. 
Encouraged by observing this, the pilots who sailed tiom Egypt to India 
abandoned their ancient slow and dangerous course along the coast, and, as 
soon as the Avestern monsoon set in, took their departure from Ocelis, at the 
mouth of the Arabian Gulf, and stretched boldly across the ocean.* The uni- 
form direction of the wind, supplying the place of the compass, and rendering 
the guidance of the stars less necessary, conducted them to the port of Musi- 
ris, on the western shore of the Indian continent. There they took on hoard 
their cargo, and, returning with the eastern monsoon, finished their voyage 
to the Arabian Gulf within the year. This part of India, now known by 
the name of the Malabar coast, seems to have been the utmost limit of 
ancient navigation in tiiat quarter of the globe. What imperfect knowledge 
the ancients had of the immense countries which stretch beyond this towards 
the East, they received from a few adventurers who had visited them by 
land. tSuch excursions were neither frequent nor extensive, and it is proba- 
ble that, while the Roman intercourse with India subsisted, no traveller 
ever penetrated further than to the banks of the Ganges.t[6j The fleets from 
Egypt which traded at Musiris were loaded it is true, with the spices and 
other rich commodities of the continent and islands of the further India ; but 
these were brought to that port, which became the staple of the commerce 
between the east and west, by the Indians Uiemselves in canoes hollowed 
out of one tree. J The Egyptian and Roman merchants, satis.*ied with 
acquiring those commodities in this manner, did not think it necessaiy to 
explore unknown seas, and venture upon a dangerous navigation, in quest ot 
the counliies which produced them. But though the discoveries of the Romans 
in India were so limited, their commerce there was such as will appear 
considerable, even to the present age, in which the Indian trade has been 
extended far beyond the practice or conception of any preceding period. 
We are informed by one author of credit,§ that the commerce with India 
drained the Roman empire every year of more than four hundred thousand 
pounds ; and by another, that one hundred and twenty ships sailed annually 
from the Arabian Gulf to that country. || 

The discovery of this new method of sailing to India, is the most con- 
siderable improvement in navigation made during the continuance of the 
Roman power. But in ancient times, the knowledg:e of remote countries 
was acquired more frequently by land than by sea ;[?] and the Romaas, from 
their peculiar disinclination to naval aflaii-s, may be said to have neglected 
totally the latter, though a more easy and expeditious method of discovery. 
The progress, however, of their victorious armies through a considerable 
portion of Europe, Asia, and Africa, contributed greatly to extend discovery 
by land, and gradually opened the navigation of new and unknown seas. 
Previous to the Roman conquests, the civilized nations of antiquity had 
little communication with those countries in Europe which now form its 
most opulent and powerful kingdoms. The interior parts of Spain and 
Gaul were imperfectly known. Britain, separated from the reit of the 
world, had never been visited, except by its neighbours the Gauls, and by a 
iew Carthaginian merchants. The name of Germany had scarcely been 
board of. Into all these countries the artns of the Romans penetrated. 
They entirely subdued Spain and Gaul ; they conquered the greatest and 
most fertile part of Britain ; they advanced into Germany, as far as the 

* riiii.Nat. Hist. rO). vi. c. 23. t Strab.Geosr. Mb. \v. p. lOOG—lOlO. J Plln. Nat. Hint 
lib. VI. c. 2(i. V Ibid. II Strab. Geogr. lib. ii. p. 179. 

Vol. I.— 4 



«6 HISTORY OF [Book 1. 

banks of the river Elbe. In Afiica, they acquired a considerable know- 
ledge of the provinces, which stretclied along the Mediterranean Sea, from 
Egypt westward to the Straits of Gades. Jn Asia, they not only subjected 
to their power most of the provinces which composed the Peisian and 
the Macedonian empires, but after their victories over Mithridates and 
Tigranes, they seem to have made a more accurate survey of the countries 
contiguous to the Euxine and Caspian seas, and to have carried on a more 
extensive trade than that of the Greeks with the opulent and commercial 
nations then seated round the Euxine sea. 

Fiom this succinct survey of discovery and navigation, which I have 
traced from the earliest dawn of historical knowledge, to the full esta- 
blishment of the Roman dominion, the progress of both appears to 
have been wonderfully slow. It seems neither adequate to what we 
might have expected tVom the activity and enterprise ot the human mind, 
nor to what might have been performed by the power of the great empires 
which successively governed the world. If we reject accounts that are 
fabulous and obscure ; if we adhere steadily to the light and information 
of authentic history, without substituting in its place the conjectures of 
fancy or the dreams of etymologists, we must conclude, that the knowledge 
which the ancients had acquired of the habitable globe was extremely 
confined. In Europe, the extensive provinces in the eastern part of Ger- 
many were little known to them. They were almost totally unacquainted 
with the vast countries which are now subject to the kings of Denmark, 
Sweden, Prussia, Poland, and the Russian empire. The mere barren 
regions that stretch within the arctic circle, were quite unexplored. In 
Afiica, their researches did not extend far beyond the provinces which 
border on the Mediterranean, and those situated on the western shore of 
the Arabian Gulf. In Asia, they were unacquainted, as I formerly observed, 
with all the fertile and opulent countries beyond the Ganges, which furnish 
the most valuable commodities that in modern times have been the great 
object of the European commerce with India ; nor do tbey seem to have 
ever penetrated into those inmiense regions occupied by the wandering 
tribes, which they called by the general name of Sarmatians or Scythians, 
and which are now possessed by Tartars of various denominations, and by 
.the Asiatic subjects of Russia. 

But there is one opinion, that universally prevailed among the ancients, 
which conveys a more striking idea of the small progress they had made 
in the knowledg-e of the habitable globe th?n can be derived from any 
detail of their discoveries. They supposed the earth to be divided into 
five regions, which they distinguished by the name of Zones. Two of 
these, which were nearest the poles, they termed Frigid zones, and believed 
that the extreme cold which reigned perpetually there rendered them unin- 
habitable. Another, seated under the line, and extending on either side 
towards the tropics, they called the Torrid zone, and imagined it to be so 
burned up with unremitting heat, as to be equally destitute of inhabitants. 
On the two other zones, which occupied the remainder of the earth, they 
bestowed the appellation of Temperate, and taught that these, being the 
only regions in which life could subsist, were allotted to man for his habita- 
tion. This wild opinion was not a conceit of the uninformed vulgar, or a 
fanciful fiction of the poet?, but a system adopted by the most enlightened 
philosophers, the most accurate historians and geographers in Greece and 
Rome. According to this theory, a vast portion of the habitable earth was 
pronounced to be unfit for sustaining the human species. Those fertile and 
populous regions within the torrid zone, which are now known not only to 
yield their own inhabitants the necessaries and comforts of life with most 
luxuriant profusion, but to communicate their superfluous stores to the rest of 
the world, were supposed to be the mansion of perpetual sterility and 
desolation. As all tne parts of the gldbe with which the ancients wtre 



AMERICA. 2 

acquainted lay within the nortliern temperate zone, their opinion that the 
other temperate zone was filled with inhabitants, was founded on reasoning^ 
and conjecture, not on discover} , They even believed that, by the intole- 
rable heat of the torrid zone such an insuperable barrier was placed 
between the two temperate regions of the earth as would prevent for ever 
any intercourse between their respective inhabitants. Thus, this extrava- 
gant theory not only proves that the ancients were unacquainted with the 
true state of the globe, but it tended to render their ignorance perpetual, by 
representing all attempts towards opening a communication with the remote 
regions of the earth, as utterly impracticable. [8] 

But, however imperfect or inaccurate the geographical knowledge which 
he Greeks and Romans had acquired may appear, in respect of the 
present improved state of that science, their progress in discovery will seem 
considerable, and the extent to which they carried navigation and commerce 
must be reckoned great, when compared with the ignorance of early times. 
As long as the Roman Empire retained such vigour as to preserve its authority 
over the conquered nations, and to keep them united, it was an object oi 
public policy, as well as of private curiosity, to examine and describe the 
countries which composed this great body. Even when the other sciences 
began to decline, geography, enriched with new observations, and receiving 
some accession from the experience of every age, and the reports of every 
traveller, continued to improve. It attained to the highest point of perfec- 
tion and accuracy to which it ever arrived in the ancient world, by the 
industiy and genius of Ptolemy the philosopher. He flourished in the 
second century of the Christian a;ra, and published a description of the ter- 
restrial glebe, more ample and exact than that of any of his predecessors. 

But, soon after, violent convulsions began to shake the Roman state ; the 
fatal ambition or caprice of Constantino, by changing the seat of govern- 
ment, divided and weakened its force ; the barbarous nations, which Pro- 
vidence prepared as instruments to overturn the mighty fabric of the 
Roman power, began to assemble and to muster their armies on its frontier : 
the empire tottered to its fall. During this decline and old age of the 
Roman state, it was impossible that the sciences should go on improving. 
The efforts of genius were, at that period, as languid and feeble as those of 

fovernment. From the time of Ptolemy, no considerable addition seems to 
ave been made to geographical knowledge, nor did any important revo- 
lution happen in trade, excepting that Constantinople, by its advantageous 
situation, and the encourag;ement of the eastern emperors, became a com- 
mercial city of the first note. 

At length, the clouds Avhich had been so long gathering round llie Roman 
empire burst into a stomn. Barbarous nations rushed in from several quar- 
ters with irresistible impetuosity, and in the general wreck, occasioned by 
the inundation which overwhelmed Europe the arts, sciences, inventions, 
and discoveries of the Romans perished in a great measure, and disap- 
peared.* All the various tribes which settled in die different provinces of 
the Roman empire were uncivilized, strangers to letters, destitute of arts, 
unacquainted with regular government, subordination, or laws. The man- 
ners and institutions of some of them were so rude as to be hardly compati- 
ble with a state of social union. Europe, when occupied by such inhabit- 
ants, may be said to have returned to a second infancy, and had to begin 
anew its career in improvement, science, and civility. The first effect of 
the settlement of those barbarous invaders was to dissolve the union by which 
the Roman power had cemented mankind together. They parcelled out 
Europe into many small and independent states, differing from each othel 
in language and customs. No intercourse subsisted between the members 
of those divided and hostile communities. Accuslomerl to a simple mode 

• Hleli of ChorlPH V. voU I 



28 H I S T O R Y F [Book 1. 

of life, and averee to industry, they had few wants to supply, and few super- 
fluities to dispose of. The names of stranger and enemy became once 
more words of the same import. Customs every where prevailed, and 
even laws were established, which rendered it disagreeable and dangerous 
to visit any foreign countiy.* Cities, in which alone an extensive commerce 
can be carried on, were few, inconsiderable, and destitute of those immuni- 
ties which produce security or excite enterprise. The sciences, on which 
geography and navigation are founded, were little cultivated. The accounts 
of ancient improvements and discoveries, contained in the Greek and 
Roman authors, were neglected or misunderstood. The knowledge of 
remote regions was lost, their situation, their commodities, and almost their 
names, were unknown. 

One circumstance prevented commercial intercourse with distant nations 
from ceasing altogether. Constantinople, though often threatened by the 
fierce invaders who spread desolation over the rest of Europe, was so tbr- 
tunate as to escape their destructive rage. In that city the knowledge of 
ancient arts and discoveries was presented ; a taste for splendour and ele- 
gance subsisted ; the productions and luxuries of foreign countries were in 
request ; and commerce continued to flourish there when it was almost 
extinct in every other part of Europe. The citizens of Constantinople did 
not confine their trade to the islands of the Archipelago, or to tlie adjacent 
coasts of Asia ; they took a wider range, and, ibllowing' the course which 
the ancients had marked out, imported the commodities of the East Indies 
from Alexandria. When Egypt was torn trom the Roman empire by the 
Arabians, the industry of the Greeks discovered a new channel by which 
the productions of India might be conveyed to Constantinople. They were 
carried up the Indus as far as that great river is navigable ; thence they 
were transported by land to the banks of the river Oxus, and proceeded 
down its stream to the Caspian sea. There they entered the Volga, and, 
sailing up it, were carried by land to the Tanais, which conducted them 
into the Euxine sea, where vessels from Constantinople waited their arrival. t 
This extraordinary and tedious mode of conveyance merits attention, not 
only as a proof of the violent passion which the inhabitants of Constantinople 
had conceived for the luxuries of the East, and as a specimen of the ardour 
and ingenuity with which they carried on commerce ; but because it 
demonstrates that, during the ignorance which reigned in the rest of Europe, 
an extensive knowledge of remote countries was still preserved in the capi- 
tal of the Greek empire. 

At the same time a gleam of light and knowled2;e broke in upon the 
East. The Arabians having contracted some relish for the sciences of the 

Eeople whose empire they had contributed to overturn, translated the 
ooks of" several of the Greek philosophers into their own language. One 
of the first was that valuable work of Ptolemy which I have already men- 
tioned. 'l"he study of geography became, oT consequence, an early object of 
attention to the Arabians. But that acute and ingenious people cultivated 
chiefly the speculative and scientific parts of geography. In order to ascer- 
tain the figure and dimensions of the terrestrial globe, they applied the 
principles of geometr}-, they had recourse to astronomical observations, they 
employed experiments and operations, which Europe in more enlightened 
times has been proud to adopt and to imitate. At that period, however, 
She fame of the im.provements made by the Arabians did not reach Europe. 
The knowledge of their discoveries was reserved for ages capable of com- 
prehending and of pertiscting them. 

_ By degrees the calamities and desolation brought upon the western pro- 
vinces of the Roman empire by its barbarous conquerors were forgotten, 
and in some measure repaired. The rude tribes which settled tliere 

• HisL of Charles V. f Ramusio, vol. i. p. 37S. F* 



AMERICA. 29 

acquiring inseasibly some idea of reg;^ular government, and some relish for 
the functions and comforts of civil life, Europe began to awake from its 
(omid and inactive state. The first S}'mptoms of revival were discerned 
in Italy. The northern tribes which took possession of this country, made 
progress in improvement with greater rapidity than the people settled in 
other parts of Europe. Various causes, w^hich it is not tbe object of this 
work to enumerate or explain, concurred in restoring liberty and independ- 
ence to the cities of Italy.* The acquisition of these roused industry, and 
fave motion and vigour to all the active powers of the human mind, 
oreign commerce revived, navigation was attended to and improved. 
Constantinople became the chief tnart to which the Italians resorted. There 
they not only met with a favourable reception, but obtained such mercan- 
tile privileges as enabled them to carry on trade with great advantage. 
They were supplied both w ith the precious commodities of the East, and 
with many curious manufactures, the product of ancient arts and ingenuity 
which still subsisted among the Greeks. As the labour and expense of con- 
veying the productions of India to Constantinople by that long and indirect 
course w^hich I have described, rendered them extremely rare, and of an 
exortjitant price, tbe industrj' of the Italians discovered other methods of 
procuring them in greater abundance and at an easier rate. They some- 
times purchased them in Aleppo, Tripoli, and other ports on the coast of 
Syria, to which they were brought by a route not unknown to the ancients. 
Thev were conveyed from India by sea up the Persian Gulf, and, ascending 
the Euphrates and Tigris as far as Bagdat, were carried by land across the 
desert of Palmyra, and from thence to the towns on the Mediterranean. 
But, from the length of the journey, and the dangers to which the caravans 
weie exposed, this proved alwaj-s a tedious and often a precarious mode of 
conveyance. At length the Soldans of Eprypt, having revived the commerce 
with India in its ancientchannel, by the Arabian Guff, the Italian merchants, 
notwithstanding the violent antipathy to each other with which Christians 
and the foUowersofMahomet were then possessed, repaired to Alexandria, and 
enduring, from the love of gain, the insolence and exactions ol' the Mahometans, 
established a lucrative trade in that port. From that period the commer- 
cial spirit of Italy became active and enterjwsing. \enice, Genoa, Pisa, 
rose from inconsiderable towns to be populous and wealthy cities. Their 
naval power increased ; their vessels frequented not only all the ports tn the 
Mediterranean, but venturing sometimes beyond the Straits, visited the 
maritime towns of Spain, France, the Low Countries, and England ; and, 
by distributing tlieir commodities over Europe, began to communicate to its 
various nations some taste for the valuable productions of the East, as well 
as some ideas of manufactures and arts, which were then unknown beyond, 
the precincts of Ital}'. 

While the cities of Italy were thus advancing in their career of improve- 
ment, an event happened, the most extraordinary, perhaps, in the history of 
mankind, which, instead of retarding the commeicial progress of the Italians, 
rendered it more rapid. The martial spirit of the Europeans, heightened 
and inflamed by religious zeal, prompted them to attempt the deliverance 
of the Holy Land from the dominion of Infidels. Vast armies, composed of 
all the nations in Europe, marched towards Asia upon this wild enterprise. 
Tbe Genoese, the Fisans, and Venetians, furnished the transports which 
carried them thither. They supplied them with provisions and military 
stores. Besides the immense sums which they received on this account, 
they obtained commercial privileges and establishments of great conse- 
quence in the settlements which tbe Crusaders made h) Palestine, and in 
other provinces of Asia. From those sources prodigious v/ealth flowed into 
the cities which I have mentioned. This was accompanied with a propor* 

• Hist, of Charles V. 



30 H I S T O R Y OF [Book I. 

tional increxse of power ; and, by the end of the Holy War, Venice in 
particular became a great maritime state, possessing an extensive commerce 
and ample territories.* Italy was not the only country in which the Cru- 
sades contributed to revive and diffuse such a spirit as prepared Europe for 
future discoveries. By their expeditions into Asia, the other European 
nations became well acquainted with remote regions, which formerly they 
knew only by name, or by the reports of ignorant and credulous pilgrims. 
They had an opportunity of observing the manners, the arts, and the accommo- 
dations of people more polished than themselves. This intercourse between 
the East and West subsisted almost two centuries. The adventurers who 
returned from Asia communicated to their countr)'men the ideas which they 
had acquired, and the habits of life they had contracted by visiting more 
refined nations. The Europeans began to be sensible of wants with which 
they were formerly unacquainted : new desires were excited ; and such a 
taste for the commodities and arts of other countries gradually spread among 
them, that they not only encouraged the resort of foreigners to their harbours, 
but began to perceive the advantage and necessity of applying to commerce 
themselves. t 

This communication, which was opened between Europe and 'the western 
provinces of Asia, encouraged several persons to advance far beyond the 
countries in which the Crusaders carried on their operations, and to travel by 
land into the more remote and opulent regions of the East. The wild fanati- 
cism, which seems at that period to have mingled in all the schemes of 
individuals, no less than in all the counsels of nations, first incited men to 
enter upon those long and dangerous peregrinations. They were aftenvards 
undertaken from prospects of commercial advantage, or from motives of 
mere curiosity. Benjamin, a Jew of Tudela, in the kingdom of Navarre, 
possessed with a superstitious veneration for the law of Moses, and solicitous 
to visit his countrymen in the East, whom he hoped to find in such a state 
of power and opulence as might redound to the honour of his sect, set out 
from Spain, in the year 1160, and, travelling by land to Constantinople, pro- 
ceeded through the countries to the north of the Euxine and Caspian seas, 
as far as Chinese Tartary. From thence he took his route towards the 
south, and after traversing various provinces of the further India, he em- 
barked on the Indian Ocean, visited several of its islands, and returned at 
the end of thirteen years, by the way of Egypt, to Europe, with much 
information concerning a lai^e district of the globe altogether unknown at 
that time to the western world.;}; The zeal of the head of the Christian 
church co-operated with the superstition of Benjamin the Jew in discovering 
the interior and remote provinces of Asia. All Christendom having been 
alarmed with the accounts of the rapid progress of the Tartar arms under 
Zengis Khan [1246], Innocent IV., who entertained most exalted ideas 
concerning the plenitude of his own power, and the submission due to his 
injunctions, sent Father John de Piano Carpini, at the head of a mission of 
Franciscan monks, and Father Ascolino, at the head of another of Domini- 
cans, to enjoin Kayuk Khan, the grandson of Zengis, who was then at the 
head of the Tartar empire, to embrace the Christian faith, and to desist 
from desolating the eartn by his arms. The haughty descendant of the 

?:reatest conqueror Asia had ever beheld, astonished at this strange mandate 
irom an Italian priest, whose name and jurisdiction were alike unknown to 
him, received it with the contempt which it merited, though he dismissed 
the mendicants who dehvered it with impunity. But, as they had pene- 
trated into the country by different routes, and followed for some time the 
Tartar camps, which were always in motion, they had opportunity of visit- 
ing a great part of Asia. Carpini, who proceeded by the way of Poland 

• Essai de I'Histoire du Commerce de Venise, p. 52, &.O. t Hist of Charles V. 

} B^Ofcron, Recucil dee Voyages, &o. totn i. p 1. 



AMERICA. 31 

and Russia, travelled throug:h its northern provinces as far as the extremities 
of Thibet. Ascolino, who seoms to have landed somewhere in Syria, 
advanced through its southern provinces Into the interior parts of Persia.* 

Not long after [l25J], St. Louis of France contributed further towards 
extending tlie knowledge which the Europeans had begun to acquire of those 
distant regions. Some designing impostor, who took advantage of _ the 
slenderacquaintance of Christendom with the state and character of the Asiatic 
nations, having informed him tliat a powerful Khan of the Tartars had 
embraced the^Christian faith, the monarch listened to the tale with pious 
credulity, and instantly resolved to send ambassadors to this illustrious 
convert, with a view of enticing him to attack their common enemy the 
Saracens in one quarter, while he fell upon them in another. As monks 
were the only peisons in that age who possessed such a degree of know- 
ledge as qualitied them for a service of this kind, he employed in it 
Father Andrew, a Jacobine, who was followed by Father William de 
Rubruquis, a Franciscan. With respect to the progress of the former, 
there is no memorial extant. The journal of the latter has been published 
He was admitted into the presence of Mangu, the tliird Khan in succession 
from Zengis, and made a circuit through the interior parts of Asia, more 
extensive than that of any European who had hitherto explored them.f 

To those travellers whom religious zeal sent forth to visit Asia, succeeded 
others who ventured into remote countries from the prospect of commercial 
advantage, or from motives of mere curiosity. The first and most eminent 
of these Was Marco Polo, a Venetian of a noble funily. Having engaged 
early in trade [1265], according to the custom of his country, his aspiring 
mind wished for a sphere of activity more extensive than was afforded to it 
by the established traffic carried on in those ports of Europe and Asia which 
the Venetians frequented. This prompted him to travel into unknown 
countries, in expectation of opening a commercial intercourse with them 
more suited to the sanguine ideas and hopes of a young adventurer. 

As his father had already carried some European commodities to the court 
of the great Khan of the Tartars, and had disposed of them to advantage, 
he resorted thither. Under the protection of Kuhlay Khan, the most 
powerful of all the successors of Zengis, he continued his mercantile pere- 
grinations in Asia upwards of twenty-six years : and during that time ad- 
vanced towards the east, far beyond the utmost boundaries to which any 
European traveller had ever proceeded. Instead of following the course 
of Carpini and Rubruquis, along the vast unpeopled plains of Tartary, he 
passed through the chief trading cities in the more cultivated parts of Asia, 
and penetrated to Cambalu, or Peking, the capital of the great kingdom of 
Cathay, or Chjna, subject at that time to the successois of Zengis. He 
made more than one voyage on the Indian ocean ; he traded in many of 
the islands from which Europe had long received spiceries and other com- 
modities which it held in high estimation, though unacquainted with the 
particular countries to which it was indebted for those precious productions : 
and he obtained information concerning several countries v.'hich he did not 
visit in person, particularly the island Zipangri, probably the same now 
known by the name of Japan.| On his return, he astonished his contempo- 
raries with his descriptions of vast regions whose names had never been 
heard of in Europe, and with such pompous accounts of their fertilit}-, their 
populousness, their opulence, the variety of their manufactures, and the 
t-.xtent of their trade, as rose far above the conception of an uninformed age 

^ About half a century after Marco Polo [1322], Sir John Mandeville, an 
iMiglishman, encouraged by his example, visited most of the countries in 
U'C East which he had described, and, like him, published an account of 

* llakluyt, i. 21. Bergeron, torn. 1. tHakl. i. 71. Recueil des Voyagea par Bergeron, torn. 1. 
I Vlaggi di -Marco Polo. Ramus, ii. 2. Bergeron, torn. ii. 



32 HISTORY OF [Book I. 

them.* The narrations of those early travellers abound -with many wild 
incoherent tales, concerning giants, enchanters, and monsters. But they 
were not from that circumstance less acceptable to an ignorant age, which 
delighted in what was marvellous. The wonders which they told, mostly 
on hearsay, filled the multitude with admiration. The facts which they 
related from their own observation attracted the attention of the more dis- 
cerning. The former, which may be considered as the popular traditions 
and fables of the countries through which they had passed, Avere gradually 
disregarded as Europe advanced in knowledge. The latter, however 
incredible some of them may have appeared in their own time, have been 
confirmed by the observations of modern travellers. By means of both, 
however, the curiosity of mankind was excited with respect to the remote 
parts of the earth ; their ideas were enlarged ; and they were not only 
insensibly disposed to attempt new discoveries, but received such informa- 
tion as directed to that particular course in which these were afterwards 
carried on. 

While this spirit was gradually forming in Europe, a fortunate discovery 
was made, which contributed more than all the efforts and ingenuity ol 
preceding ages to improve and to extend navigation. That wonderful pro- 
perty of the magnet, by which it communicates such virtue to a needle 
or slender rod of iron as to point towards the poles of the earth, was 
observed. The use which might be made of this in directing navigation 
was immediately perceived. That valuable, but now familiar instrument, 
the monger's compass, was constructed. When by means of it navigators 
found that, at all seasons and in every place, they could discover the north 
and south with so much ease and accuracy, it became no longer necessary 
to depend merely on the light of the stars and the observation of the sea- 
coast. They gradually abandoned their ancient timid and lingering course 
along the shore, ventured boldly into the ocean, and, relying on this new 
guide, could steer in the darkest night, and under the most cloudy sky, 
with a security and precision hitherto unknown. The compass may be 
said to have opened to man the dominion of the sea, and to have put him 
in full possession of the earth by enabling him to visit eveiy part oi' it. 
Flavio Gioia,a citizen of Amalfi, a town of considerable trade in the king- 
dom of Naples, was the author of this great discovery, about the year one 
thousand three hundred and two. It hath been often the fate of those iilus- 
tiious benefactors of mankind who have enriched science and improved 
the arts by their inventions, to derive more reputation than benefit from the 
happy efforts of their genius. But the lot of Gioia has been still more 
cruel : through the inattention or ignorance of contemporary historians, he 
has been defrauded even of the fame to which he had such a just title. 
We receive from them no information with respect to his profession, his 
character, the precise time when he made this important discovery, or the 
accidents and inquiries which led to it. The knowledge of this event, 
tliough productive of greater effects than any recorded in the annals of the 
human race, is transmitt-ed to us without any of those circumstances which 
can gratify the curiosity that it naturally awakens.j But though the use 
of tlie compass might enable the Italians to perform the short voyages to 
which they were accustomed with greater security and expedition, its in- 
fluence was not so sudden or extensive as immediately to render navigation 
adventurous, and to excite a spirit of discovery. Many causes combined 
in preventing this beneficial invention from producing its full effect instanta- 
neously. Men relinquisli ancient habits slowly and with reluctance. They 
are averse to new experiments, and venture upon them with timidity. The 
commercial jealousy of the Italians, it is probable, laboured to conceal the 

* Voyages and Travels, by Sir John Mandeville. t Collhias et Trombellus de Acus Nautice 
Invcntorc, Insiit. Acad. Bonon. torn. ii. part iii. p. 372. 



AMERICA. 33 

happy discovery of their countrymen from other nations. I'he art of 
steering !)y the'compass with such skill and accuracy as to inspire a full 
conii.lence in its direction, was acquired g-radually. Sailors unaccustomed 
to quit the si^ht of land, dui-sfnot laui,jh out at once and commit themselves 
t-o unknown seas. Accordingly, near half a century elapsed from the time 
of Gioia's discoveiy, before navi^^ators ventured into any seas which they 
had not been accustomed to frequent. 

The first appearance of a bolder spirit may be dated from the voyages 
of the Spaniards to the Canary or Fortunate Islands. By what accident 
they were led to the discovery of those small isles, which lie near five hun- 
dred miles from the Spanish coast, and above a hundred and fifty miles 
from the coast of Africa, contemporary writers have not explained. But, 
about the middle of the tburteenth century, the people of all the different 
kingdoms into which Spain was then divided, were accustomed to make 
piratical excursions thither, in order to plunder tlie inhabitants, or to carry 
them oli' as slaves. Clement VI. in virtue of the right claimed by the Holy- 
See to dispose of all countries possessed by infidels, erected those isles 
into a kingdom in the year one thousand three hundred and Ibrtj'-four, and 
conferred it on Lewis de la Cerda descended from the royal family ol 
Castile. But that unfortunate prince, destitute of power to assert his 
nominal title, having never visited the Canaries, John de Bethencourt, a 
Norman baron, obtained a grant of them from Henry III, of Castile.* 
Bethencourt, with the valour and good fortune which distinguished the 
adventurers of his countr}^ attempted and effected the conquest; and 
the possession of the Canaries remained for some time in his family, as a 
fief held of the crown of Castile. Previous to this expedition of Bethen 
court, his countrymen settled in Normandy are said to have visited the 
coast of Atrica. and to have proceeded far to the south of the Canary 
Islands [1:365]. But their voyages thither seem not to have been under- 
taken in consequence of any public or regular plan for extending navigation 
and attempting new discoveries. They were either excursions suggested 
by that roving piratical spirit which descended to the Normans from their 
ancestorsjor the commercid enterprises of private merchants, which attracted 
so little notice that hardly any memorial of them is to be found in contem- 
porary authors. In a general survey of the progress of discovery, it is 
suificient to have mentioned this event ; and leaving it among those of 
dubious existence, or of small importance, we may conclude, that though 
much additional information concerning the remote regions of the East had 
been received by travellers who visited them by land, navigation at the be- 
ginning of the fifteenth century had not advanced beyond the state to which 
it had attained before the downfal of the Roman empire. 

At length the period arrived, when Providence decreed that men were 
to pass the limits within which they had been so long confined, and open 
to themselves a more ample field wherein to display their talents, their 
enterprise, and courage. The first considerable efforts towards this were 
not made by any of the more powerful states of Europe, or by those who 
had applied to navigation 'with the greatest assiduity and success. The 
glory ot leading the way in this new career was reserved for PoitugaI,one 
of the stnallest and least powerful of the European kingdoms. As the 
attempts of the Portuguese to acquire the knowledge of those parts of the 
globe with which mankind were then unacquainted, not only improved and 
extended the art of navigation, but roused such a spirit of curiosity and 
enterprise as led to the discovery of the New World, of v-hich I propose to 
write the history, it is necessar}' to take a full view of the rise, the piogress, 
and success of their various naval operations. It was in this school that the 
discoverer of America was trained ; and unless we trace the steps by which 

'*' A'icra y Clavijo Notic. de la HLstor. de Canaria, i. 268, &c. Glas. Hut c. 1. 

Vol. 1.— 5 



34 HISTORY or LliooK 1. 

his insti-uctois and guides advanced, it will be impossible to ccmprehend 
the ciicun;staiices wliicii suggested the idea, or I'adiitated the execution, of 
his groat design. 

Various ciicumstar.ces prompted the Portuguese to exert their activity in 
this new aiieclion, ana enablca them to accou.plisii undertakings apparently 
superior to tlie nalural lorce otilieir monarchy. '1 he Iviiigs oi .Portugal, 
having- driven tiie Moors out ot tlieir dominions, had acquired pov\er as 
well i-s glory, by the success of tijeir anns against the intideis. By their 
victories over tliem, they had extended the ro}al authority Leyond tlje nar 
row limits within which it was origmaily circuniscrihed in I'ojtugal, as well 
as in other ieudal kingdoms. '1 hey had the command ol the national force, 
could rouse it to aci with united vigour, and, after the expulsion ol the 
Moors, could employ it without dread of interruption Irom any don-.esiic 
enemy. By tlie perpetual hostiii lies carried on lorseveral centuries against 
the iViahoinetans, the martial and adventurous spirit which distinguished all 
the European nations duiing the middle ages, was improved and heightened 
among the Portuguese. A tierce civil war towards the close of the four- 
teenth century, occasioned by a disputed succession, augmented the militaiy 
ardour ot the nation, and tonned or called lorth men of such active and 
daring genius as are ht lor bold undertakings. 'I he situation of the 
kinguom, bounded on every side by the dominions of a n.ore powerlul 
neighbour, did not alford tree scope to the activity of the Portuguese by 
land, as the strength of their nionarchy was no match lor that ot Castile. 
But Portugal was a maritime state, in which there were n:any comm.odious 
harbours ; the people had begun to make some progress in the knowledge 
and practice ot navigation, and the sea was open to them, piesenting the 
only tield of enterprise in which tliey could distinguish then^.selses. 

buch was the state of Portugal, arid such the disposition of the people, 
when John 1. surnamed the iiastard, obtained secure possession of the 
crown by the peace concluded with Castile, in the year one thousand four hun- 
dred and eleven. He was a prince of great merit, who, by superior courage 
and abilities, had opened his way to a throne which of right did not belong 
to him. He instantly perceived that it would be impossible to preserve 
public order, or domestic tranquillity, without iinding some employment for 
the restless spirit of his subjects. \v ith this view he assembled a numerous 
fleet at Lisbon, composed ol all the ships which he could fit out in his own 
kingdom, and of many hired from loreigneis. I'his great armament ^vas 
destined to attack the Moors settled on the coast of Barbary [ t412.] While 
it waa equipping, a lew vessels were appointed to sail a;ong the western 
shore of Atrica bounded by Uie Atlantic ocean, and to discover the unknown 
countries situated there. From this inconsiderable attempt, we may date 
the commencement of that spirit of discovery which opened the barriers 
chat had so long shut out mankind from the knowledge of one half of the 
terrestrial globe. 

At the time when John sent forth these ships on this new voyage, the art 
of navigation was still very imperfect. Though Alrica lay so near to Por- 
tugal, and the fertility of the countries alreauy known on that continent 
invited men to exploie it more fully, the Portuguese had never ventured to 
sail beyond Cape jYon. That promontoiy, as its name imports, was 
hitherto consideied as a boundary which could not be passed. Put tlie nations 
ol Kurope had now acquired as much knowledge as emboldened them to 
disregard the prejudices and to correct the errors of their ancestors. 'I'lie 
long reign of ignorance, the constant enemy of every curious inquiry and 
of every new undertaking, was approaching to its period. The light ot 
science began to dawn. The worivs of the ancient Greeks and l.omans 
began to be read with admiration and profit. 'I he sciences cultivated by 
the Arabians were introduced into Europe by the Moors settled in Spain 
aiid Portugal, and by Uxe Jews, who were vejy numerous in both these 



AMERICA. 35 

Kingdoms. Geometry, astronomy, and geography, the sciences on which 
the art of navig-alioii is Ibunded, becaire oljects of studious attention. 
The memory of the discovcrifs made by the nnci'Jtiis was icNivcd,and the 
pro-^icss of their t);ivia^a'ion and cu:niiit;ce began to be traced. Jioine of 
the cr:u>(;s which iiave obstructed tlu; cuitivr.lion of sciei.ce iij Poiii-ga!, 
during this century and the last, diJ not exist, or rii.l not operate in the .s;iine 
manner, in tlie tilteentii century ; [9] and t!ic Porlui^ueste at lliat yeucd 
seem to liave kept pace with other nations on this siJe of the Alps in lite- 
rajy pursuits. 

As die genius of the age favoured t)ie execution of Uiat new undertaking, 
to which the pecuhnr slate of the couiitry in\iled the fortuguese ; it proved 
«ucress;iih 'the vessels sent on the tiisco\eiy dcuLled ihat loriDidable 
Cape, wliich Iiad termin:tled the progress of tormer r.a\ iga'.ors, and pro- 
ceeded a hundred and sixty milts beyond i!, to Cape J.cjador. As 'is 
rocky cHffs, which sLretclied a considerable way into the Atlantic., apj:eared 
more dreadful than llie promontory winch tliey had passed, the PorUigutse 
commanders durst not attempt to sail round it, but returned to Lisbon, n.ore 
satisfied u iih having advanced so far, than ashamed of having ventured no 
further. 

Inconsiderable as this voyage was, it increased the passion for discover}' 
which began to arise in Fortiioal. The Ibitunate issue of the king's expe- 
dition against tiie Moors of Barbary added strength to that spiiit in the 
nnlion, and jmslied it on to now undertakings. In ordei to render Uiese suc- 
cesslii', it v.as necessary that they shonid be conducted by a person w!io 
possesseil aiiidties capa1)le of discerning what was attainable, who erjoyed 
leisure to tbrni a regular system lor prosecutiiig disco\ery, and who was 
animated witli ardour tiiat 'Aould persevere in spite of obstacles and re- 
pulses. Ilai'piiy l()r Portugal, she tiiund all those qualities i!i Henry Cuke 
ol' \'iseo, l!i(- !(>urth son ol' Kin'i; .lolin, by Phinppa of Lancaslei', sister of 
Henry IV. king ol' Kngland. That piitice, in his early yciith, Iiaviig ac- 
companied his father in his expculition to Barbary, flistin^uished hin.sclf 
hy many deeils of valour. To tlu; martial spiiit, which \vas the charac- 
teristic of f-\ciy man ol' noljle birth at that time, l:e added all the accoin 
plishments of a more enlightened arul polished age. He cultiva.ted the 
arts a.nd sciences, which were then unkr.own and despised by persons of 
liis rank. He applied with peculiar fondness to the study ot' g'jograj hy ; 
and by the instiuclion of able masters, as well as by *he accoimts of tra- 
vellers, he early acquiretl such knowledge of the habitable globe, as dis- 
covered the great probability of finding new and opulent countries, by sail- 
ing along the coast of Africa. Such an o!)ject was l(.)rmed to awakiMi the 
enthusiasm and ardour of a youtht'ul nund, antl he espoused with the utmost 
zeal the patronaa;e of a design which might prove as benetlcial as it ap- 
peared to he splendid and honourable. In onler that he might pursue this 
gieat scheme without interruption, he retired horn court immediately alter 
iiis return from Africa, and fixed his residence at Sagres, near Cape St. \"in- 
cent, where the prospect of tiie Atlantic ocean invited his thoughts con- 
tinually towards his lavourite pi()ject, and encouraged him to execute if. 
In this retreat he was attended by some of the most learned men in his 
country, who aided him in his researches. He api)iied for information to 
the jlfoors of Barbary', who were accustomed to travel by land into the 
interior provinces of Africa in quest of ivory, gold dust, and other rich 
commodities. He consulted the .lews settled in Portugal. By promises, 
rewards, and marks of r(;spect, he alluied into his stM-vice several pc.'isons, 
foreigners as well as Portuguese, ■who were eminent for their skill in navi- 
gation. In taking those preparatory steps, the great abilities of the prince 
were seconded by his private virtues. His integrity, his an'abiliiy, his 
respect for nligion, his zeal for the honour of iiis countiy, engaged persons 
of all ranks to applaud his design, and to favour the execution of it. His 



36 HISTORY OF [Book I. 

schemes were allowed, by the greater part of his countrymen, to proceed 
neither from ambition nor the desire ot wealth, but to flow ironi the warm be- 
nevoiencfofa heart eager to pro;note tlie happiness of maniJiid, and wliich 
justly eiitiliod Jiim to assume a motto for his device, that described the 
quality by which be wished to be distinguisiied, the talent of doing good. 

His tirst eiibrt, as is usual at the commencement of any new undertaking, 
was extremely inconsiderable. He fitted out a singie ship [l418j, and 
giving the command of it to John Gonzales Zarco and Tristan Vaz, two 
geirtieaHMi of his household, who voluntarily offered to conduct the enter- 
prise, he instructed them to use their utmost efforts to double Cape Bojador, 
and thence to steer towards the south. They, according to tlie mode of 
navigation which still prevailed, held their course along tlie shore ; and by 
following that direction, they must have encountered almost insuperable 
dilljculties in atte;npting to pass Cape Bojador. But foitune came in aid 
to tlieir want of skill, and prevented the voyage from being altogether 
fruitless. A sudden squall of wind arose, drove them out to sea, and when 
they expected every moment to perish, landed them on an unknown island, 
which tro:n their happy escape they named FoTto Santo. In the infancy 
ot navigation, the discovery of this small island appeared a matter of 'uch 
moment, that they instantly returned to Portugal with die good tidings, and 
were received by Henry with the applause and honour due to lortunate 
adventurers. Tliis taint dawn of success tjllcd a mind ardent in the pursuit 
oi a favourite object, with such sanguine hopes as were sui'licient incite- 
ments to proceed. Next year [l4iyj Henry sent out three ships under the 
same commanders, to who;n he joined Bartliolomevv Perestrehow, in order 
to take possession of the island which they had discovered. When they 
began to settle in Porto Santo, they observed towards the south a fixed 
spot in the horizon lilve a small black cloud. By degrees, they were led 
to conjecture that it might be l;.nd ; and steering towards it, tiiey arrived 
at a considerable island, uninhabited and covered with wood, which on 
that account they called Madeira.'^ As it was Henry's chief object to 
render his discoveries useful to his country, he immediately equipped a tleet 
to carry a colony ol' Portuguese to these islands [1420], By his provident 
care, they were turiiished not only \vilh the seeds, plants, and domestic 
animals common in Europe ; but, as he foresaw that the warmth of the 
climate and fertility of the soil would prove favourable to the rearing of 
otlier productions, he procured slips of the vine Irom the island ol' Cyprus, 
the rich \?iiies of which \vere then in great request, and plants of the sugar- 
cane from Sicily, into which it had been lately intioduced. These throve 
so prosperously in this new country, that the benefit ol' cultivating them was 
immediately perceived, and the sugar and wine of Madeira quickly became 
articles of some consequence in the commerce of Portugal. t 

As soon as the advantages derived from this tirst settlement to the west 
of the European conlinent began to be felt, tlie spirit of discovery appeared 
less chimerical, and became more adventurous. By their voyages to Ma- 
deira, the Portuguese were gradually accustomed to a bolder navigation, 
and, instead of creeping servilely along the coast, ventured into the open 
sea. In consequence of taking this course, Gi:ianez, who commanded one 
of prince Henry's ships, doubled Cape Bojador [143'3], the boundary of 
the Portuguese navigation upwards of twenty years, and which had hitherto 
bean deemed unpassabie. This successful voyage, which the igno- 
rance of the age placed on a level with the most iamous exploits recorded 
in histoiy, op'jned a new sphere to navigation, as it discovered the vast 
continent of Africa, still washed by the Atlantic ocean, and stretching to- 
wards tlie south. Part of this was soon explored ; the Portuguese ad- 

* Historical Relation of the first Discovery of Madeira, translated from the Portuguese of Fran- 
Alcal'araao, p. 15, &c t Lud. Guicciardini Descritt. de Paesi Dassi, p. 180, lai. 



AMERICA. 37 

vanced within the tropics, and in the space oi' a few years they discovered 
(he river Senegal, and all the coast extending ftom Cape Blanco to Cape 
de V'erd. 

Hitherto the Portuguese had been guided in their discoveries, or en 
couraged to attempt them, hy the light and ini'orniation which tliey received 
from the works of the ancient matheir.aliciar.s and eeographers. Eut when 
they began to enter the torrid zone, the notion which prevailed among the 
ancients, that the heat which reigned perpeUially there was so excessive as 
to render it uninhabitable, deterred them, (or some time, from proceeding. 
Their own observations, when they first ventured into this unknown and 
forniidable region, tended to confirm the opinion of antiquity concerning the 
violent operation of the direct rays of the sun. As far as the river Senegal, 
the Portuguese bad (bund the coast of Africa inhabited by people nearly 
resembling (he Moors of Barbar}'. When they advanced to the south of 
that river, the human (brm seemed to put on a new appearance. They 
beheld men with skins black as ebony, with short curled hair, flat r-.oses, thick 
lips, and all the peculiar features which are now knoAvn to dislinguish the 
race of negroes. This surprising alteration they naturally attributed to the 
influence of heat, and if they should advance nearer to the line, they began 
to dread that its effects would be still more violent. Those dangers were 
exaggerated; and many other oljections against attempting further disco; 
veries were proposed by some of the grandees, who, from ignorance, from 
envy, or from that cold timid prudence which rejects whatever has the air 
of novelty or enterprise, had hitherto condemned all prince Henry's schemes. 
They represented, that it was altogether chimerical to expect any advantage 
from countries situated in that region which the wisdom and experience of 
antiquity had pronounced to be unfit for the habitation of men ; that their 
foretathers, satisfied with cultivating the territoiy which Providence had 
allotted them, did not waste the strength of the kingdom by fruitless pro- 
jects in quest of new settlements ; that Portueal was already exhausted by 
the expense of attempts to discover lands which either did not exist, or 
which nature destined to remain unknown ; and was drained of men, who 
might have been employed in undertakings attended with more certain suc- 
cess, and productive of greater benefit. But neither their appeal to the 
authority of the ancients, nor their reasonings c(3ncerning the interests of 
Portugal, made any impression upon the determined philosophic mind of 
prince Henry. The discoveries which he had already made, convinced him 
that the ancients had little more than a conjectural knowledge of the tonid 
zone. He was no less satistied that the political arguments of his opponents, 
with respect to the interest of Portugal, were malevolent and ill (bunded. 
In those sentiments he was strenuously supported by his brother Pedro, 
who governed the kingdom as guardian of their nephew Alphonso V. who 
had succeeded to the throne during his minoiity [1-138] ; and, instearl of 
slackening his efforts, Henry continued to pursue his discoveries with fresh 
ardour. 

But in order to silence all the murmurs of opposition, he endeavoured to 
obtain the sanction of the highest authority in favour of his operations. 
With this view he applied to the Pope, and represented, in pompous terms, 
the pious and unwearied zeal with which he had exerted himself during 
twenty years, in discovering unknown countries, the wretched inhabitants 
of which were utter strangers to true religion, wandering in heathen dark- 
ness, or led astray by the delusions of Mahomet. He besought the holy 
father, to wdiom, as the vicar of Christ, all the kingdoms of the earth were 
subject, to confer on the crown of Portugal a right to all the countries pos- 
sessed by infidels, which should be discovered by the industiy of its sub- 
jects, and subdued by the force of its arms. He entreated him to enjoin 
all Christian powers, under the highest penalties, not to molest Portugal 
while engaged in this laudable enterprise, and to prohibit them from settling 



t58 HISTORY OF [Book [. 

in any of the countries which the Portu<juese sliould discover. He pro- 
miseci thni, in all their expeditions, it should be the chiet object ot his 
countrymen to spread tlie knowledge of the Christian religion, to establish 
the aulhojity of the Holy See, and to increase the Hock of the universal 
pastor. As it was by improving with dexterity every t'avourable conjunc- 
ture for acquiring new powers, that the court of Rome had gradually 
extended its usurpations, l^ugene IV,, the Pontiff to whom this application 
was made, eageny seized the opportunity which now presented itself. He 
instantly perceived that, by complying with prince Henry's request, he 
might exercise a prerogative no less liattering in its own nature than likely 
to prove beneficial in its consequences. A bull was accordingly issued, in 
which, after applauding in the strongest terms the past eflbrts of the Portu- 
euese, and exhorting them to proceed in that laudable career on which they 
had entered, he gianted them an exclusive right to all the countries which 
they should discover, from Cape Non to the continent of India. 

Extravagant as this donation, comprehending such a large portion of the 
habitable globe, would now appear, even in Catholic countries, no person in 
the tifteenth century doubted that the Pope in the plentitude of tiis apos- 
tolic power, had a right to confer it. IVince Henry was soon sensible of 
the advantages which he derived fiuin this transaction. His schemes were 
authorized and sanctiHed by the bull approving of them. The spirit of 
discovery was connected with zeal for reiigio'i, which in that age was a 
pri.iciple o'' such activity and vigour as to ij.tluence the conduct of nations. 
All Ctiristian princes were deterred from intruding into those countries 
which the Portuguese had discovered, or troni interrupting the progress of 
their navigation and conquests. [to] 

'The tame of the Portuguese voyages soon spread over Europe. Men 
long accustomed to cii'cumscribe the activity and knowledge of the human 
mind widiin the limits to wliicji they had been hitherto conlinetl, were 
astonished to behold the sphere of navigation so suddenly enlarged, and a 
prospect opened of visiting regior.s of the globe the existence of which 
was unknown in former times. The learned and speculative reasoned and 
formed theorii'S concerning those unexpected discoveries. The vulgar 
inquired and wondered ; while enterprising adventurers crowded from every 
part of Europe, soliciting prince Henry to employ them in this honourable 
service. Many Venetians and Genoese, in particular, who were at that 
li.ne superior to all other nations in the science of naval atfairs, entered 
aboard the Portuguese shipr,, anl acquired a more {)erfecl unA extensive 
knowledge of their profession in that new school of navigation. In en.u- 
blion of these loreigners, tlie Portuguese exerted their own talents. The 
nation seconded tlie designs of the prince. Private merchants formed com- 
panies [l44bj, with a vijvv to search lor unknown countries. 'Jdie Cape 
de V'erJ Islands, which lie olT the promontory of that name, were discovered 
f I44dj, and soon after the isles called Azores. As the former o( these are 
above three hundred miles fio:n the Africim coast, and the latter nine hundred 
miles froai any continent, it Ls evident by their venturing so boldly into the 
open SL-..S, that the Portuguese had by this time improved greatly in the art 
01 navigation. 

While the passion for engaging in new undertakings was thus warm and 
active, it received an unt'orlunate check by the death of prince Henry 
[l4SJj, whose superior knowledge had hitherto directed all tiie operations 
of the discoverers, and whos„^ patronage had encourageil and protected 
them. But notwithstanding all the advantages which liiey derived tVom 
these, the Por.uguese during his life did not advance in their utmost progress 
towards the south, widiin live degrees of the equinoctial line ; and at'ter 
their continued cKerdo^.s for half a century [from 1412 to 146:5], liardly 
fifteen hundred miles of the coast of Africa were discovered. To an age 
Acquainted witli the eflbrts of navigation in its state of maturity and im« 



AMERICA. 39 

provement, those essays of its early years must necessarily appear feeble 
aiiJ uiiskiilul. But inconsiderable as triey may be deemed, they were suffi- 
cieiU to turn the curiubity of the European nations into a new channel, to 
excite an enterprising spirit, and to point liie way to tuture discoveries. 

Aiphonso, who possessed the thn^ac of Portu,<^ai al tiie time of prince 
Henry s death, was so much engaged i.i supp^/rting liis own preteirjions to the 
crown of Casule, or in carrying on his expeditions i.gainst tiie Moors in 
Barbary, tlul, die force of his kingdom being exerted in other operations, 
hj couid not prosecute llie discoveries in Africa wit!) ardour. He committed 
tlie conduct of tliem to Fernando uo.nez, a merciiant in Lisbon, to whom 
he granted an exciusive rigtit oi co.nm.irce with all tlie countries of wliich 
prince Henry had talcen possession. Under the r^'Straint and opj-ression of 
a monopaly, the spirit of discovery languished, it ceased to be a national 
object, and became the concern oi a piivale man more attentive to his own 
gain tlum to the glory of liis country. So;ne progress, however, was made 
'I'he h*ortuguese ventured al iengtn [l47lj, to cross the line, and, to their 
as.o.iishaient, found that region of llie torrid zone, which was supposed to 
be scorched with intolerable heat, to be not only habitable, but populous 
and liertiie. 

John 11. who succeeded his father Alphonso [1481 ], possessed talents 
capable both of forming and executing great designs. As part of his reve- 
nues, while prince, had arisen tVo.n duties on the trade witii the newly 
discovered countries, this nalurally turned his attention towards them, and 
satisfied him with respect to their utility and importance. In piopoition as 
his knowledge of' these countries extended, U.e possession of them appeared 
to be of greater consetpience. While the Portuguese proceeded along the 
coast of Africa, from Cape Non to the river of yenegal, they found all that 
extensive tract to be sandy, barren, and thinly inhabited by a wretched 
people prottissing the Mahometan religion, and subject to the vast empire 
of Morocco, but to the south of that river, the power and religion of the 
Maho;nelans we.e unknown. The country was divided into small inde- 
pendent principalities, the population was considerable, the soil liertiie,* and 
the Portuguese soo.i discovered that it produced ivory, rich gums, gold, and 
other valuable co.nmoiities. By the acquisition of these, commerce was 
enlarged, and became more adventurous. Men, animated and rendered 
active by the certain prospect of gain, pursued discovery with greater 
eagerness than when they were excited only by curiosity and hope. 

■J'his spirit derived no small reintiHcement of vigour Irom the countenance 
of sujh a monarch as.iolin. Declaring himseif tlie patronof every attempt 
towards discovery, he promoted it vvidi all t!ie ardour of his grand-uncle 
prince Henry, and with superior power. The effects of this were imme- 
diately felt. A poweriui lidct was hlted out [l4S4], which after discovering 
the kingdoms of Benin and Congo, advanced above iiiteen hundred miles 
beyonJ the line, and llie Portuguese, for the first lime, beheld a new heaven, 
and observed the stars of another hemisphere. John was not only solicitous 
to discover, but attentive to secure the possession of those countries. He 
built torts on the coast of Guinea; he sent out colonies to settle ihtre ; he 
established a commercial intercourse with the more poweriui kingdoms ; 
he endeavoured to lender such as were fieeble or diviiled tributary to the 
crown of Portugal. Some of the petty princes voiuntarily acknowledged 
themselves his vassals. Others were compelled to do so by force of arms 
A regular and well digested system was formed with respect to this new 
object of policy, and, by firmly adhering to it, the Porlngiiese power and 
commerce in Africa were establislied upon a solid foundation. 

By their constant intercourse with the people of Africa, the Portuguese 
p;rauually acquired some knowledge of those parts of that country which 

* Navigatio AInysli Cadamusti npud Novum Orbem GtytuLi, p. 2. 18. Navigat. aU Uota di San 
Turns p«r ua Pilouv Portug. Eaiuuug, i. Ui 



40 H 1 S T O II Y O F f Book 1. 

Ihey bad not visited. The information which they received from the natives, 
added (o what they had observed in their own voyages, begat) to ()i)eu 
prospects more extensive, and to sugg;est the idea ot sclienies more impor- 
tant than those which had hitherto allured and occupied them. They had 
detected the error of the ancients conceriiing tlie nature ot the torrid zone. 
They found as they piocoeded southwards, tliat the continent of Africa, 
instead of extending in bre.ulll), according to the doctrine of Ptolemy,* at 
that time the oracle and guide ot the learned in the science of gcxigraphy, 
appeared sensibly to contract itself, and to bend towards the east. 1 his 
induced llieni to give credit to the accounts of the ancient Phenician voyages 
round At'rica, which iiad long been deemed labulous, and led them to 
conceive hopes that, by I'ollovving the same route, they might arrive at the 
East Indies, and engross that commerce which has been the source of v>ealth 
and power to every nation possessed of it. The comprehensive genius of 
prince Henry, as we may conjecture from the words of tlie l''ope's bull, had 
early formed some idea of this navigation. But though his countrymen, at 
that period, were incapable of conceiving the extent of his views and 
schemes, all the Portuguese mathematicians and pilots now concuned in 
representing them as well founded and practicable. The king entered 
with warmth into their sentiments, and began to concert measures for this 
arduous and important voyage. 

Before his preparations for this expedition were finished, accounts were 
transmitted from Africa, that various nations along the coast had mentioned 
a mighty kingdom situated on their continent, at a great iHstance towards 
the east, the king of which, according to their description, professed the 
Christian religion. The Portuguese monarch immediately concluded, that 
this must be tne emperor of Abyssinia, to whom the Europeans, seduced by 
a mistake of Rubruquis, Marco Polo, and other travellers to the East, 
absurdly gave the name of Prester or Presbyter John ; and, as he hoped to 
receive information and assistance from a Christian prince, in prosecuting a 
scheme that tended to propagate their common faith, be resolved to open, 
if possible, some intercourse with his court. With this view, he made 
choice of Pedro de Covillam and Alphonso de Payva, who were p(;]fect 
masters of the Arabic language, and sent them into the East to search for 
the residence of this unknown potentate, and to make liim proiTeis of 
friendship. They had in chaise likewise to procure whatever intelligence 
the nations which they visited could supply, with respect to the trade of 
India, and the course of navigation to that continent.! 

While .John made this new attempt by land, to obtain some knowledge 
of the countiy which he wished so ardently to discover, he did not neglect 
the prosecution of this great design by sea. The conduct of a voyage for 
this purpose, the most arduous and important vvliich the Portuguese had 
ever projected, was committed to Baitholomew Diaz [1486], an ofhcer 
whose sagacity, experience, and fortitude rendered him equal to the under- 
taking. He stretched boldly towards the south, and proceeding beyond the 
utmost limits to which his countrymen had hitherto advanced, discovered 
near a thousand miles of new countiy. Neither the danger to which he 
was exDosed, by a succession of violent tempests in unknown seas, and by 
the iiequent mutinies of his crew, nor the calamities of famine which he 
suffered from losing his storeship, could deter him from prosecuting his 
enterprise. In recompense of his labours and perseverance, he at last 
descried that lofty promontory which bounds Africa to the south. But to 
descry it was all that he had in his power to accomplish. 1'he violence of 
the winds, the shattered condition of his ships, and the turbulent spirit of 
the sailors, compelled him to return after a voyage of sixteen months, in 
which he discovered a far greater extent of country than any former navigator, 
Diaz had called the promontoiy which terminated his voyage Cabo Tor- 

* Vide Nov. Orbis Tnbul. Geograph. secund. Ptolem. Aiiist. 1730. t Faria y Sousa Port. 

Asia vol. i. p. 36. LaSiau Decouv. d« Port. i. 46. 



A'M ERICA. 41 

mentoso, or the Stormy Cape ; but the king, his master, as he now entertained 
no doubt of having Jound the loiig-desired route to India, gave it a name 
more inviting, and of better omen, The Cape of Good Hope.* 

Those sanguine expec'-ations of success were conlirmed by the intelli- 
gence which John received over land, in consequence of his embassy to 
Abyssinia. Coviilam and Fayva, in obedience to tlieir master's instructions, 
had repaired to Grand Cairo. From that city they travelled along with a 
caravan of Egyptian merchants, and, embarking on the Red Sea, arrived at 
Aden, in Arabia. There they separated; Fayva sailed directly towards 
Abyssinia ; Coviilam embarked tor the East Indies, and, having visited 
Calecut, Goa, and other cities on the Malabar coast, returned to Sofala, on 
the east side ot" Alrica, and thence to Grand Cairo, which Fayva and he 
had rixed upon as their place of rendezvous. Unlortunateiy the ibrmer was 
cruelly murdered in Abyssinia ; but Coviilam found at Cairo two Portuguese 
Jews, whom John, whose provident sagacity attended to every circumstance 
that could I'aciiitate tbe execution ot his schemes, had despatched after 
them, in order to receive a detail of their proceedings, and to communicate 
to them new instructions. By one of these Jews, Coviilam transmitted to 
Portugal a journal of his travels by sea and land, his remarks upon the 
trade of India, together with exact rnaps of the coasts on which he had 
touched ; and from what he himselt' had observed, as well as Irom tlie infor- 
mation of skillul seamen in dillerent countries, he concluded, that, by sailing 
round Airica, a passage might be found to the East Indies.! 

I he happy coincidence of Coviilam's opinion and report with the disco- 
veries which Diaz had lately made, left hardly any shadow of doubt with 
respect to the possibility of sailing from Europe to India. But the vast 
leiigtii of the voyage, and the furious storms which Diaz bad encountered 
near the Cape of Good Hope, alarmed and intimidated the Portuguese to 
such a degree, although by long experience they were now become adven- 
turous and skiitui mariners, that some time was requisite to prepare their 
minds lor this dangerous and extraordinary' voyage. The courage, how- 
ever, and authority of the monarch gradually dispelled the vain feai-s of 
his subjects, or made it necessary to conceal them. As John thought himself 
now upon the eve of accomplishing that great design which had been the 
principal object of his reign, his earnestness in prosecuting it became so 
vehement, ttiat it occupied his thoughts by day, and berea\ ed him of sleep 
through the night. While he was taking every precaution that his wisdom 
and experience could suggest, in order to ensure the success of the expedition, 
which was to decide concerning the fate of his favourite project, the fame 
of the vast discoveries which the Portuguese had already made, the reports 
concerning the extraordinary- intelligence which they had received from the 
East, and the prospect of the voyage which they now meditated, drew the 
attention of all the European nations, and held them in suspense and 
expectation. By some, the maritime skill and navigations of the Portuguese 
were compared with those of the Phenicians and Carthaginians, and exalted 
above them. Others formed conjectures concerning the revolutions which 
the success of the Portuguese schemes might occasion in the course of trade, 
and the political state of Europe. The V^enetians began to be disquieted 
•vvith the apprehension of losing their Indian commerce, the monopoly of 
which was the chief source of their power as well as opulence, and the 
Portuguese already enjoyed in fancy the we:ilth of the East. But during 
this interval, which gave such scope to the various workings of curiosity, ol 
hope, and of fear, an account was brought to Europe of an event no less 
extraordinary than unexpected, the discovery of a New World situated on 
the West ; and the eyes and admiration cl mankind turned immediately 
towards that great object. 

• raiia y Sousa Port Asia vol. 1. p. 2C. t Ibid. p. 27. Lafiiau Decouv. L p. 43. 

Vol. I.— 6 4 



4S HISTORY OF [Book II. 



BOOK II. 

Among the foreigners whom the fame of the discoveries made by the 
Portuguese had allured into their service, was Christopher Colon, or 
Columbus, a subject ol the republic of Genoa. Neither the time nor place 
of his birth is known with certainty [ll]; but he was descended of an 
honourable family, though reduced to inrligence by various misfortunes. 
His ancestors having betaken themselves for subsistence to a seafaring life, 
Columbus discovered in his early youth the peculiar character and talents 
which mark out a man for that profession. His parents, instead of thwarting 
this original propensity of his mind, seem to have encouraged and confirmed 
it by the education which they gave him. After acquiiingsome knowledge 
of the Latin tongue, the only language in which science was taught at that 
time, he was instructed in geometry, cosmography, astronomy, and the art 
of drawing. To these he applied with such ardour and predilection, on 
account of their connexion with navigation, his tavcurite object, that he 
advanced with rapid proficiency in the study of thom. Thus qualified, he 
went to sea at the age of Iburteen [1461], and began his career on that 
element which conducted him to so much glory. His early voyages were 
to those ports in the Mediterranean which his countrymen the Genoese 
frequented. This being a sphere too narrow for his active mii'd, he made 
an excursion to the northern seas [1467], and visited the coast of Iceland, 
to which the English and other nations had begun to resort on account of 
its fishery. As navigation, in every direction, was now become enterprising, 
he proceeded beyond that island, the Thule of the ancients, and advanced 
several degrees within the polar circle. Having satisfied his curiosity, by a 
voyage which tended more to enlarge his knowledge of naval affairs than 
to improve his fortune, he entered into the service of a famous sea-captain 
of his own name and family. This man commanded a small squadiun 
fitted out at his own expense, and by cruising sometimes rgainst tb.e 
Mahometans, sometimes against the Venetians, the rivals of his country in 
trade, had acquired both wealth and reputation. With him ColuiuLus 
continued for several years, no less distinguished for his courage than lor 
his experience as a sailor. At length, in an obstinate engagement otT the 
coast of Portugal, with some Venetian caravals returning richly laden from 
the Low Countries, the vessel on board which he served took fire, together 
with one of the enemy's ships to which it was fast grappled. In this 
dreadful extremity his intrepidity and presence of mind did not tbrsake him. 
He threw himself into the sea, laid hold of a floating oar; and by the support 
of it, and his dexterity in swimming, he reached the shore, though above 
two leagues distant, and saved a life reserved for great undertakiiigs.* 

As soon as he recovered strength for the journey, he repaired to Lisbon, 
where many of his countrymen were settled. They soon conceived such a 
favourable opinion of his merit, as well as talents, that thej^ warmly solicited 
him to remain in that kingdom, where his naval skill and experience could 
not fail of rendering him conspicuous. To eveiy adventurer animated either 
with curiosity to visit new countries, or with ambition to distinguish himsel'', 
the Portuguese service was at that time extremely inviting. Columbus 
listened with a favourable ear to the advice of his friends, and, having gained 
the esteem of a Portuguese lady, whom he married, fixed his residence in 
Lisbon. This alliance, instead of detaching him from a seafaring life, 
contributed to enlarge the sphere of his naval knowledge, and to excite a 

* Lif* of Columbus, c. r. 



AMEinCA. 45 

desire of extending it still further. His wife was a daughter of Bartholomew 
Perestrello, one of the captains empiojed by prince Henry in his early 
navigations, and who, under his protection, had discovered and planted the 
islands of Porto San'io and Madeira. Columbus got possession of the journals 
and charts of this experienced navigator ; and from them he learned the course 
which the Portuguese had held in making their discoveries, as well as the 
various circumstances which guided or encouraged them in their attempts. 
The study of these soothed and inflamed his favourite passion ; and while he 
contemplated the maps, and read the descriptions of the new countries 
which Perestrello had seen, his impatience to visit them became irresistible. 
In order to indulge it, he made a voyage to Madeira, and continued during 
several years to trade with that island, with the Canaries, the Azores, the 
settlements in Guinea, and all the other places which the Portuguese had 
discovered on the continent of Africa.* 

By the experience which Columbus acquired, during such a variety of 
voyages to almost every part of the globe with whicli at that time any 
intercourse was carried on by sea, he was now become one of the most 
skilful navigators in Europe. But, not satisfied with that praise, his ambition 
aimed at something more. The successful progress of the Portuguese 
navigators had awakened a spirit of curiosity and emulation, which set every 
man of science upon examining all the circumstances that led to the 
discoveries which they had made, or that afforded a prospect of succeeding 
in any new and bolder undertaking. The mind of Columbus, naturally 
inquisitive, capable of deep reflection, and turned to speculations of this 
kind, was so often employed in revolving the principles upon which the 
Portuguese had founded their schemes of discoveiy, and the mode on which 
they had carried them on, that he gradually began to form an idea of 
improving upon their plan, and of accomplishing discoveries which hitherto 
they had attempted in vain. 

To find out a passage by sea to the East Indies, was the important 
oVject in view at th'jt period. F^rom tlie time that the Portuguese doubled 
Cape de Verd, this was the point at which they aimed in all their na\ igations, 
and in comparison with it all their discoveiies in Africa appeared incon- 
siderable. The fertility and riches of India had been known for many ages : 
its spices and oLher valuable commodities were in high request throughout 
Europe, and the vast wealth of the Venetians, arising from their having 
engrossed this trade, had raised the envy of all nations. But how intent 
soever the Portuguese were upon liiscoAeringa new route to those desirable 
regions, tliev searched for it only by steering towards the souih, in hopes of 
arriving at India by turning to the east alter they had sailed round the further 
extremity of Africa. This course was still unknoAvn, and even it" discovered, 
was of such immense lengtl^ that a voyage from Europe to India must have 
appeared at that period an undertaking extremely arduous, and of veiy 
uncertain issue. More than half a century had been employed in advancing 
Iron Cape Non to the equator; a much longer space of time n:ight elapse 
before the moreextensive navigation from that tolndiacould be accomplished. 
These reflections upon the uncertainty, the danger, and tediousness of the 
course which the Portuguese were pursuing, naturally led Columbus to 
consider whether a shorter and more direct passage to the East Indies might 
not be found out. After revolvino; long and seriously every circumstance 
suggested by his superior knowledge in the theory as well as the practice 
of navigation ; after comparing attentively the obsen-ations of modern pilots 
with the hints and conjectures of ancient authors, he at last concluded, that 
by sailing directly towards the west, across the Atlaniic ocean, new countries, 
which probably formed a part of the great continent of India, must infalliblv 
be discovered. 

* Ufe of Coliunbus, c. Iv. v. 



44 H I S T O R y OF I Book II. 

Principles and arguments of various kinds, and derived from different 
sources, induced him to adopt this opinion, seemingly as chimerical as it 
was new and extraordinary. The spherical hgure ol the earth was known, 
and its magnitude ascertained with some degree of accuracy. I'rom this 
it was evident, that the continents of Europe, Asia, and Alrica, as tar as 
they weie known at that time, termed but a small ])ortion of the terraqueous 
globe. It was suitable to our ideas concerning the wisdom and beneficence 
of the Author of Nature, to believe that the vast space stiii unexplored vvas not 
covered entirely by a waste unprofitable ocean, but occupied by countries 
fit for the habitation of man. It appeared likewise extremely probable that 
the continent on this side of the globe was balanced by a proportional quantity 
of land in the other hemisphere. These conclusions concerning the existence 
of another continent, drawn from the hgure and structure ol the globe, were 
confirmed by the observations and conjectures ol UiOdern navigatois. A 
Portuguese pilot, having stretched I'uither to the west than was usual at that 
time, took up a piece of timber aitihcially carved floating updn the sea ; 
and rs it was driven towards him by a westerly wind, he concluded that it 
came from some unknown land situated in that quarter. Columbus's brother- 
in-law had found to the west of the Madeira isles, a piece of timber faj^hioned 
in the same manner, and brought by the same wind ; and had seen liKcwise 
canes of an enormous size floating upon the waves, which resembled those 
described by Ptolemy as productions peculiar to the East indies.* After 
a course of westerly winds, trees torn up by the roots weie ottcn driven upon 
the coasts of the Azores ; and at one time, the dead bodies of two men 
with singular features, resembling neither the inhabitants ol Europe nor of 
Africa, were cast ashore there. 

As the force of this united evidence, arising from Theoretical principles 
and practical observations, led Columbus to expect the discovery ot new 
countries in the western ocean, other reasons induced him to beiie\e that 
these must be connected with the continent of India. 1 hough the ancients 
had hardly ever penetrated into India lurther than the banks of the Ganges, 
j'et some Greek authors had ventured to describe the provinces beyond ihat 
river. As men are prone, and at liberty, to magniiy what is remote or 
unknown, they represented them as regions of an immense extent. Ctesias 
affirmed that India was as large as all the rest of Asia. Onesicritus, whom 
Pliny the naturalist follows,! contended Uiat it was equal to a third part 
of the habitable earth. Nearchus asserted, that it would take lour UiOnths 
to march in a straight line from one extremity of India to the other.;}: 1 he 
journal of Marco Polo, who had proceeded towards the East far be}ond the 
limits to which any European had ever advanced, seemed to conluin these 
exaggerated accounts of the ancients. By his magnificent descriptions of 
the kingdoms of Cathay and Cipango, and of many other countries the 
names of which were unknown in Europe, India appeared to be a region 
of vast extent. From these accounts, which, however defective, were the 
most accurate that the people of Europe had received at that period with 
respect to the remote parts of the East, Columbus drew a just conclusion. 
He contended that, in proportion as the continent of India stretched out 
towards the East, it iimst, in consequence of the spherical figure ol the earth, 
approach near to the islands which had lately been discovered to the west 
of Africa ; that the distance from the one to the other was probably not 
very considerable ; and that the most direct as well as shortest course to the 
remote regions of the East was to be found by sailing due west, [l^] This 
notion concerning the vicinity of India to the western parts of our continent, 
was countenanced by some eminent writers among the ancients, the sanction 
of whose authority was necessar)', in that age, to procure a favourable 
reception to any tenet. Aristotle thought it probable that the Columns oi 

• Lib. i. c. 17. t Nat. Hist. lib. vi. c. 17. t Sirab. Geogr. lib. xv. p. 1011. 



AMERICA. 45 

Hercules, or Straits of Gibraltar, were not far removed from the East Indies, 
and that there mi2:ht be a communication by sea between them.* Seneca, 
in terms still mo7e explicit, affirms, that ^vith a fair wind one might sail 
from Spain to India in a few days.j The famous Atlantic island described 
by Plato, and supposed by many to be a real country, beyond which an 
unknown continent was situated, is represented by him as lying; at no great 
distance froiiT Spain. After weighing all these particulars, Columbus, in 
whose character the modesty and diffidence of true genius were united with 
the ardent enthusiasm of a projector, did not rest with such absolute 
assurance either upon his own arguments, or upon the authority of the 
ancients, as not to consult such of his contemporaries as were capable of 
comprehending the nature of ihe evidence which he produced in support 
of his opinion. As early as the year one thousand four hundred and seventy- 
four, he communicated his ideas concerning the probability of discovering new 
countries, by sailing westward, to Paul, a physician of Florence, eminent 
for his kno#Iedge of cosmography, and who, I'rom the learning as well as 
candour which he discovers in his reply, appears to have been well entitled 
to the confidence which Columbus placed in him. 'He warmly approved 
of the plan, siiggested several facts in confirmation of it, and encouraged 
Columbus to persevere in an undertaking so laudable, and which must 
redound so much to the honour of his country and the benefit of Europe.^ 

To a mind less capable of forming and of executing great designs than 
that of Columbus, ail those reasonings and observations and authorities 
would have served only as the foundation of some plausible and fruitless 
theory, which might have fiu'nished matter for ingenious discourse or fanciful 
conjecture. But with his sanguine and enterprising temper speculation led 
directly to action, ^'ully satisfied himself with respect to the truth of his 
system, he was impatient to bring it to the test of experiment, and to set out 
upon a voyage of discovery. The first step towards this was to secure the 
patronage oi some of tlie considerable powers in Europe capable of under- 
taking suoh an enterprise.^ As long absence had not extinguished the affection 
\vhicli he bore to his native country, he wished that it should reap the fruits 
of his labours and invention. With this view, he laid his scheme before the 
senate of Genoa, and, making his country the first tender of his service, 
oftered to sail under the banners of the republic in quest of the new regions 
which he expected to discover. But Columbus had resided for so many 
years in foreign parts, that his countrymen were unacquainted with his 
abilities and ciiaracter ; and, though a maritime people, were so litde accus- 
tomed to distant voyages, that they could form no just idea of the principles 
on which he founded his hopes ot success. They inconsiderately rejected 
his proposal, as the dream of a chimerical projector, and lost ibr ever the 
opportunity of restoring their commonwealth to its ancient splendour.§ 

Having pertbrmed wliat was due to his country, Columbus was so little 
discouraged by the repulse which he had received, that instead of relin- 
quishing his undertaking he pursued it with fresh ardour. He made his 
next overture to John II. king of Portugal, in whose dominions he had been 
long established, and whom he considered on that account, as having the 
second claim to his service. > Here every circumstance seemed to promise 
him a more favourable reception : he applied to a monarch of an enterprising 
genius, no incompetent judge in naval afi:iirs, and proud of patronising every 
attempt to d-.-cover new countries. His subjects were the most experienced 
navigators in Europe, and the least apt to be intimidated either by the 
novelty or boldness of any maritime expedition. In Portugal, the prol'essiondi 
skill of Columbus, as well as his personal goofl qualities, were thoroughly 
known : and as die former rendered it probable that his scheme was not 

• Anatot. de Coelo, lih. ii. c. 14. edit. Du Val. Par. lG2i). vol. i. p. 472. t Scncc. Quiest. Natur. 
lib. i. in proem. J Life of Columbus, c. viii. $ Herrera Ilist. de las Indias Occid. dec. i. 

lib. i. c. vii. 



4» H 1 S T U R V O F iliooK II. 

altogether visionary, the latter exempted hirn iVoni the suspicion of any 
sinister intention in proposing it. Accordingly, the king hstened to him in 
the most gracious manner, and relerred the consideration of hi% plan to 
Diego Ortiz, bishop of Ceuta, and two Jewish physicians, eminent cos- 
moo;raphers, whom he was accustomed to consult in matters of this kind. 
As in Genoa, ignorance had opposed and disappointed Columbus f in Lisbon, 
he had to combat with prejudice, an enemy no less formidable. f 'l'*he persons 
according to whose decision his scheme was to be adopted, or tejected, liad 
been the chief directors of the Portuguese navigations, and Had advised to 
search for a passage to India by steering a course directly opposite to that 
which Columbus recommended as shorter and more certain. They cculd 
not, therefore, approve of his proposal without submitting to the double 
mortification of condemning their own theory, and acknowledging his 
superior sagacity. After teasing him with captious questions, and startir^g 
innumerable objections, with a view of betraying him into such a particular 
explanation of his system as might draw from him a full dis*»very of its 
nature, they deferred passing a final judgment with respect to it. In the 
mean time they conspired to rob him of the honour and advantages which 
he expected from the success of his scheme, advising the king to despatch 
a vessel secretly, in order to attempt the proposed discovery by Ibllowing 
exactly the course which Columbus seemed to point out. John, forgetting 
on this occasion the sentiments becoming a monarch, meanly adopted this 
perfidious counsel. But the pilot chosen to execute Columbus's plan had 
neither the genius nor the tbrtitude of its author. Contrary winds arose, 
no sight of approaching land appeared, his courage failed, and he returned 
to Lisbon, execrating the project as equally extravagant and dangerous.* 

L^pori discovering this dishonourable transaction, Columbus felt the 
mdignation natural to an ingenuous mind, and in the warmth of his resent- 
ment determined to break otT all intercourse with a nation capable of such 
flagrant treachery. He instantly quilted the kingdom, and landed in Spain 
towards the close of the year one tliousand four hundred and eighty-!cur. 
As he was now at liberty to court the protection ot" any patron whom he 
could engage to approve of his plan, and to cany il into execution, he 
resolved to propose it in person to Ferdinand and Isabella, who at that tin;e 
governed the united kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. But as he had 
already experienced the uncertain issue of application to kings and ministers, 
he took the precaution of sending into England his brother Bartholon;ew, 
to whom he had fully communicated his ideas, in order that he might 
negoci^te at the same time with Henry VII., who was reputed one of the 
most sagacious as well as opulent princes in Europe. 

It was not without reason that Columbus entertained doubts and fears 
with respect to the reception of his proposals in the Spanish court. Spain 
was at that juncture engaged in a dangerous war with Granada, the last of 
the Moorish kingdoms in that countiy. The wary and suspicious temper 
of Ferdinand was not formed to relish bold or uncomm.on designs. Isabella, 
though more generous and enterprising, was under the intiuence of her 
husband in all her actions. The Spaniards had hitherto made no efforts to 
extend navigation beyond its ancient limits, and had beheld the amazing 
progress of discovery among their neighbours the Portuguese without one 
attempt to imitate or to rival them. The war with the Infidels afforded an 
ample field to the national activity and love of glory. Under circumstances 
so unfavourable, it was impossible for Columbus to make rapid progress with 
a nation naturally slow and dilatory in ibrming all its resolutions. His 
character, however, was admirably adapted to that of the people whose 
confidence and protection he solicited. He was grave, though courteous in 
lis deportment ; circumspect in his words and actions, irreproachable in his 

* Life r.f Columbus, c. xi. Herrera, dec. i. lib. i. c. 7. 



AMERICA, 47 

morals, and exem.plary in his attention to all the duties and functions ol 
religion. By qualities so respectable, he not only grained many private 
friends, but acquired such general esteem, that, notwithstanding the plainness 
of his appearance, suitable to the mediocrity of his fortune, he was not 
considered as a mere adventurer, to whom indigence had suggested a 
visionary project, but was received as a person to whose propositions serious 
attention was due. 

Ferdinand and Isabella, though fully occupied by their operations against 
the Moors, paid so much regard to Columbus, as to remit the consideration 
of his plan to the queen's confessor, Ferdinand de Talavera. He consulted 
such oi his countrymen as were supposed best qualified to decide with respect 
to a sulject of this kind. But true science had hithei'to made so little 
progress in Spain, that the pretended philosophers, selected to judge in a 
matter of such moment, did not comprehend the first principles upon which 
Columlius founded his conjectures and hopes. Some of them, trom mistaken 
notions concerning the dimennions of the globe, contended that a voyage to 
those remote parts of the east which Columbus expected to discover, could 
not be performed in less than three years. Others co?xluded, that either he 
would find the ocean to be of infinite extent, according to the opinion of 
some ancient philosophers ; or, if he should persist in steering towards the 
west beyond a cerlaiii point, that the convex figure of the globe would 
prevent his return, and that he must inevitably perish in the vain attempt to 
open a C(»;nmunicalion between the twoopposite hemispheres which nature 
had for ever disjoined. Even without deigning to enter into any particular 
discussion, many rejected the scheme in general, upon the credit of a maxim, 
under which the ignorant and unenterprising shelter themselves in every 
age, " That it is presumptuous in any person, to suppose that he alone 
possesses knowledge superior to all the rest of mankind united." They 
maintained, that il there were really any such countries as Columbus pre- 
tended, they could not have remained so long concealed, nor would the 
wisdom and sagacity of former ages have left the glory of this invention to 
an obscure Genoese pilot. 

It required all Colu;nbus's patience and address to negotiate with men 
capable of advancing such strange propositions. He had to contend not 
only with the obstinacy of ignorance, but with what is still more intractable, 
the pride of talse knowledge. After innumerable conferences, and wasting 
five years in fruitless endeavours to inform and to satisfy judges so little 
capable of deciding with propriety, Talavera at last made such an unta- 
vourable report to Ferdinand and Isabella, as induced them to acquaint 
Coiu'iibus, that until the war with the Moors should be brought to a period 
it would be imprudent to engage in any new and extensive enterprise. 

Whatever care was taken to soften the hai-shness of this declaration, 
Columbus considered it as a final rejection of his proposals. But, happily 
for mankind, that superiority of genius, which is capable of forming great 
and uncommon designs, is usually accompanied with an ardent enthusiasm, 
which can neither be cooled by delays nor damped by disappointment. 
Columbus was of this sanguine temper. Though he felt deeply the cruel 
blow given to his hopes, and retired immediately from a court where he 
had been amused so long with vain expectations, his confidence in the just 
ness of his own system did not diminish, and his impatience to den)onstrate 
the truth of it by an actual experiment became greater than ever. Having 
courted the protection of sovereign states without success, he applied next 
to persons of inferior rank, and addressed successively the Dukes of Medina 
Sidonia and Medina Celi, who, though subjects, were possessed of pov\er 
and opulence more than equal to the enterprise which he projected. His 
negotiations with ihem proved as fruitless as those in which he had been 
hithertoengaged ; for these noblemen were either as little convinced by Colum- 
bus's arguments as their superiors, or they were afraid of alarming the jealousy 



48 HISTORY OF LBookII. 

and offending' the pride of Ferdinand, by countenancing a scheme which he 
had rejected.* 

Amid the painful sensations occasioned by such a succession of disap- 
pointments, Columbus had to sustain the additional distress of having 
received no accounts of his brother whom he had sent to the court of England. 
In his voyage to that country', Bartholomew had been so unfortunate as to 
fall into the hands of pirates, who having stripped him of every thing 
detained him a prisoner for several years. At length he made his escape, 
and arrived in London, but in such extreme indigence, that he was obliged 
to employ himself, during a considerable time in drawing and selling maps, 
in order to pick up as much money as would purchase a decent dress in 
which he might venture to appear at court. He then laid before the king 
the proposals with which he had been intrusted by his brother ; and not- 
withstanding Henry's excessive caution and parsimony, which rendered 
him averse to new or extensive undertakings, he received Columbus's 
overtures with more approbation than any monarch to whom they had 
hitherto been presented. 

Meanwhile, Columbus being unacquainted with his brother's fate, and 
having now no prospect of encouragement in Spain, resolved to visit the 
court of England in person, in hopes of meeting with a more favourable 
reception there. He had already made preparations for this purpose, and 
taken measures for the disposal of his children during his absence, when 
Juan Perez, the guardian of the monaslerj'of Rabida, near Palos, in which 
they had been educated, earnestly solicited him to defer his journey for a 
short time. Perez was a man of considerable learning, and of some credit 
with queen Isabella, to whom he was known personally. He was warmly 
attached to Columbus, with whose abilities as well as integrity he had 
many opportunities of being acquainted. Prompted by curiosity or 
by iriendship, he entered upon an accurate examination of his system, in 
conjunction with a physician settled in the neighbourhood, who was a con- 
siderable proficient in mathematical knowledge. This investigation satisfied 
them so thoroughly, with respect to the solidity of the principles on which 
Columbus founded his opinion, and the probability of success in executing 
the plan which he proposed, that Perez, in order to prevent his country 
from being deprived of the glory and benefit which must accrue to the 

Eatrons of such a grand enterprise, ventured to write to Isabella, conjuring 
er to consider the matter anew with the attention which it merited. 
Moved by the representations of a person whon) she respected, Isabella 
desired Perez to repair immediately to the village of Santa Fe, in which, 
on account of the siege of Granada, the court resided at that time, that she 
might conler with him upon this important subject. The first effect of 
their interview was a gracious invitation ot Columbus back to court, accom- 
panied with the present of a small sum toecjuip him for the journey. As 
there was now a certain prospect that the war with the Moors would 
speedily be brought to a happy issue by the reduction of Granada, which 
would leave the nation at liberty to engage in new undertakings ; this, as 
well as the mark of royal favour, with which Columbus nad been lately 
honoured, encouraged nis friends to appear with greater confidence than 
formerly in support of his scheme. The chief of these, Alonso de Quinta- 
liilla, comptroller of the finances in Castile, and Luis de Santangel, recei\ er 
of the ecclesiastical revenues in Aragon, whose meritorious zeal in promoting 
this great design entitles their names to ar) honourable place in hisloiy, 
introduced Columbus to many persons of high rank, and interested them 
warmly in his behalf. 

But it was not an easy matter to inspire Ferdinand with favourable sen- 
timents. He still regarded Columbus's project as extravagant and chime- 

♦ Life of Columb. c. 13 Herrcra, dec. J. lib. i. c 7. 



AMERICA. 49 

ncal ; and in order to render the efforts of his partisans ineffectual, he had 
the address to employ, in this new negotiation with him, some of the persons 
who had formerly pronounced his scTieme to be impracticable. To their 
astonishment, Columbus appeared before them with the same confident 
hopes of success as formerly, and insisted upon the same high recompense. 
He proposed that a small neet should be fitted out, under his command, to 
attempt the discovery, and demanded to be appointed hereditaiy admiral 
and viceroy of all the seas and lands which he should discover, and to have 
the tenths of the profits arising from them settled irrevocably upon himself 
and his descendants. At the same time, he offered to advance the eighth 
part of the sum necessary for accomplishing his design, on condition that he 
should be entitled to a proportional share of benefit from the adventure. 
U the enterprise should totally miscarry, he made no stipulation for any re- 
ward or emolument whatever. Instead of viewing this conduct as the 
clearest evidence of his full persuasion with respect to the truth of his own 
system, or being struck with that magnanimity which, after so many delays 
and repulses, would stoop to nothing inferior to its original claims, the per- 
sons with whom Columbus treated began meanly to calculate the expense 
of the expedition, and the value of the reward which he demanded. The 
expense, moderate as it was, they represented to be too great for Spain in 
the present exhausted state of its finances. They contended that the honours 
and emoluments claimed by Columbus were exorbitant, even if he should 
perform the utmost of what he had promised ; and if all his sanguine hopes 
should prove illusive, such vast concessions to an adventurer ivould be 
deemed not only inconsiderate, but ridiculous. In this imposing garb of 
caution and prudence, their opinion appeared so plausible, and was so 
warmly supported by Ferdinand, that Isabella declined giving any coun- 
tenance to Columbus, and abruptly broke off the negotiation with him which 
she had begun. 

This was more mortiiying to Columbus than all the disappointments 
which he had hitherto met with. The invitation to court from Isabella, like 
an unexpected ray of light, had opened such prospects of success as en- 
couraged him to hope that his labours v/ere at an end ; but now darkness 
and uncertainty returned, and his mind, firm as it was, could hardly support 
the shock of such an unforeseen reverse. He withdrew in deep anguish 
from court, with an intention of prosecuting his voyage to England as his 
last resource. 

About that time Granada surrendered, and Ferdinand and Isabella, in 
triumphal pomp, took possession of a city [Jan. 2, 1492], the reduction of 
which extirpated a foreign power from the heart of their dominions, and 
rendered them masters of all the provinces extending from the bottom of 
the Pyrenees to the frontiers of Portugal. As the flow of spirits which ac- 
companies success elevates the mind, and renders it enterprising, Quintanilla 
and Santangel, the vigilant and discerning patrons of Columbus, took ad- 
vantage of this favourable situation, in order to make one effort more in 
behalt of their friend. They addressed themselves to Isabella ; and after 
expressing some surprise, that she, who had always been the munificent pa- 
troness of generous undertakings, should hesitate so long to countenance the 
most splendid scheme that had ever been proposed to any monarch ; they 
represented to her, that Columbus was a man of a sound understanding and 
virtuous character, well qualified, by his experience in navigation, as well 
as his knowlec^e of geometry, to form just ideas with respect to the struc- 
ture of the globe and the situation of its various regions , that, by offering 
to risk his own life and fortune in the execution of his scheme, he gave the 
most satisfying evidence both of his integrity and hope of success ; that the 
sum requisite for equipping such an armament as he demanded was incon- 
siderable, and tlie advantages which might accrue from his undertaking were 
immense : that he demanded no recompense for his invention and labour. 

Vol. 1.--7 



60 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

but what was to arise from the countries which lie should discover ; that, 
as it was worthy of her magnanimity to make this noble attempt to extend 
the sphere of human knowledge, and to open an intercourse with regions 
hitherto unknown, so it would afford the highest satisfaction to her piety 
and zeal, after re-establishing the Christian faith in those provinces of Spain 
from which it had been long banished, to discover a new world, to which 
she might communicate the light and blessings of divine truth ; that if now 
she did not decide instantly, the opportunity would be irretrievably lost , 
that Columbus was on his way to foreign countries, where some prince, 
more fortunate or adventurous, would close with his proposals, and Spain 
would for ever bewail that fatal timidity which had excluded her from the 
. glory and advantages that she had once in her power to have enjoyed. 

These forcible arguments, urged by persons of such authority, and at a 
juncture so well chosen, produced the desired effect. They dispelled all 
Isabella's doubts and fears ; she ordered Columbus to be instantly recalled, 
declared her resolution of employing him on his own terms, and, regretting 
the low estate of her finances, generously offered to pledge her own jewels 
in order to raise as much money as might be needed in making preparations 
for the voyage. Santangel, in a transport of gratitude, kissed the Queen's 
hand, and, in order to save her from having recourse to such a mortilying 
expedient for procuring money, engaged to advance immediately the sum 
that was requisite.* 

Columbus had proceeded some leagues on his journey, when the messenger 
from Isabella overtook him. Upon receiving an account of the unexpected 
resolution in his favour, he returned directly to Santa Fe, though some 
remainder of diffidence still mingled itself with his joy. But the cordial 
reception which he met with from Isabella, together with the near prospect 
of setting out upon that voyage which had so long been the object ot his 
thoughts and wishes, soon effaced the remembrance of all that he had suf- 
fered in Spain during eight tedious years of solicitation and suspense. The 
negotiation now went forward witii facility and despatch, and a treaty or 
capitulation with Columbus was signed on the seventeenth of April, one 
thousand four hundred and ninety-two. The chief articles of it were : — 

1. Ferdinand and Isabella, as sovereigns of the ocean, constituted Columbus 
their high admiral in all the seas, islands, and continents, which should be 
discovered by his industry ; and stipulated that he and his heirs for ever 
should enjoy this office, with the same powers and prerogatives which 
belonged to the high admiral of Castile within the limits of his jurisdiction 

2. They appointed Columbus their viceroy in all the islands and continents 
which he should discover ; but if, for the better administration of affairs, it 
should hereafter be necessary to establish a separate governor in any of 
those countries, they authorized Columbus to name three persons of whom 
they would choose one for that office ; and the dignity of viceroy, with all 
its immunities, was likewise to be hereditary in the family of Columbus. 

3. They granted to Columbus and his heirs for ever, the tenth of the free 
profits accruing from the productions and commerce of the countries which 
he should discover. 4. They declared, that if any controversy or lawsuit 
shall arise with respect to any mercantile transaction in the countries which 
should be discovered, it should be determined by the sole authority of 
Columbus, or of judges to be appointed by him. 5. They permitted 
Columbus to advance one-eighth part of what should be expended in 
preparing for the expedition, and in carrying on commerce with the countries 
which he should discover, and entitled him, in return, to an eighth part of 
the profit.! 

Though the name of Ferdinand appears conjoined with that of Isabella 
in this transaction, his distrust of Columbus was still so violent that he 

• Herrera, dec. 1. lib. 1. c. 8. t Life of Columbus, c. 15. Hcrrcra, dec. 1. lib. 1. c. 9. 



AMERICA. 61 

refused to take any part in the enterprise as king of Aragon. As the whole 
expense of tiie expedition was to be defrayed by the crown of Castile, 
Isabella reserved for her subjects of that kingdom an exclusive right to all 
the benefits which might redound from its success. 

As soon as the treaty was signed, Isabella, by her attention and activity 
in forwarding the preparations for the voyage, endeavoured to make some 
reparation to Columbus tor the time which hehadlost in fruitless solicitation. 
By the twelfth of May, all that depended upon her was adjusted; and 
Columbus waited on the king and queen in order to receive their final 
instructions. Every thing respecting the destination and conduct of the 
voyage they committed implicitly to the disposal of his prudence. But 
that they might avoid giving any just cause of offence to the king of l^ortugal, 
they strictly enjoined him not to approach near to the Portuguese settlements 
on the coast of Guinea, or in any of the other countries to which the 
Portuguese claimed right as discoverers. Isabella had ordered the ships 
of which Columbus was to take the command to be fitted out in the port of 
Palos,a small maritime town in the province of Andalusia. As the guardian 
Juan Perez, to whom Columbus had already been so much indebted; 
resided in the neighbourhood of this place, he, by the influence of that 
good ecclesiastic, as well as by his own connection with the inhabitants, not 
only raised among them what he wanted of the sum that he was bound by 
treaty to advance, but engaged several of them to accompany him in the 
voyage. The chief of these associates were three brothers of the name 
of Pinzon, of considerable wealth, and of great experience in naval affairs, 
who ^vere willing to hazard their lives and fortunes in the expedition. 

But after all the efforts of Isabella and Columbus, the armament was not 
suitable either to the dignity of the nation by v/hich it was equipped, or 
to the importance of the service for which it was destined. It consisted of 
three vessels. The largest, a ship of no considerable burdeti, was com- 
manded by Columbus, as admiral, Avho gave it the name of Sunla Maria, 
out of respect tor the Blessed Virgin, whom he honoured Vv'ilh singular 
devotion. Of the second, called the PiaUt, Marlon Pinzon was captain, and 
his brother Francis pilot. Tlie third, named the J\~igna, was under the 
command of Vincent Yanez Pinzon. These two were light vessels hardlj'' 
superior in burden or force to large boats. The squadrun, if it merits that 
name, was victualled for twelve months, and had on board nitiety men, 
mostly sailors, together witli a few adventurers Avho followed the foilune of 
Columbus, and some gentlemen of Isabella's court, whom she appointed to 
accompany him. Though the expense of the undertaking was one of the 
circumstances which chiefly alarmed the court ol Spain, and retarded so 
long the negotiation with Columbus, the sum employed in filling out this 
squadron did not exceed four thousand pounds. 

As the art of ship-building in the fifleenlh century was extremely rude, 
and the bulk of vessels was accommodated to the short and easy voyages 
along the coast which they were accustomed to perform, it is a proof of 
the courage, as well as enterprising genius of Columbus, that he ventured, 
with a fleet so unfit for a distant navigation, lo explore unknown seas, where 
he had no chart to guide him, no knowledge of the tides and currents, and 
no experience of the dangers to which he might be exposed. His eagerness 
to accomplish the great design which had so long engrossed his ihouglits, 
made him overlook or disregard every circumstance that would have 
intimidated a mind less adven'urous. He pushed forward the preparations 
with such ardour, and was seconded so effectually by the persons to whom 
Isabella committed the superintendence of this business, that every thing 
was soon in readiness for the voyage. But as Columbus was deeply 
impressed with sentiments of religion, he would not set out upon an expe- 
dition so arduous, and of which one great object was to extend the know- 
ledge of the Christian faith, without imploring publicly the guidance and 



62 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

protection of Heaven. With this view, he, together with all the persons 
under his command, marched in solemn procession to the monastery of 
Rabida. After confessing' their sins, and obtaining; absolution, they received 
the holy sacrament from the hands of the guardian, who joined his 
pravers to theirs for the success of an enterprise which he had so zealously 
patronized. 

Next morning, being Friday the third day of August, in the year one 
thousand four hundred and ninety-two, Columbus set sail, a little before 
sunrise, in joresence of a vast crowd of spectators, who sent up their sup- 
plications to Heaven for the prosperous issue of the voyage, which they 
wished rather than expected. Columbus steered directly for the Canaiy 
Islands, and arrived there [Aug. 1'3] without any occurrence that would 
have deserved notice on any oiher occasion. But, in a voyage of such 
expectation and importance, every circumstance ^vas the object of attention. 
The rudder of the Pinta broke loose the day after she left the harbour ; and 
that accident alarmed the crew, no less superstitious than unskilful, as a 
certain omen of the unfortunate destiny of the expedition. Even in the 
short run to the Canaries, the ships were found to be so crazy and ill 
appointed, as to be very improper for a navigation which was expected to 
be both long and dangerous. Columbus refitted them, however, to the 
best of his power ; and having supplied himself with fresh provisions, he 
took his departure from Gomera, one of the most westerly of the Canary 
Islands, on the sixth day of September. 

Here the voyage ot discovery may properly be said to begin ; for 
Columbus, holding his course due west, left imm.ediately the usual track of 
navigation, and stretched into unfrequented and unknown seas. The first 
day, as it was very calm, he made but little way ; but on the second he 
lost sight of the Canaries; and many of the sailors, dejected already, and 
dismayed, when they contemplr ted the boldness of the undertaking, began 
to beat their breasts, and to shed tears, as if they were never more to 
behold land. Columbus comforted them with assurances of success, and 
the prospect of vast wealth in those opulent regions whither he was con- 
ducting them. This early discoveiy of the spirit of his followers taught 
Columbus that he must prepare to struggle not only with the unavoidable 
difficulties which might be expected from the nature of his undertaking, 
but with such as were likely to arise from the ignorance and timidity of 
the people under his command ; and he perceived that the art of 
governing the minds of men would be no less requisite for accomplishing 
the discoveries wliich he had in view, than naval skill and undaunted 
courage. Happily for himself, and for the country by which he was 
employed, he joined to the ardent temper and inventive genius of a pro- 
jector, virtues of another species, which are rarely united with them. He 
possessed a thorough knM'ledge of mankind, an insinuating address, a 
patient perseverance in executing any plan, the perfect government of his 
own passions, and the talent of acquiring an ascendant over those of other 
men. All these qualities, which formed him for command, were accom- 
panied with that superior kno^vledge of his profession, which begets 
confidence in times of difficulty and danger. To unskilful Spanish 
sailors, accustomed only to coasting voyages in the Mediterranean, the 
maritime science of Columbus, the fruit of thirty j'ears' experience, im- 
proved by an acquaintance with all the inventions of the Portuguese, 
appeared immense. As soon r.s they put to sea, lie regulated every thing 
by his sole authority; he superintended the execution of eveiy order ; and 
allowing himself only a few hours for sleep, he was at all other times 
upon deck. As his course lay through seas which had not formerly been 
visited, the sounding line, or instruments for observation, were continually 
in his hands. After the example of tiie Portuguese discoverers, he attended 
to the motion of tides and currents, watched the flight of birds, tlie appear 



AMERICA. 53 

ance of fishes, of seaweeds, and of every thing that floated on the waves, and 
entered every occurrence, with a minute exactness, in the journal which he 
kept. As the length of the voyage could not fail of alarming sailors habitu- 
ated only to short excursions, Cotumbiis endeavoured to conceal from them 
the real progress which they made. With this view, though diey run 
eighteen leagues on the second day after they left Gomera, he gave out that 
they had advanced only fifteen, and he uniformly employed the same artifice 
of reckoning short during the ^vhole voyage. By the fourteenth of Septem- 
ber the fleet was above two hundred leagues to the west of the Canary Isles, 
at a greater distance from land than any Spaniard had been before that time. 
There they were struck with an appearance no less astonishing than new 
They observed that the magnetic needle, in their compasses, did not point 
exactly to the polar star, but varied towards the west : and as they proceeded, 
this variation increased. This appearance, which is now ilimiiiar, though 
it still remains one of the mysteries of nature, into the cause of which the 
sagacity of man hath not been able to penetrate, filled the companions of 
Columbus with terror. They were now in a boundless and unknown ocean, 
far from the usual course of navigation ; nature itself seemed to be altered, 
and the only guide which they had left was about to fail them. Columbus, 
with no less quickness than ingenuity, invented a reason for this appearance, 
which, though it did not satisty himself, seemed so plausible to them, that 
it dispelled their fears, or silenced their murmurs. 

He still continued to steer due west, nearly in the same latitude with the 
Canary Islands. In this course he came within the sphere of the trade 
wind, which blows invariably from east to west, between the tropics and a 
few degrees beyond them. He advanced before this steady gale with such 
uniform rapidity that it was seldom necessaiy to shift a sail. When about 
four hundred leagues to the west of the Canaries, he found the sea so 
covered with weeds, that it resembled a meadow of vast extent, and in 
some places they were so thick as to retard the motion of the vessels. This 
strange appearance occasioned new alarm and disquiet. The sailors ima 
gined that they were now arrived at the utmost boundary of the navigable 
ocean ; that these floating weeds woulcf obstruct their further progress, 
and concealed dangerous rocks, or some large track of land, which had 
sunk, they knew not how, in that place. Columbus endeavoured to per 
suade them, that what had alarmed ought rather to have encouraged them, 
and was to be considered as a sign of approaching land. At the same lime, 
a brisk gale arose, and carried them lorward. Several birds were seen 
hovering about the ship [13], and directing their flight towards the west. 
The desponding crew resumed some degree of spirit, and began to entertain 
fresh hopes. 

Upon the first of October they were, according to the admiral's reckon- 
ing, seven hundred and seventy leagues to the west of the Canaries ; but 
lest his men should be intimidated by the prodigious length of the naviga 
tion, he gave out that they had proceeded only five hundred and eighty- 
four leagues, and fortunately, for Columibus. neither his own pilot, nor those 
of the other ships, had skill sulhcient to coiTect this error, and discover the 
deceit. They had now been above three weeks at sea ; they had pro 
ceeded far beyond wliat former navigators had attempted or deemed possi 
ble ; all their prognostics of discovery, drawn from the flight of birds and 
other circumstances, had proved fallacious ; the appearances of land, with 
which their own credulity or the artifice of their commander had from time to 
time flattered and amused them, had been altc^edier illusive, and their prospect 
of success seemed now to be as distant as ever. These reflections occurred 
often to men who had no other object or occupation than to reason and 
discourse concerning the intention and circumstances of their expedition' 
They made impression at first upon the ignorant and timid, and, extending 
by degrees to such as were better informed or more resolute, the contagion 



54 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

spread at length from ship to ship. From secret whispers or murmuring^, 
they proceeded to open cabals and public complaints. They taxed their 
sovereign with inconsiderate credulity, in paying such regard to the vain 
promises and rash conjectures ol an indigent torcigncr, as to hazard the 
lives of so many of her own subjects in prosecuting a chimerical scheme 
They affirmed that they had fully performed their duty, by venturing so far 
in an unknown and hopeless course, and could incur no blame for refusing 
to follow any longer a desperate adventurer to certain destruction. Tliey 
contended, that it was necessary to think of returning to Spain, while 
tlieir crazy vessels were still in a condition to keep the sea, but expressed 
their fears that the attempt would prove vain, as the wind, which had 
hitherto been so favourable to their course, must render it impossible to sail 
in an opposite direction. All agreed that Columbus should be compelled by 
force to adopt a measure on which their common safety depended. Some 
of the more audacious proposed, as the most expeditious and certain method 
of getting rid at once of his remonstrances, to throw him into the sea, being 
persuaded that, upon their return to Spain, the death of an unsuccessful 
projector would excite little concern, and be inquired into widi no curiosity. 

Columbus was fully sensible ot his perilous situation. He had observed, 
with great uneasiness, the fatal operation of ignorance and of fear in producing 
disaffection among his crew, and saw that it was now ready to burst out 
into open mutiny. He retained, however, perfect presence of mind. He 
affected to seem ignorant of their machinations, ^iotwithstanding the 
agitation and solicitude of his own mind, he appeared with a cheerful 
countenance, like a man satisfied with the progress he had made, and 
confident of success. Sometimes he employed all the arts of insinuation 
to soothe his men. Sometimes he endeavoured to work upon their ambition 
or avarice, by magnificent descriptions of the lame and wealth which they 
were about to acquire. On other occasions he assumed a tone of authority, 
and threatened them with vengeance from their sovereign, if, by their 
dastardly behaviour, they should defeat this noble effort to promote the 
glory of God, and to exalt the Spanish name above that of every other 
nation. Even with seditious sailors, the words of a man whom they had 
been accustomed to reverence, were weighty and persuasive, and not only 
restrained them from those violent excesses which they meditated, but 
prevailed with them to accompany their admiral for some time longer. 

As they proceeded, the indications of approaching land seemed to be 
more certain, and excited hope in proportion. The birds began to appear 
in flocks, making towards the southwest. Columbus, in imitation of the 
Portuguese navigators, who had been guided, in several of their discoveries, 
by the motion of birds, altered his course from due west towards that quarter 
whither they pointed their flight. But, after holding on fbrseveial days in 
this new direction, without any better success than formerly, having seen 
no object, during thirty days, but the sea and the sky, the hopes of his 
companions subsided faster than they had risen ; their fears revived with 
additional force ; impatience, raii;'e, and despair, appeared in every counte- 
nance. All sense of subordination was lost : the officers, who had hitherto 
concurred with Columbus in opinion, and supported his authority, now 
took part with the private men ; they assembled tumulUiously on the deck, 
expostulated with their commander, mingled threats with their expostulations, 
and required him instantly to tack about and to return to Europe. Columbus 
perceived that it would be of no avail to have recourse to any of his former 
arts, which, bavins: been tried so often, had lost their effect ; and that it was 
impossible to rekindle any zeal for the success of the expedition among 
men in whose breasts fear had extiiiguished every generous sentiment. He 
saw that it was no less vain to think of employing either gentle or severe 
measures to quell a mutiny so general and so violent. It was necessary, on 
all these accounts, to soothe passions which he could no longer command. 



A M E R I C A. 55 

and to give way to a torrent too impetuous to l;e checked. He promised 
solemnly to his men that he would comply with their requ<;st,proviile(l they 
would accompany him, and obey his command for three days longer, and 
if, during that time, land were not discovered, he would then abandon the 
enterprise, and direct his course towards Spain.* 

Enraged as the sailors were, and impatient to turn their faces again towards 
their native country, this proposition did not appear to them unreasonable. 
Nor did Columbus hazard much in confining himself to a term so short. 
The presages of discovering land Avere no^v so numerous and promising, 
that he deemed them infallible. For some days the sounding line reached 
the bottom, and the soil which it brought up indicated land to be at no 
great distance. The flocks of birds increased, and were composed not only 
of seafowl, but of such land birds as could not be supposed to fly far from 
the shore. The crew of the Pinta observed a cane floating, which seemed to 
have been newly cut, and likewise a piece of timber artificially carved. The 
sailors aboard the Nigna took up the branch of a tree with red berries, 
perfectly fresh. The clouds around the setting sun assumed a new appear- 
ance;, the air was more mild and warm, and during the night the wind 
became unequal and variable. From all these symptoms, Columbus was 
so confident of being near land, that on the evening of the eleventh of 
October, after public prayers for success, he ordered the sails to be furled, 
and the ships to lie to, keeping strict watch, lest they should be driven ashore 
in the night. During this interval of suspense and expectation, no man shut 
his eyes, all kept upon deck, gazing intently towards that quarter where 
they expected to discover the land, which had been so long the object of 
their wishes. 

About two hours before midnight, Columbus, standing on the forecastle, 
observed a hght at a distance, and privately pointed it out to Pedro Guttierez, 
a page of the Queen's wardrobe. Guttierez perceived it, and calling to 
Salcedo, comptroller of the fleet, all three saw it in motion, as if it were 
carried from place to place. A little after midnight the joyful sound of 
land! land! was heard Irom the Pinta, which kept always a head of the 
other ships. But, having been so often deceived by fallacious appearances, 
every man was now become slow of belief, and waited in all the anguish of 
uncertainty and impatience for the return of day. As soon as morning dawned 
[Oct. 12], all doubts and fears were dispelled. From every ship an island was 
seen about two leagues to the north, whose flat and verdant fields, well stored 
with wood, and watered with many rivulets, presented the aspect of a 
delightful country. The crew of the Pinta instantly began the Te Denm, 
as a hymn of thanksgiving to God, and were joined by those of the other 
ships, with tears of joy and transports of congi'atulation. This office of 
gratitude to Heaven was followed by an act of justice to their commander. 
They threw themselves at the feet of Columbus, with feelings of self- 
condemnation mingled with reverence. They implored him to pardon 
their ignorance, incredulity, and insolence, which had created him so much 
unnecessary disquiet, and had so often obstructed the prosecution of his 
well-concerted plan ; and passing, in the warmth of their admiration, from 
one extreme to another, they now pronounced the man, whom they had so 
lately reviled and threatened, to be a person inspired by Heaven wjth 
sagacity and fortitude more than human, in order to accomplish a design 
so far beyond the ideas and conception of all former ages. 

As soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and armed. They 
rowed towards the island with their colours displayed, with warlike music, 
and other martial pomp. As they approached the coast, they saw it covered 
with a multitude of people, whom the no\'elty of the spectacle had drawn 
together, whose attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and astonishment 

• Oviedo, Hist. ap. JRamusi, vol. iii. p. 81, B. 



66 HISTORY OF [Book II 

at the strange objects which presented themselves to their view. Columbus 
was the first European who set foot in the New World which he had dis- 
covered. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand. 
His men followed, and kneeling down, they all kissed the ground which 
they had so long desired to see. They next erected a crucifix, and 
prostrating themselves before it, returned thanks to God for conducting 
their voyage to such a happy issue. They then took solemn possession of 
the country, for the crown of Castile and Leon, with all the formalities 
which the Portuguese were accustonjed to observe in acts of this kind, in 
their new discoveries.* 

The Spaniards, while thus employed, were surrounded by many of the 
natives, who gazed in silent admiration upon actions which they could not 
comprehend, and of which they did not foresee the consequences. The 
dress of the Spaniards, the whiteness of their skins, their beards, their 
arms, appeared strange and surprising. The vast machines in which they 
had traversed the ocean, that seemed to move upon the waters with wings, 
and uttered a dreadful sound resembling thunder, accompanied with lightning 
and smoke, struck them with such terror, that they began to respect their 
new guests as a superior order of beings, and concluded that they were 
children of the Sun, who had descended to visit the earth. 

The Europeans were hardly less amazed at the scene now before them. 
Every herb, and shrub, and tree, was different from those which flourished in 
Europe. The soil seemed to be rich, but bore few marks of cultivation. 
The climate, even to the Spaniards, felt warm, though extremely delighttul. 
The inhabitants appeared in the simple innocence of nature, entirely naked. 
Their black hair, long and uncurled, floated upon their shoulders, or Avas 
bound in tresses around their heada. They had no beards, and eveiy part 
of their bodies was perfectly smooth. Their complexion was of a dusky- 
copper colour, their features singular, rather than disagreeable, their aspect 
gentle and timid. Though not tall, they were well shaped and active. 
Their faces, and several parts of their body, were fantastically painted with 
glaring colours. They were shy at first through fear, but soon became 
familiar with the Spaniards, and with transports of joy received from them 
hawksbells, glass beads, or other baubles, in return for which they gave 
such provisions as they had, and some cotton yarn, the only commodity of 
value that they could produce. Towards evening, Columbus returned to 
his ship, accompanied by many of the islanders in their boats, which they 
called canoes, and though rudely formed out of the trunk of a single tree, 
they rowed them with surprising dexterity. Thus, in the first interview 
between the inhabitants of the old and new worlds, every thing was con- 
ducted amicably, and to their mutual satisfaction. The former, enlightened 
and ambitious, formed already vast ideas with respect to the advantages 
which tlipy might derive from the regions that began to open to their view. 
The latter, simple and undiscerniiig, had no foresight of the calamities and 
desolation which were approaching their country. 

^ Columbus, who now assumed tlie title and authority of admiral and 
viceroy, called the island which he had discovered Sa^i Salvador. It i? 
Detter known by the name of Guanaharu, which the natives gave to it, and 
is one of that large cluster of islands called the Lucaya or Bahama isles 
It i? situated above three thousand miles to the west of Gomera ; from 
which the squadron took its departure, and only four degrees to the south 
of it ; so little had Columbus deviated from the westerly course, which he 
had chosen as the most proper. 

Columbus employed the next day in visiting the coasts of the island ; and 
from the universal poverty of the inliahitanis, he perceived that this was 
not the rich country for which he sought. But, conformably to his theory 

* Life of Columbua, c 23, 23. Henera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 23. 



AMERICA. 57 

f oncerning- the discovery of those regions of Asia which stretched towards 
the east, he concluded that San Salvador was one of the isles which 
eeographers described as situated in the great ocean adjacent to India.* 
Having' observed that most of the people whom he had seen wore small 
plates of gold, by way of ornament, in their nostrils, he eagerly inquired 
where they got that precious metal. They pointed towards the south, and 
made him comprehend by signs, that gold abounded in countries situated in 
that quarter. Thither he inmiediately determined to direct his course, in 
full confidence of finding there those opulent regions which had been the 
object of his voyage, and would be a recompense for all his toils and 
dangers. He took along with him seven of the natives of San Salvador, 
that, by acquiring the Spanish language, they mi^ht serve as guides and 
interpreters ; and those innocent people considered it as a mark of distinction 
when they were selected to accompany him. 

He saw several islands, and touched at three of the largest, on which 
he bestowed the names of St. Maiy of the Conception, Fernandina, and 
Isabella. But, as their soil, productions, and inhabitants nearly resembled 
those of San Salvador, he made no stay in anj^ of them. He inquired every 
where for gold, and the signs that were uniformly made by way of answer, 
confirmed him in the opinion that it was brought from the south. He 
followed that course, and soon discovered a country which appeared very 
extensive, not perfectly level, like those wliich he nad already visited, but 
so diversified with rising grounds, hills, rivers, woods, and plains, that he 
was uncertain whether it might prove an island, or part of the continent. 
The natives of San Salvador, whom he had on board, called it Cuba; 
Columbus gave it the name of Juana. He entered the mouth of a large 
river with his squadron, and all the inhabitants fled to the mountains as he 
approached the shore. But as he resolved to careen the ships in that place, 
he sent some Spaniards, together with one of the people of San Salvador, 
to view the interior part of the country. They, having advanced above 
sixty miles from the shore, reported, upon their return, that the soil was 
richer and more cultivated than any they had hitherto discovered ; that, 
besides many scattered cottages, they had found one village, containing 
above a thousand inhabitants ; that the people, though naked, seemed to 
be more intelligent than those of San Salvador, but had treated them with 
the same respectful attention, kissing their feet, and honouring them as sacred 
beings allied to heaven ; that they had given them to eat a certain root, the 
taste of which resembled roasted chestnuts, and likewise a singular species 
of corn called maize, which, either when roasted whole or ground into meal, 
was abundantly palatable ; that there seemed to be no four-footed animals 
in the country, but a species of dogs, which could not bark, and a creature 
resembling a rabbit, but of a much smaller size ; that they had observed 
some ornaments of gold among the people, but of no great value, j 

These messengers had prevailed with some of the natives to accompany 
them, who informed Columbus, that the gold of which they made their 
ornaments was found in Cuhanacan. By this word they meant the middle 
or inland part of Cuba ; but Columbus, bein^ ignorant of their language, 
as well as unaccustomed to their pronunciation, and his thoughts running 
continually upon his own theory concerning the discovery of the East Indies, 
he was led, by the resemblance of sound, to suppose that they spoke of 
the great Khan, and imagined that the opulent kingdom of Cathay, described 
by Marco Polo, was not very remote. This induced him to employ some 
time in viewiiig the country. He visited almost every harbour, from Porto 
del Principe, on the north coast of Cuba, to the eastern extremity of the 
island : but, though delighted with the beauty of the scenes which every 
where presented themselves, and amazed at the luxuriant fertility of the 

•■ Pet. M?rl. rpfet. 135. t Life of Columbus, c. i24— 29. Hcircra, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 14. 

Vol I.— 8 



68 HISTORY OF [Book 11. 

soil, both which, from their novelty, made a more livelj impression upon 
his imagination [14], he did not find gold in such quantity as was sufficient 
to satisfy either the avarice of his followers, or the expectations of the court 
to which he was to return. The people of the country, as much astonished 
at his eagerness in quest of gold as the Europeans were at their ignorance 
and simplicity, pointed towards the east, where an island which they called 
Hayti was situated, in which that metal was more abundant than among 
them. Columbus ordered his squadron to bend its course thither ; but 
Marton Alonso Pinzon, impatient to be the first who should take possession 
of the treasures which this country was supposed to contain, quitted his 
companions, regardless of all the admiral's signals to slacken sail until they 
should come up with him. 

Columbus, retarded by contrary winds, did not reach Hayti till the sixth 
of December. He called the port where he first touched St. Nicholas, and 
the island itself Espagnola, in honour of the kingdom by which he was 
employed ; and it is the only countiy, of those he had yet discovered, which 
has retained the name that he gave it. As he could neither meet with the 
Pinta, nor have any intercourse with the inhabitants, who fled in great 
consternation towards the woods, he soon quitted St. Nicholas, and, sailing 
along the northern coast of the island, he entered another harbour, which he 
called Conception. Here he was more fortunate ; his people overtook a 
woman who was flying from them, and after treating her with great gentle- 
ness, dismissed her with a present of such toys as they knew were most 
valued in those regions. The description which she gave to her countrymen 
of the humanity and wonderful qualities of the strangers ; their admiration 
of the trinkets, which she showed with exultation ; and their eagerness to 
participate of the same favours ; removed all their fears, and induced many 
of them to repair to the harbour. The strange objects which they beheld, 
and the baubles which Columbus bestowed upon them, amply gratified their 
curiosity and tlieir wishes. They nearly resembled the people of 
Guanahani and Cuba. They were naked like them, ignorant and simple ; 
and seemed to be equally unacqaainted with all the arts which appear most 
necessary in polished societies ; but they were gentle, credulous, and timid, 
to a degree which rendered it easy to acquire the ascendant over them, espe- 
cially as their excessive admiration led them into the same error with the 
people of the other islands, in believing the Spaniards to be more than mortals, 
and descended immediately from heaven. They possessed gold in greater 
abundance than their neighbours, which they readily exchanged for bells, 
beads, or pins ; and in this unequal traffic both parties were highly pleased, 
each considering themselves as gainers by the transaction. Here Columbus 
was visited by a prince or cazique of the country. He appeared with all 
the pomp known among a sim,ple people, being carried in a sort of palanquin 
upon the shoulders of four men, and attended by many of his subjects, who 
served him with great respect. His deportment was grave and stately, 
very reserved towards his own people, but with Columbus and the Spaniards 
extremely courteous. He gave the admiral some thin plates of gold, and a 
girdle of curious workmanship, receiving in return presents of small value, 
but highly acceptable to him.* 

Columbus, still intent on discovering the mines which yielded gold, 
continued to interrogate all the natives with whom he had any intercourse, 
concerning their situation. They concurred in pointing out a mountainous 
country, which they called Cibao, at some distance from the sea, and further 
towards the east. Struck with this sound, which appeared to him the same 
with Cipango, the name by which Marco Polo, and other travellers to the 
east, distinguished the island of Japan, he no longer doubted with respect 
to the vicinity of the countries which he had discovered to the remote parts 

* Life of Col\uDbuB, c. 33. Henera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 15, &c 



X M ERIC A. 59 

of Asia ; and, in full expectation of reaching soon those regions which had 
been the object of his voyage, he directed his course towards the east. He 
put into a commodious harbour, which he called St. Thomas, and found 
that district to be under the government of a powerful cazique, named 
Guacanahan, who, as he afterwards learned, was one of the five sovereigns 
among whom the whole island was divided. He immediately sent messen- 
gers to Columbus, who in his name delivered to him the present of a mask 
curiously fashioned with the ears, nose, and mouth of beaten gold, and 
invited him to the place of his residence, near the harbour now called Cape 
Francois, some leagues towards the east. Columbus despatched some of 
his orHcers to visit this prince, who, as he behaved himself with greater 
dignity, seemed to claim more attention. They returned with such favour- 
able accounts both of the country and of the people, as made Columbus 
impatient for that interview with Guacanahari to which he had been invited. 

He sailed for this purpose from St. Thomas, on the twenty-fourth of 
December, with a fair wind, and the sea perfectly calm ; and as, amidst the 
multiplicity of his occupations, he had not shut his eyes for two days, he 
retired at midnight in order to take some repose, haying committed the 
helm to the pilot, with strict injunctions not to quit it for a moment. The 
pilot, dreading no danger, carelessly left the helm to an unexperienced 
cabin bov, and the ship, carried away by a current, was dashed against a 
rock, "the violence of the shock awakened Columlous. He ran up to the 
deck. There all w^as confusion and despair. He alone retained presence 
of mind. He ordered some of the sailors to take a boat, and carry out an 
anchor astern; but, instead of obeying, they made ofi' towards the Nigna, 
which was about half a league distant. He then commanded the masts to 
be cut down, in order to lighten the ship ; but all his endeavours were too 
late; the vessel opened near the keel, and filled so fast with water that its 
loss was inevitable. The smoothness of the sea, and the timely assistance 
of boats from the Nigna, enabled the crew to save their lives. As soon as 
the islanders heard of tliis disaster, they crowded to the shore, with their 
prince Guacanahari at their head. Instead of taking advantage of the 
distress in which they beheld the Spaniards, to attempt any thing to their 
detriment, they lamented their misfortune with tears of sincere condolence. 
Not satisfied with this unavailing expression of their sympathy, they put tc 
sea a number of canoes, and, under the direction of the Spaniards, assisted 
in saving whatever could be got out of the wreck ; and, by the united 
labour of so many hands, almost ever}* thing of value was carried ashore. 
As fast as the goods were landed, Guacanahari in person took charge of 
them. By his orders they were all deposited in one place, and armed 
sentinels were posted, who kept the multitude at a distance, in order to 
prevent them not only from emi)ezzling, but from inspecting too curiously 
what belonged to their guests. [15] Next morning this prince visited 
Columbus, who was now on board the Nigna, and endeavoured to console 
him for his loss, by offering all that he possessed to repair it.* 

The condition of Columbus was such that he stood in need of consolation. 
He had hitherto procured no intelligence of the Pinta, and no longer doubted 
but that his treacherous associate had set sail for Europe, in order to have 
the merit of carrying the first tidings of the extraordinary discoveries which 
had been made, and to preoccupy so far the ear of their sovereign, as to 
rob him of the glory and reward to which he was justly entitled. There 
remained but one vessel, and that the smallest and most crazy of the squadron, 
to traverse such a vast ocean, and carry so many men back to Europe. 
Each of those circumstances was alarming, and filled the mind of Columbus 
with the utmost solicitude. The desire ot overtaking Pinzon, and of effacing 
the unfavourable impressions which his misrepresentations might make in 

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. I. e. la 



60 H I S T O R Y O F [Book II. 

Spain, made it necessary to return thither without delay. The difficulty 
ol taking such a number of persons on board the Nigna confirmed him in 
an opinion which the fertility of the country, and the gentle temper of the 
people, had already induced him to form. He resolved to leave a part of 
his crew in the island, that by residing there, they might learn the language 
of the natives, study their disposition, examine the nature of the country, 
search for mines, prepaie for the commodious settlement of the colony with 
which he purposed to return, and thus secure and facilitate the acquisition 
of those advantages which he expected from his discoveries. When he 
mentioned this to his men, all approved of the design ; and from impatience 
under the fatigue of a long voyage, from the levity natural to sailors, or 
from the hopesof amassing wealth in a country which afforded such promising 
specimens of its riches, many otfered voluntarily to be among the number 
of those who should remain. 

Nothing was now wanting towards the execution of this scheme, but to 
obtain the consent of Guacanahari; and iiis unsuspicious simplicity soon 
presented to the admiral a favourable opportunity of proposing it. Columbus 
having, in the best manner he could, by broken words and signs, expressed 
some curiosity to know the cause which had moved the islanders to Hy 
with such precipitation upon the approach of his ships, the cazique informed 
him that the country was much infested by the incursions of certain people, 
■whom he called Carribeans, ^vho inhabited several islands to the south-east. 
These he described as a fierce and warlike race of men, who delighted in 
blood, and devoured the flesh of the prisoners who were so unhappy as to 
fall into their hands ; and as the Spaniards at their first appearance were 
supposed to be Carribeans, whom the natives, however numerous, durst not 
face in battle, they had recourse to their usual method of securing their 
safet}^, by flying into the thickest and most impenetrable woods. Guacanahari, 
while speaking of those dreadful invaders, discovered such symptoms of 
terror, as well as such consciousness of the inability of his own people to 
resist them, as led Columbus to conclude that he would not be alarmed at 
the proposition of any scheme which afforded him the prospect of an addi- 
tional security against their attacks. He instantly offered him the assistance 
of the Spaniards to repel his enemies : he engaged to take him and h;s 
people under the protection of the powerful monarch whom he served, and 
offered to leave in the island such a number of his men as should be suffi- 
cient, not only to defend the inhabitants from future incursions, but to 
avenge tfieir past wrongs. 

Tiie credulous prince closed eagerly with the proposal, and thought 
himself already safe under the patronage of beings sprung fiom heaven, 
and superior in power to mortal men. The ground was marked out lc<r a 
small fort, which Columbus called A^avidad, because he had landed there 
on Christmas day. A deep ditch was drawn around it. The ramparts were 
fortified with pallisades, and the great guns, saved out of the admiral's ship, 
were planted upon them. In ten days the work was finished; that simple 
race of men labouring with inconsiderate assiduity in erecting liiis first 
monument of their own servitude. During this time, Columbus, by his 
caresses and liberality, laboured to increase the high opinion which the 
natives entertained of the Spaniards. But while he endeavoured to inspire 
them with confidence in their disposition to do good, he wished likewise 
to give them some striking idea of their power to punish and destroy such 
as were the objects of their indignation. With this view, in presence of a 
vast assembly, he drew up his men in order of battle, and made an ostenta- 
tious but innocent display of the sharpness of the Spanish swords, of the force 
of their spears, and the operation of their cross-bows. These rude people, 
strangers to the use of iron, and unacquainted with any hostile weapons but 
arrows of reed pointed with the bones of fishes, wooden swords, andjavelins 
liardened in the fire, wondered and trembled. Before this surprise or fear 



AMERICA. 61 

bad time to abate, he ordered the j^eat guns to be fired. The sudden 
explosion struck them with such terror that they fell flat to the ground, 
covering their faces with their hands ; and when they beheld the astonishing 
effect of the bullets among the trees, towards which the cannon had been 
pointed, they concluded that it was impossible to resist men, who had the 
command of such destructive instruments, and who came armed with 
thunder and lightning against their enemies. 

After giving such impressions both of the beneficence and power of the 
Spaniards, as might have rendered it easy to preserve an ascendant over 
the minds of the natives, Columbus appointed thirty-eight of his people to 
remain in the island. He intrusted the command of these to Diego de 
Arado, a gentleman of Cordova, investing him with the same powers which 
he himself had received from Ferdinand and Isabella ; and furnished him 
with every thing requisite for the subsistence or defence of this infant 
colony. He strictly enjoined them to maintain concord among themselves, 
to yield an unreserved obedience to their commander, to avoid giving offence 
to the natives by any violence or exaction, to cultivate tlis Iriendship of 
Guacanahari, but not to put themselves in his power by straggling in small 
parties, or marching too far from the fort. He promised to visit them soon 
with such a reintbrcement of strength as might enable them to take full 
possession of the country, and to reap all the fruits of their discoveries. In the 
mean time he engaged to mention their names to the king and queen, and 
to place their merit and services in the most advantageous light.* 

Having thus taken eveiy precaution for the security of the colony, he 
left Navldad on the fourth of Januaiy, one thousanii ibur hundred and 
ninety-three, and steering towards the east, discovered and gave names to 
most of the harbours on the northern coast of the island. On the sixth he 
descried the Pinta, and soon came up with her, after a separation of more 
than six weeks. Pinzon endeavoured to justify his conduct by pretending 
that he had been driven from his course by stress of weather, and prevented 
from returning by contrary winds. The admiral, though he still suspected 
his perfidious intentions, and knew well what he urged in his own defence 
to be frivolous as well as false, was so sensible that this was not a proper 
time for venturing upon any high strain of authority, and felt such satisfaction 
in this junction with his consort, which delivered him from many disquieting 
apprehensions, that, lame as Pinzon's apology was, he admittedof it without 
diraculty, and restored him to favour. During his absence froin the 
admiral, Pinzon had visited several harbours in the island, had acquired 
some gold by traificking with the natives, but had made no discovery of 
any iniportance. 

From the condition of his ships, as well as the temper of his men, 
Columbus now found it necessary to hasten his return to Europe. The 
former having suffered much during a voyage of such an unusual length, 
were extremely leaky. The latter expressed the utmost impatience to 
revisit their native country, from which they had been so long absent, and 
where they had things so wonderful and unheard-of to relate. Accordingly, 
on the sixteenth of January, he directed his course towards the north-east, and 
soon lost sight of land. He had on board some of the natives, whom he had 
taken from the different islands which he discovered ; and besides the gold, 
which was the chief object of research, he had collected specimens of all 
the productions %vhich were likely to become subjects of commerce in the 
several _ countries, as well as many unknown birds, and other natural 
curiosities, which might attract the attention of the learned, or excite the 
wonder of the people. The voyage was prosperous to the fourteenth of 
February, and he had advanced near five hundred leagues across the Atlantic 
ocean, when the wind began to rise, and continued to blow with increasing 

• Oviedo ap. Ramuaio, iii. p. 82. E. Hcrrera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 20. Life of Columbus, c. 3-i. 



62 HISTORY OF fBooKn. 

rag-e, which teiininated in a furious hurricane. Every thing: that the naval 
skill and experience of" Columbus could devise was employed in order to 
save the ships. But it was impossible to withstand the violence of the 
storm, and, as they were still far from any land, destruction seemed inevitable. 
The sailors had recourse to prayers to Almighty God, to the invocation 
of saints, to vows, and charms, to every thing- that religion dictates, or 
superstition suggests to the affrighted mind of man. J^o prospect ot 
deliverance appearing, they abandoned themselves to despair, and expected 
every moment to be swallowed up in the waves. Besides the passions 
which naturally agitate and alarm the human mind in such awful situations, 
when certain death, in one of his most terrible forms, is before it, Columbus 
had to endure feelings of distress peculiar to himself. He dreaded that 
all knowledge of the amazing discoveries which he had made was no\* 
to perish ; mankind were to be deprived of every benefit that might have 
been derived from the happy success of his schemes, and his own name 
would descend to posterity as that of a rash deluded adventurer, instead ot 
being transmitted with the honour due to the author and conductor of the 
most noble enterprise that had ever been undertaken. These reflections 
extinguished all sense of his own personal danger. Less affected with the 
loss of life than solicitous to preserve the memoi-j of what he had attempted 
and achieved, he retired to his cabin and wrote upon a parchment a short 
account of the voyage which he had made, of the course which he had 
taken, of the situation and riches of the countries which he had discovered, 
and of the colony that he had left there. Having wrapped up this in an 
oiled cloth, which he enclosed in a cake of wax, he put it into a cask 
carefully stopped • up, and threw it into the sea, in hopes that some 
fortunate accident might preserve a deposit of so much importance to the 
world.*il6] 

At length Providence interposed to save a life reserved for other services. 
The wind abated, the sea became calm, and on the evening of the fifteenth, 
Columbus and his companions discovered land ; and though uncertain what 
it was, they made towards it. They soon knew it to be St. Marj-, one of 
the Azores or western isles, subject to the crown of Portugal. There, 
after a violent contest with the governor, in which Columbus displayed no 
less spirit than prudence, he obtained a supply of fresh provisions, and 
whatever else he needed. One circumstance, however, greatly disquieted 
him. The Pinta, of which he had lost sight on the first day of the hurri- 
cane, did not appear ; he dreaded for some time that she had foundered at 
sea, and that all her crew had perished ; afterwards, his former suspicions 
recurred, and he became apprehensive that Pinzon had borne away for 
Spain, that he might reach it before him, and by giving- the first account of 
his discoveries, might obtain some share of his fame. 

In order to prevent this, he left the Azores as soon as the weather would 
permit [Feb. 24]. At no great distance from the coast of Spain, when near 
the end of his voyage, and seemingly beyond the reach of any disaster, 
another storm arose, little inferior to the former in violence; and after 
driving before it during two days and two nights, he was forced to fake_ 
shelter in the river Tagus [March 4]. Upon application to the King of 
Portugal, he was allowed to come up to Lisbon ; and, notwithstanding the 
envy which it was natural for the Portuguese to feel, when they beheld 
another nation entering upon that province of discovery which they had 
hitherto deemed peculiarly their own, and in its first essay not only rivalling-^ 
but eclipsing their fame, Columbus was received with all the marks of 
distinction due to a man who had performed things so extraordinary and 
unexpected. The King admitted him into his presence, treated him with 
tbe highest respect, and listened to the account which he gave of his voyage 

♦ Life of Columbus, c. ST. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c, 1, 2. 



AMERICA. 6 

•with admiration mingled with regret. While Columbus, on his part, 
enjoyed the satisfaction of describing the importance of his discoveries, and 
of being now able to prove the solidity of his schemes lo those very 
persons, who, with an ignorance disgraceful to themselves, and fatal to their 
country, had lately rejected them as the projects of a visionary or designing 
adventurer.* 

Columbus was so impatient to return to Spain, that he remained only 
five days in Lisbon. On the fifteenth of March he arrived in the port ot 
Palos, seven months and eleven days from the tiine when he set out thence 
upon his voyage. As soon as the ship was discovered approaching the 
port, ail the inhabitants of Palos ran eagerly to the shore, in order to welcome 
their relations and fellow-citizens, and to hear tidings of their voyage. 
When the prosperous issue of it was known, when they beheld the strange 
people, the unknown animals, and singular productions, brought Irom the 
countries which had been discovered, tiie effusion of joy was general and 
unbounded. The bells were rung, the cannon fired ; Columbus was 
received at landing with royal honours, and all the people in solemn pro- 
cession, accompanied him and his crew to the church, where they returned 
thanks to Heaven, which had so wonderfully conducted and crowned with 
success a voyage of greater length and of more importance than had been 
attempted in any former age. On the evening of the same day, he had the 
satisfaction of seeing the Pinta, which the violence of the tempest had driven 
far to the noith, enter the harbour. 

The first care of Columbus was to inform the King and Queen, who were 
then at Barcelona, of his arrival and success. Ferdinand and Isabella, no 
less astonished than delighted with this unexpected event, desired Columbus, 
in terms the most respectful and flattering, to repair immediately to court, 
that from his own mouth they might receive a full detail of his extraordinary 
services and discoveries. During his journey to Barcelona, the people 
crowded from the adjacent countiy, following him eveiy where with admi 
ration and applause. His entrance into the city was conducted, by order 
of Ferdinand and Isabella, with pomp suitable to the great event, which 
added such distinguishing lustre to their reign. The people whom he 
brought along with him from the countries which he had discovered, 
marched first, and by their singular complexion, the wild peculiarity of their 
features, and uncouth finery, appeared like men of another species. Next 
to them were carried the ornaments of gold, fashioned by tfie rude art of 
the natives, the grains of gold found in the mountains, and dust of the same 
metal gathered in the rivers. Alter these appeared the various commodities 
of the new discovered countries, together witli their curious productions. 
Columbus himself closed the procession, and attracted the eyes of all the 
spectators, who gazed with admiration on the extraordinary man, whose 
superior sagacity and tbrtitude had conducted their countrj'men, by a route 
concealed from past ages, to the knowledge of a new world. Ferdinand 
and Isabella received him clad in their royal robes, and seated upon a 
throne, under a magnificent canopy. When he approached, they stood up, 
and raising him as he kneeled to kiss their hands, commanded him to take 
his seat upon a chair prepared lor him, and to give a circumstantial account 
of his voyage. He delivered it with a gravity and composure no less 
suitable to the disposition of the Spanish nation than to the dignity of the 
audience in which he spoke, and with that modest simplicity which 
cliaraclerizes men of superior minds, who, satisfied with having performed 
great actions, court not vain applause by an ostentatious display of their 
exploits. When he had finished his narration, the king and queen, kneeling' 
down, otTered up solemn thanks to Almighty God for the discovery of those 
new regions, from which they expected so many advantages to flow in upoti 

* Life of Columbus, c. -10, ii. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 3 



64 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

the kingdoms subject to their government. [17] Every mark of honour 
that gratitude or admiration could suggest was conferred upon Cohmibus. 
Letters patent were issued, confirming to him and to his heirs all the privileges 
contained in the capitulation concluded at Santa Fe ; his family was enno- 
bled ; the king and queen, and after their example the courtiers, treated him 
on every occasion with all the ceremonious respect paid to persons of the 
highest rank. But what pleased him most, as it gratified his active mind, 
bent continually upon great objects, was an order to equip, without delay, 
an armament of such Ibrce as might enable him not only to take possession 
of the countries which he had already discovered, but to go in search of 
those more opulent regions which he still confidently expected to find.* 

While preparations were making for this expedition, the lame of Columbus's 
successful voyage spread over Europe, and excited general attention. The 
multitude, struck with amazement when they heard that a new world had 
been tbund, could hardly believe an event so much above their conception. 
Men of science, capable of comprehending the nature, and of discerning 
the effects of this great discovery, received the account of it wMth admiration 
and joy. They spoke of his voyage with rapture, and congratulated one 
another upon their felicity m having lived in the period when, by this ex- 
traordinary event, the boundaries of human knowledge were so much 
extended, and such a new tield of inquiry and observation opened, as would 
lead mankind to a perfect acquaintance with the structure and productions 
of the habitable globe. t [18] Various opinions and conjectures were 
formed concerning the new found countries, and what division of the earth 
they belon";ed to. Columbus adhered tenaciously to his original opinion, 
that they snould be reckoned a part of those vast regions in Asia, compre- 
hended under the general name of India. This sentiment was confirmed 
by the observations which he made concerning the productions of the 
countries he had discovered. Gold was known to abound in India, and he 
had met with such promising samples of it in the islands which he visited, 
as led him to believe that rich mines of it might be found. Cotton, another 
production of the East Indies, was common there. The pin:ento of the 
islands he imagined to be a species of the East Indian pepper. He mistook 
a root, somewhat resembling rhubarb, for that valuable drug, which was 
then supposed to be a plant peculiar to the East Indies. J The birds brought 
home by him were adorned with the same rich plumage which distin- 
guishes those of India. The alligator of the one country appeared to be 
the same with the crocodile of the other. Alter weighing all these circum- 
stances, not only the Spaniards, but the other nations ot Europe, seem to 
have adopted the opinion of Columbus. The countries which he had 
discovered were considered as a part of India. In consequence of this 
notion, the name of Indies is given to them by Ferdinand and Isabella, in 
a ratification of their former agreement, which was granted to Columbus 
upon his retum.§ Even after the error which gave rise to this opinion was 
detected, and the true position of the New World was ascertained, the 
name has remained, and the appellation of West Indies is given by all the 
people of Europe to the countrj'^, and that of Indians to its inhabitants. 

The name by which Columbus distinguished the countries which he had 
discovered was so inviting, the specimens of their riches and fertility which 
he produced were so considerable, and the reports of his companions, 
delivered frequently with the exaggeration natural to travellers, solavourable, 
as to excite a wonderful spirit of enterprise among the Spaniards. Though 
httle accustomed to naval expeditions, they were impatient to set out upon 
their voyage. Volunteers of every rank solicited to be employed. Allured 
by the inviting prospects which opened to their ambition and avarice, 

* Life of Columbus, c. 42, 43. Horrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 3. t 2 P. Mart, epist. 133, 134, 135. 
t Herrcra, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 20. Gomera Uift. c. 17. ^ Life of Columbus, c. 44. 



A-MERICA. 66 

neither the length nor danger of the navigation intimidated them. Cautious 
as Ferdinand was, and averse to every thing new or adventurous, he seems 
to have catched the same spirit with his subjects. Under its influence, 
preriarations for a second expedition were carried on with rapidity unusual 
in Spain, and to an extent that would be deemed not inconsiderable in the 
present age. The fleet consisted of seventeen ships, some of which were 
of good burden. It had on board fil'teen hundred persons, among whom 
were many of noble families, who had served in honourable stations. The 
greater part of these, being destined to remain in the country, were fur- 
nished with every thing requisite for conquest or settlement, with all kinds 
of European domestic animals, with such seeds and plants as were most 
likely to thrive in the climate of the West Indies, with utensils and instruments 
of every sort, and with such artificers as might be most useful in an infant 
colony.* 

But, formidable and well provided as this fleet was, Ferdinand and 
Isabella did not rest their title to the possession of the newly discovered 
countries upon its operations alone. The example of the Portuguese, as 
well as the superstition of the age, made it necessary to obtain Irom the 
Roman pontiff a grant of those territories which they wished to occupy. 
The Pope, as the vicar and representative of Jesus Christ, was supposed 
to have a right of dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth. Alexander 
VI., a pontiff infamous for ev'ery crime which disgraces humanity, filled the 
Papal throne at that time. As he was born Ferdinand's subject, and very 
solicitous to secure the protection of Spain, in order to facilitate the execution 
of bis ambitious schemes in favour of his own family, he was extremely 
willing to gratify the Spanish monarchs. By an act of liberality which 
cost him nothing, and that served to establish the jurisdiction and pretensions 
of the Papal See, he granted in full right to Ferdinand and Isabella all the 
countries inhabited by Infidels, which they had discovered, or should discover; 
and, in virtue of that power which he derived from Jesus Christ, he con- 
ferred on the crown of Castile vast regions, to the possession of which he 
himself was so far from having any title, that he w-as unacquainted with 
their situation, and ignorant even of their existence. As it was necessary 
to prevent this grant from interfering with that formerly made to the crown 
of Portugal, he appointed that a line, supposed to be drawn from pole to 

f)ole, a hundred leagues to the westward of the Azores, should serve as a 
imit between them ; and, in the plenitude of his power, bestowed all to 
the east of this imaginary line upon the Portuguese, and all to the westot 
it upon the Spaniards.! Zeal for propagating the Christian faith was the 
consideration employed by Ferdinand in soliciting this bull, and is mentioned 
by Alexander as his chief motive for issuing it. In order to manifest some 
concern for this laudable object, several friars, under the direction of Father 
Boyl, a Catalonian monk of great reputation, as apostolical vicar, were 
appointed to accompany Columbus, and to devote themselves to the 
instruction of the natives. The Indians, whom Columbus had brought along 
with him, having received some tincture of Christian knowledge, were 
baptized with much solemnity, the king himself, the prince his son, and the 
cliief persoas of his court, standing as their godfathers. Those first fruits 
of the New World have not been iollowed by such an increase as pious men 
wished, and had reason to expect. 

Ferdinand and Isabella having thus acquired a title, which was then 
deerned completely valid, to extend their discoveries and to establish their 
dominion over such a considerable portion of the globe, nothing now retarded 
the departure of the fleet. Columbus was extremely impatient to revisit 
the colony which he had left, and to pursue that career of glory upon which 

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 5. Life of Columbus, c. 45. f Hcrrera, dec. 1. lib. U. c. 1 

Torquemeda Mon. Ind. lib. xviii. c. 3. 

Vol. I.— 9 5 



b6 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

he had entered. He set sail from the bay of Cadiz on the twenty-fifth of 
September, and touching again at the island of Gomera, he steered further 
towards the south than in his former voyage. By holding this course, he 
enjoyed more steadily the benefit of the regular winds, which reign within 
the tropics, and was carried towards a large cluster of islands, situated 
considerably to the east of those which he had already discovered. On the 
twenty-sixth day after his departure from Gomera [Nov. 5J], he made land.* 
It was one of the Canibbee or Leeward Islands, to which he gave the name 
of Deseada, on account of the impatience of his crew to discover some part 
of the New World. After this he visited successively Dominica, I\iari- 
galante, Guadaloupe, Antigua, San Juan de Puerto Rico, and several other 
islands, scattered in his way as he advanced towards the north-west. All 
these he found to be inhabited by that fierce race of people whom Guacan- 
ahari had painted in such frightful colours. His descriptions appeared not 
to have been exaggerated. I'he Spaniards never attempted to land w ithout 
meeting with such a reception as discovered the martial and daring spirit 
of the natives ; and in their habitations were ibund relics of those horrid 
feasts which they had made upon the bodies of their enemies taken in war. 
But as Columbus was eager to know the state of the colony which he 
had planted, and to supply it with the necessaries of which he supposed it 
to be in want, he made no stav in any of those islands, and proceeded 
directly to Hispaniola [Nov. 22]. j When he arrived off Navidad, the 
station in which he had left the thirty-eight men under the cor^mand ol 
Arada, he was astonished that none of them appeared, and expecTed eveiy 
moment to see them running with transports of joy to welcome their 
countrymen. Full of solicitude about their safety, and Ibreboding in his 
mind what had befallen them, he rowed instantly to land. All the natives 
from whom he might have received information had fled. But the fort 
which he had built was entirely demolished, and the tattered garments, the 
broken arms and utensils scattered about it, left no room to doubt concerning 
the unhappy fate of the garrison. J While the Spaniards were shedding 
tears over those sad memorials of their fellow-citizens, a brother of the 
cazique Guacanahari arrived. From him Columbus received a particular 
detail of what had happened after his departure from the island. Tlie 
familiar intercourse of the Indians with the Spaniards tended gradually to 
diminish the superstitious veneration with which their first appearance had 
hispired that simple people. By their own indiscretion and ill conduct, the 
Spaniards speedily etfaced those favourable impressions, and soon convinced 
the natives, that they had all the wants, and weaknesses, and passions of 
men. As soon as the powerful restraint which the presence and authoiity 
of Columbus imposed was withdrawn, the garrison threw off all regard for 
the officer whom he had invested with conimand. Regardless of the 
prudent instructions which he had given them, every man became inde- 
pendent, and gratitied his desires without control. 1 he gold, tl;e women, 
the provisions of the natives, were all the prey of those licentious oppressors 
They roamed in small parties over the island, extending their rapacity and 
insolence to every corner of it. Gentle and timid as the people were, those 
unprovoked injuries at length exhausted their patience, and roused their 
courage. The cazique of Cibao, whose country the Spaniards chiefly 
infested on account of the gold which it contained, surprised and cut olf 
several of them, while they straggled in as perfect security as if their 
conduct had been altogether inoffensive. He then assembled his subjects, 
and surrounding the fort, set it on fire. Some of tlie Spaniards were killed 
in defending it ; the rest peiished in attempting to make their escape by 
crossing an arm of the sea. Guacanahari, whom all their exactions had 

• Oviedo ap. Ramus, iii. 85. t P- Martyr, dec. p. 15. 18. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 7. Life 

of Colujnbue, c. 4C. &c. i Hist.de Cura de loe FaJacios. MS- 



AMERICA. 61 

not alienated from the Spaniards, took arn^is in their behalf, and, in endea- 
vouring- to protect them, had received a wound, by which he was still 
confined.* 

Though this account was far from removing the suspicions which the 
Spaniards entertained with respect to the fidehty of Guacannhari, Columbus 
perceived so clearly that this was not a proper juncture for inquiring into his 
conduct with scrupulous accuracy, thai he rejected the advice of several of 
his officers, who urged him to seize the person of that Prince, and to revenge 
the death of their countrymen by attacking his subjects He represented 
to them the necessity of securing the iriendship of some potentate of the 
country, in order to lacilitate the settlement which they intended, and the 
danger of driving the natives to unite in some desperate attempt against 
them, by such an ill-timed and unavailing exercise of rigour. Instead of 
wasting his time in punishing past wrongs, he took precautions tor preventing 
any future injury. With this view, he made choice of a situation more 
healthy and commodious than that of Navidad. He traced out the plan of 
a town in a large plain near a spacious bay, and obliging every person to 
put his hand to a work on -which their common safety depended, the houses 
and ramparts were soon so far advanced, by their united labour, as to afford 
thern shelter and security. This rising city, the first that the Europeans 
founded in the New World, he named Isabella, in honour of his patroness 
the Queen of Castile. t 

In carrying on this necessary work, Columbus had not only to sustain all 
the hardships, and to encounter all the difficulties, to which infant colonies 
are exposed when they settle in an uncultivated country, but he had to 
contend with what was more insuperable, the laziness, the impatience, and 
mutinous disposition of his followers. By the enervating influence of a hot 
climate, the natural inactivity of the Spaniards seemed to increase. Many 
of them were gent'emen, unaccustomed to the fatigue of bodily labour, 
and all had engaged in the enterprise with the sanguine hopes excited by 
the splendid and exaggerated description of their countrym.en who returned 
from the first voyage, or by the mistaken opinion of Columbus, that the 
country which he had discovered was either the Cipango of Marco Polo, 
or the Ophir,J from which Solomon imported those precious conunodities 
which suddenly diffused such extraordinary riches through his kingdom. 
But when, instead of that golden harvest which they had expected to reap 
without toil or pains, the Spaniards saw that their prospect of wealth Avas 
remote as ^vell as uncertain, and that it could not be attained but by the 
slow and persevering efforts of industry, the disappointm.ent of those 
chimerical hopes occasioned such dejection of mind as bordered on despair, 
and led to general discontent. In vain did Columbus endeavour to revive 
their spirits by pointing out the fertility of the soil, and exhibiting the 
specimens of gold daily brought in from different parts of the island. 
They had not patience to wait for the gradual returns which the former 
might yield, and the latter they despised as scanty and inconsiderable. 
The spirit of disaffection spread, and a conspiracy was formed, which might 
have been fatal to Columbus and the colony. Happily he discovered it ; 
and, seizing the ringleaders, punished some of them, sent others prisoners 
into Spain, whither he despatched twelve of the ships which had served 
as transports, with an earnest request for a reinforcement of men and a large 
supply of provisions. § 

1 494.] Meanwhile, in order to banish that idleness which, by allowing 
his people leisure to brood over their disappointment, nourished the spirit 
of discontent, Columbus planned several expeditions into the interior part of 

• P.Marlyr, dec. p.!S, ic. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 7. 9. Lifeof Columbus, c. 49, 50. f Life 
of Culunibus, c. 51. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 10. 1 P. Martyr, dec. p. 29. 6 Herrera, det. 
i. lib. ii. c. 10, 11. * J > V y . 



68 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

the country. He sent a detachment, under the command of Alonzo de 
Ojeda, a vigilant and enterprising officer, to visit the district of Cibao, which 
viras said to yield the greatest quantity of gold, and followed him in person 
with the main body oi his troops. In this expedition he displayed all the 
pomp of military magnificence that he could exhibit, in order to strike the 
imagination of the natives. He marched with colours flying, with martial 
music, and with a small body of cavalry that paraded sometimes in the front 
and sometimes in the rear. As those were the first horses which appeared 
in the New World, they were objects of terror no less than of admiration 
to the Indians, who, having no tame animals themselves, were unacquainted 
with that vast accession of^ power which man hath acquired by subjecting 
them to his dominion. They supposed them to be rational creatures. They 
imagined that the horse and the rider formed one animal, with whose speed 
they were astonished, and whose impetuosity and strength they considered 
as irresistible. But while Columbus endeavoured to inspire the natives 
with a dread of his power, he did not neglect the arts of gaining their love 
and confidence. He adhered scrupulously to the principles of integrity and 
justice in all his transactions with them, and treated them, on every occasion, 
not only with humanity, but with indulgence. The district of Cibao 
answered the description given of it by the natives. It was mountainous 
and uncuUivated, but in every river and brook gold was gathered either in 
dust or in grains, some of which were of considerable size. The Indians had 
never opened any mines in search of gold. To penetrate into the bowels of 
the earth, and to refine the rude ore, were operations too complicated and 
laborious for their talents and industry, and they had no such high value for 
gold as to put their ingenuity and mvention upon the stretch in order to 
obtain it.* The small quantity of that precious metal which they possessed, 
was either picked up in the beds of the rivers, or washed from the mountains 
by the heavy rains that fall within the tropics. But from those indications, 
the Spaniards could no longer doubt that the country contained rich treasures 
in its bowels, of which they hoped soon to be masters.! In order to secure 
the command of this valuable province, Columbus erected a small fort, to 
which he gave the name of St. Thomas, by Avay of ridicule upon some of 
his incredulous followers, who would not believe that the country produced 
gold, until they saw it with their own eyes, and touched it with their 
hands.| 

The account of those promising appearances of wealth in the country of 
Cibao came very seasonably to comfort the desponding colony, which was 
affected with distresses of various kinds. The stock of provisions which 
had been brought from Europe was mostly consumed ; what remained was 
so nuich corrupted by the heat and m.oisture of the climate as to be almost 
unfit for use ; the natives cultivated so small a portion of ground, and with 
so little skill, that it hardly yielded what was sufficient for their own sub- 
sistence ; the Spaniards at Isabella had hitherto neither time nor leisure to clear 
the soil, so as to reap any considerable fruits of their own industry. On all 
these accounts, they became afraid of perishing with hunger, and were 
reduced already to a scanty allowance. At the same time, the diseases 
predominant in the torrid zone, and which rage chiefly in those uncultivated 
countries where the hand of industry has not opened the woods, drained the 
marshes, and confined the rivers within a certain channel, began to spread 
among them. Alarmed at the violence and unusual symptoms of those 
maladies, they exclaimed against Columbus and his companions in the 
former voyage, who, by their splendid but deceitful descriptions of Hispa- 
niola, had allured them to quit Spain for a barbarous uncultivated land, 
where they must either be cut off by famine, or die of unknown distempers. 

* Oviedo, lib. i\. p. 90. A. t P- Martyr, dec. p. 33. t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 12. Life 
of Columbae, c. 32. 



AMERICA. 69 

Several of the oflBcers and persons of note, instead of checking, joined in 
those seditious complaints. Father Boyi, the apostolical vicar, was one of 
the most turbulent and outrageous. It required all the authority and address 
of Columbus to re-establish subordination and tranquillity in the colony. 
Threats and promises were alternately employed for this purpose ; but 
nothing contributed more to soothe the malecontents than the prospect of 
finding, in the mines of Cibao, such a rich store of treasure as would be a 
recompense for all their suS'erings, and efface the memory of former 
disappointments. 

When, by his unwearied endeavours, concord and order vi^ere so far 
restored that he could venture to leave the island, Columbus resolved to 
pursue his discoveries, that he might be able to ascertain whether those new 
countries with which he had opened a communication were connected with 
any region of the earth already known, or whether they were to be con- 
sidered as a separate portion of the globe hitherto unvisited. He appointed 
his brother Don Diego, with the assistance of a council of officers, to govern 
the island in his absence ; and gave the command of a body of soldiers to 
Don Pedro Margarita, with which he was to visit the different parts of the 
island, and endeavour to establish the authority of the Spaniards among the 
inliabitants. Having left them very particular instructions with respoct to 
their conduct, he weighed anchor on the 24th of April, with one ship and 
tvvo small barks under his command. During a tedious voyage of full five 
months, he had a trial of almost all the numerous hardships to which 
persons of his profession are exposed, without making any discovery ol 
importance, except the island of Jamaica. As he ranged along the southern 
coast of Cuba [l9],he was entangled in a labyrinth formed by an incredible 
number of small islands, to which he gave the name of the Queen's Garden. 
In this unknown course, among rocks and shelves, he was retarded by con- 
trary winds, assaulted with furious storms, and alarmed with the terrible 
thunder and lightning which is often almost incessant between the tropics. At 
length his provisions fell short ; his crew, exhausted with fatigue as well as 
hunger, murmured and threatened, and were ready to proceed to the most 
desperate extremities against him. Beset with danger in such various forms, 
he was obliged to keep continual watch, to observe every occurrence with 
his own eyes, to issue every order, and to superintend the execution of it. 
On no occasion was the extent of his skill and experience as a navigator so 
much tried. To these the squadron owed its safety. But this unremitted 
fatigue of body, and intense application of mind, overpowering his consti- 
tution, though naturally vigorous and robust, brought on a feverish disorder, 
which terminated in a lethargy, that deprived him of sense and memoiy, 
and had almost proved fatal to his life.* 

But, on his return to Hispaniola [Sept. 27], the sudden emotion of joy 
which he felt upon meeting with his brother Bartholomew at Isabella, 
occasioned such a flow of spirits as contributed greatly to his recovery. 
It was now thirteen years since the two brothers, whom similarity of talents 
united in close friendship, had separated from each other, and during that 
long period there had been no intercourse between them. Bartholomew, 
after hnishing his negotiation in the court of England, had set out for Spain 
hj the way of France. At Paris he received an account of the extraordinary 
discoveries which his brother had made in his first voyage, and that he was 
then preparing to embark on a second expedition. I'hough this naturally 
induced him to pursue his Journey with the utmost despatch, the admiral 
had sailed for Hispaniola before he reached Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella 
received him with the respect due to the nearest kinsman of a person whose 
merit and services rendered him so conspicuous ; and as they knew what 
consolation his presence would afford to his brother, they persuaded him to 

♦ Life of Columbus, c. 54, &c. Her:era, dee. 1. lib. li. c. 13, 14 P. Martyr, dec. I. p. 34, tto. 



70 HISTORYOF [Book II. 

take the command of three ships, which they had appointed to carry 
provisions to the colony at Isabella.* 

He could not have arrived at any juncture when Columbus stood more 
in need of a friend capable of assisting- him with his counsels, or of dividing 
with him the cares and burdens of government, r'or although the provisions 
now brought from Europe afforded a temporary relief to the Spaniards from 
the calamities of famine, the supply was not in such quantity as to support 
them long, and the island did not hitherto yield what was sufficient for their 
sustenance. They were threatened with another dangei, still more formida- 
ble than the return of scarcity, and which demanded more immediate 
attention. No sooner did Columbus leave the island on his voyage ol 
discovery, than the soldiers under Margarita, as if they had been set free 
from discipline and subordination, scorned all restraint. Instead ol con- 
forming to the prudent instructions of Columbus, they dispersed in straggling 
parties over the island, lived at discretion upon the natives, wasted their 
provisions, seized their women, and treated that inoffensive race with all the 
insolence of militar}' oppression.f 

As long as the Indians had any prospect that their sufferings might come 
to a period by the voluntary departure of the invaders, they submitted in 
silence, and dissembled their sorrow ; but they now perceived that the yoke 
would be as permanent as it was intolerable. The Spaniards had built a 
town, and surrounded it with ramparts. They haderected forts in different 
places. They had enclosed and sown several fields. It was apparent 
that they came not to visit the country, but to settle in it. Though the 
number of those strangers was inconsiderable, the state of cultivation among 
these rude people was so imperfect, and in such exact proportion to their 
own consumption, that it was with difficulty they could afford subsistence 
to their new guests. Their own mode of life was so indolent and inactive, 
the warmth of the climate so enervating, the constitution of their bodies 
naturally so feeble, and so unaccustomed to the laborious exertions oi 
industry, that they were satisfied with a proportion of food amazingly small. 
A handtul of maize, or a little of the insipid bread made of the cassada- 
root, was sufficient to support men whose strength and spirits were not 
exhausted by any vigorous efforts either of body or mind. The Spaniards, 
though the most abstemious of all the European nations, appeared to them 
excessively voracious. One Spaniard consumed as much as several Indians. 
This keenness of appetite surprised them so much, and seemed to be so 
insatiable, that they supposed the Spaniards had left their own country 
because it did not produce as much as was requisite to gratily their immo- 
derate desire of food, and had come among them in quest of nourishment. J 
Self-preservation prompted them to wish for the departure of guests v\ho 
wasted so fast their slender stock of provisions. The injuries which they 
suffered added to their impatience for this event. They had long expected 
that the Spaniards would retire of their own accord. They now perceived 
that, in order to avert the destruction with which they were threatened, either 
by the slow consumption of famine, or by the violence of their oppressors, it 
was necessary to assume courage, to attack those formidable invaders Avith 
united tbrce, and drive them from the settlements of which they had 
violently taken possession. 

Such were the sentiments which universally prevailed among the Indians, 
when Columbus returned to Isabella. Inflamed, by the unprovoked out- 
rages of the Spaniards, with a degree of rage of which their gentle natures, 
formed to suffer and submit, seemed hardly susceptible, they waited only 
for a signal from their leaders to fail upon the colony. Some of the 
caziques had already surprised and cut off several stragglers. The dread 
of this impending danger united the Spaniards, and re-established the 

• H«rrera, dec. J. lib. ii. 6, 13. t P Martyr, drc. p. 47. } Herrera, dee. U lib. U. c. IT. 



AMERICA. 71 

authority of Columbus, as they saw no prospect of safety but in committing 
themselves to his prudent guidance. It was now necessaiy to have recourse 
to arms, the employing of which against the Indians Columbus had hitherto 
avoided with the greatest solicitude. Unequal as the conflict may seem, 
between the naked inhabitants of the New World armed with clubs, slicks 
hardened in tlie fire, wooden swords, and arrows pointed with bones or flints, 
and troops accustomed to the discipline, and provided with the instruments 
of destruction known in the European art of war, the situation of the 
Spaniards was far from being exempt from danger. The vast sup(;riority 
of the natives in number compensated many defects. A handful of men 
was about to encounter a whole nation. One adverse event, or even any 
unforeseen delay in determining the fate of the war, might prove fatal to the 
Spaniards Conscious that success depended on the vigour and rapidity of 
his operations, Columbus instantly assembled his forces. They were 
reduced to a verj' small number. Diseases, engendered by the warmth 
and h-miidity of the country, or occasioned by their own licentiousness, had 
rager* among them with much violence ; experience had not yet taught them 
the ^c either of curing thes.e, or the precautions requisite for guarding against 
the'ri , two-thirds of the original adventurers were dead, and many of 
tho't who survived weie incapable of service.* The body Avhich took 
thf: iicld [March 24, 1405 1 consisted only of two hundred foot, twenty 
hoise, and twenty laig'e dogs; and how strange soever it may seem to 
mention the last as comprfing part of a military force, they were not perhaps 
the least formidable arid destructive of the whole, when employed against 
naked and timid Indians. All the caziques of the island, Guacanahari 
excepted, who retained an inviolable attachment to the Spaniards, were in 
arms to oppose Cclariibas, with forces amounting, if we may believe the 
Spanish historians, t-j a hundred thousand men. Instead of attempting to 
draw the Spaniards into vhe fastnesses of the woods and mountains, they 
were so imprudent a-j to take their station in the Vega Real, the most open 
plain in the cciir.try. Columbus did not allow them time to perceive their 
error, or to alter their position. He attacked them during the night, when 
undisciplined tri>op3 are least capable of acting with union and concert, and 
obtained an easy f.nJ bloodless victor}'. The consternation with which the 
Indians were filled by the noise and havoc made by the fire arms, by the 
impetuous force of the cavalry, and the fierce onset of the dogs was so 
great, that they threw down their weapons, and fled without attempting 
resistance. Many were slain ; more were taken prisoners, and reduced to 
servitude [9.0] ; and so thoroughly were the rest intimidated, that from that 
moment tb'jy abandoned themselves to despair, relinquishing all thoughts 
of coiiiendirjg with aggressors whom they deemed invincible. 

Columbus employed several months in marching through the island, and 
in subjecliiig it to the Spanish government, without meeting with any 
opposition. He imposed a tribute upon all the inhabitants above the age of 
fourteen. Each person who lived in those districts where gold was found, 
was obliged to pay quarterly as much gold dust as filled a hawk's bell ; 
from those in other parts of the countrj-, twenty-five pounds of cotton were 
demanded. This was the first regular taxation of the Indians, and served 
as a precedent for exactions still more intolerable. Such an imposition was 
extremely contrary to those maxims which Columbus had hitherto inculcated 
with respect to the mode of treating them. But intrigues were carrying 
en in the court of Spain at this juncture, in order to undermine his power, 
and discredit his operations, which constrained him to depart from his own 
system of administration. Several unfavourable accounts of his conduct, as 
well as of the countries discovered by him, had been transmitted to Spain. 
Margarita and Father Boyl were now at court, and in order to justify their 

• LUe of ColumboB, c 01. 



72 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

own conduct, or to gratify their resentment, watched with malevolent 
attention for every opportunity of spreading insinuations to his detriment. 
Many of the courtiers viewed his grooving- reputation and power with 
envious eyes. Fonseca, archdeacon of Seville, who was intrusted with the 
chief direction of Indian affairs, had conceived such an unfavourable opinion 
of Columbus, for some reason which the contemporary writers have not 
mentioned, that he listened with partiality to every invective against him. 
It was not easy for an unfriended stranger, unpractised in courtly arts, to 
counteract the machinations of so many enemies. Columbus saw that there 
was but one method of supporting his own credit, and of silencing all his 
adversaries. He must produce such a quantity of gold as would not only 
justify what he had reported with respect to the richness of the country, but 
encourage Ferdinand and Isabella to persevere in ijrosecuting his plans. 
The necessity of obtaining it forced him not only to impose this heavy tax 
upon the Indians, but to exact payment of it with extreme rigour ; and may 
be pleaded in excuse for his deviating on this occasion from the mildness 
and humanity with which he uniformly treated that unhappy people.* 

The labour, attention, and foresight which the Indians were obliged to 
employ in procuring the tribute demanded of them, appeared the most 
intolerable of all evils, to men accustomed to pass their days in a careless 
improvident indolence. They were incapable of such a regular and 
persevering exertion of industry, and felt it such a grievous restraint upoQ 
tlieir liberty, that they had recourse to an expedient for obtaining deliverance 
from this yoke, which demonstrates the excess of their impatience and 
despair. They formed a scheme of starving those oppressors whom they 
durst not attempt to expel ; and from the opinion which they entertained 
with respect to the voracious appetite of the Spaniards, they concluded 
the execution of it to be very practicable. With this view they suspended 
all the operations of agriculture ; they sowed no maize, they pulled up the 
roots of the manioc or cassada which were planted, and, retiring to the most 
inaccessible parts of the mountains, left the uncultivated plains to their 
enemies. This desperate resolution produced in some degree the effects 
which they expected. The Spaniards were reduced to extreme want ; 
but they received sucb seasonable supplies of provisions from Europe, and 
found so many resources in their own ingenuity and industry, that they 
suffered no great loss of men. The wretched Indians were the victims of 
their own ill-concerted policy. A great multitude of people, shut up in the 
mountainous or wooded part of the country, without any food but the spon- 
taneous productions of the earth, soon felt the utmost distresses of famine. 
This brought on contagious diseases ; and in the course of a few months 
more than a third part of the inhabitants of tlie island perished, after 
experiencing misery in all its various forms. f 

But while Columbus was establishing the foundations of the Spanish 
grandeur in the New World, his enemies laboured with unwearied assiduity 
to deprive him of the glory and rewards which, by his services and 
sufferings, he was entitled to enjoy. The hardships unavoidable in a new 
settlement, the calamities occasioned by an unhealthy climate, the disasters 
attending a voyage in unknown seas, were all represented as the effects of 
his restless and inconsiderate ambition. His prudent attention to preserve 
discipline and subordination was denominated excess of rigour; the 
punishments which he inflicted upon the mutinous and disorderly were 
imputed to cruelty. These accusations gained such credit in a jealous 
court, that a commissioner was appointed to repair to Hispaniola, and to 
inspect into the conduct of Columbus. By the recommendation of his 
enemies, Aguado, a groom of the bedchamoer, was the person to whona 

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 17. t Herreia, dec. 1. lib. xi. c. 18. Life of ColumbUB, c. 61 

Oviedo, lib. iii. p. S3. D. Benzou Hist. Novi Orbis, lib. i, c. 9. P. Martyr, dec. p. 48. 



AMERICA. 73 

ihis important trust was committed. But in this choice they seem to have 
been more influenced by the obsequious attachment of the man to their 
interest, than by his capacity for the station. Puffed up with such sudden 
elevation, Aguado displayed, in the exercise of this office, all the Irivolous 
self-importance, and acted with all the disgusting insolence which are natural 
to little minds, when raised to unexpected dignity, or employed in functions 
to which they are not equal. By listening with eagerness to every accusa- 
tion against Columbus, and encouraging not only the malecontent Spaniards, 
but even the Indians, to produce their grievances, real or imaginaiy, he 
fomented the spirit of dissension in the island, without establishing any 
regulations of pubiic utility, or that tended to redress the many wrongs, 
with tne odium of which he wished to load the admiral's administration. 
As Columbus felt sensibly how humiliating his situation must be, if he 
should remain in the country while such a partial inspector observed his 
motions auvi controlled his jurisdiction, he took the resolution of returning to 
Spain, in order to lay a full account of all his transactions, particularly with 
respect to the poinis in dispute between him and his adversaries, before 
Ferdinand and Isabella, from whose justice and discernment he expected an 
equal and a favourable decision [1496]. He committed the administration 
of^ affairs, during his absence, to Don Bartholomew, his brother, with the 
title of Adelantado, or Lieutenant-Governor. By a choice less fortunate, 
and which proved the source of many calamities to the colony, he appointed 
Francis Roldan chief justice, with veiy extensive powers.* 

In returning to Europe, Columbus held a course different from that wliich 
he had taken in his former voyage. He steered almost due east from 
Hispaniola, in the parallel of twenty-two degrees of latitude ; as experience 
had not yet discovered the more certain and expeditious method of stretching 
to the north, in order to fall in with the south-west winds. By this ill 
advised choice, which, in the ii;fancy of navigation between the New and 
Old Worlds, can hardly be imputed to the admiral as a defect in naval skill, 
he was exposed to infinite fatigue and danger, in a perpetual struggle with 
the trade winds, which blow without variation from the east between the 
tropics. Notwithstanding the almost insuperable difficulties of such a 
navigation, he persisted in his course with his usual patience and firmness, 
but made so little way that he was three months without seeing land. At 
length his provisions began to fail, the crew was reduced to the scanty 
allowance of six ounces of bread a day for each person. The admiral fared 
no better than the meanest sailor. But, even in this extreme distress, he 
retained the humanity which distinguishes his character, and refused to 
comply with the earnest solicitations of his crew, some of whom proposed 
to feed upon the Indian prisoners whom they were carrying over, and others 
insisted to throw them overboard, in order to lessen the consumption of 
their small stock. He represented that they were human beings, reduced 
by a common calamity to the same condition with themselves, and entitled 
to share an equal fate. His authority and remonstrances dissipated those 
wild ideas suggested by despair. Nor had they time to recur ; as he came 
soon within sight of the coast of Spain, when all their fears and sufferings 
ended.! 

Columbus appeared at court with the modest but determined confidence 
of a man conscious not only of integrity, but of having performed great 
services. Ferdinand and Isabella, ashamed of their own facility in lending' 
too favourable an ear to frivolous or unfounded accusations, received him 
with such distinguished marks of respect as covered his enemies with 
shame. Their censures and calumnies were no more heard of at that 
juncture. The gold, the pearls, the cotton, and other commodities of value 

• Herrera, dec. 1. \ib. ii, c. 18. lib. iU. c. 1. t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 1. Life of 

Columbus, c. 64. 

Vol. I.— 10 



74 HISTORY OF [Book 11. 

•vvhich Columbus produced, seemed fully to refute what the malecontents 
had propagated with respect to the poverty of the country. By reducing 
the Indians to obedience, and imposing a regular tax upon them, he had 
secured to Spain a large accession of new subjects, and the establishment 
of a revetiue that promised to be considerable. By the mines vvhich he had 
found out and examined, a source of wealth still move copious was opened. 
Great and unexpected as (hose advantages were, Columbus represented 
them only as preludes to future acquisitions, and as the earnest of more 
important discoveries, which he still meditated, and to which those he had 
already made would conduct him with ease and certainty.* 

Tlie attentive consideration of all these circumstances made such an 
impression, not only upon Isabella, who was flattered with the idea of being 
the patroness of all Columbus's enterprises, but even upon Ferdinand, who 
having originally expressed his disapprobation of his schemes, was still apt 
to doubt of their success, that they resolved to supply the colony of 
Hispaniola with every thing which could render it a permanent establish- 
ment, and to furnish Columbus with such a fleet, that he might proceed to 
search for those new countries of whose existence he seemed to be confident. 
The measures most proper for accomplishing both these designs were 
concerted with Columbus. Discovery had been the sole object of the first 
voyage to the New World ; and though, in the second, settlement had been 
proposed, the precautions taken for tnat purpose had either been insuffi- 
cient, or were rendered ineffectual by the mutinous spirit of the Spaniards, 
and the unforeseen calamities arising from various causes. Now a plan was 
to be formed of a regular colony, that might serve as a model in all future 
establishments. Every particular was considered with attention, and the 
whole arranged with a scrupulous accuracy. The precise number of 
adventurers who should be permitted to embark was fixed. They were 
to be of different ranks and professions, and the proportion of each was 
established according to their usefulness and the wants of the colony. A 
suitable number of women were to be chosen to accompnny these new 
settlers. As it was the first object to raise provisions in a country where 
scarcity of food had been the occasion of so much distress, a considerable 
body of husbandmen was to be carried over. As the Spaniards had then 
no conception of deriving any benefit from those productions of the New 
World which have since yielded such large returns of wealth to Europe, 
but had formed magnificent ideas, and entertained sanguine hopes with 
respect to the riches contained in the mines which had been discovered, a 
band of workmen, skilled in the various arts employed in digging and 
refining the precious metals, was provided. All these emigrants were to 
receive pay and subsistence for sonie years, at the public expense. f 

Thus far the regulations were prudent, and Avell adapted to the end in 
view. But as it was foreseen that few would engage voluntarily to settle 
in a country whose noxious climate had been fatal to so many of their 
countrymen, Columbus proposed to transport to Hispaniola such malefactors 
as had been convicted of crimes which, though capital, were of a less 
atrocious nature ; and that for the future a certain proportion of the offenders 
usually sent to the galleys, should be condemned to labour in the mines 
which were to be opened. This advice, given without due reflection, was 
as inconsiderately adopted. The prisons of Spain were drained, in order 
to collect members for the intended colony ; and the judges empowered to 
try criminals were instructed to recruit it by their future sentences. It was 
not, however, with such materials that the foundations of a society, destined 
to be permanent, should be laid. Industry, sobriety, patience, and mutual 
confidence, are indispensably requisite in an infant settlement, where purity 
of morals must contribute more towards establishing order than the operation 

* Life of CoIurabuB, c. 65. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 1. t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. % 



AMERICA. 75 

or authority of laws. But ■when such a mixture of what is comjpt is 
admitted into the original constitution of the political body, the vices of 
those unsound and incurable members will probably infect the whole, and 
must certainly be productive of violent and unhappy effects. This the 
Spaniards fatally experienced^ and the other European nations having 
successively imitated the practice of Spain in this particular, pernicious 
consequences have followed in their settlements, which can be imputed to 
no other cause.* 

Though Columbus obtained, with great facility and despatch, the royal 
approbation of every measure and regulation that he proposed, his endeavours 
to carry them into execution were so long retarded, as must have tired out 
the patience of any man less accustomed to encounter and to surmount 
difficulties. Those delays were occasioned partly by that tedious formality 
and spirit of procrastination, with which the Spaniards conduct business, 
and partly by the exhausted state of the treasury, which was drained by the 
expense of celebrating the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella's only son 
with Margaret of Austria, and that of Jv^.-^nna, their second daughter, with 
Philip Archduke of Austria ;t but must be ci.'^fly imputed to the malicious 
arts of Columbus's enemies. Astonished at tnc reception which he met 
with upon his return, and overawed by his preseiu^e, they gave_ way, for 
some time, to a tide of favour too strong for them to opp>,;se. Their enmity, 
however, was too inveterate to remain long inactive. They resumed their 
operations ; and by the assistance of Fonseca, the minister for Indian affairs, 
who was now promoted to the bishopric of Badajos, they threw in so many 
obstacles to protract the preparations for Columbus's expedition, that a year 
elapsedj before he could procure two ships to carry over a part oi the 
supplies destined for the colony, and almost two years were spent before 
the small squadron was equipped, of which he himself was to take the 
com.mand.S 

1498.] This squadron consisted of six ships only, of no great burden, and 
but indifferently provided for a long or dangerous navigation. The voyage 
which he now meditated was in a course different from any he had under 
taken. As he was fully persuaded that the fertile regions of India lay to the 
south-west of those countries which he had discovered, he proposed, as the 
most certain method of finding out these, to stand directly south from the 
Canary or Cape de Verd islands, until he came under the equinoctial line, 
and then to stretch to the west before the favourable wind for such a course, 
■which blows invariably between the tropics. With this idea he set sail 
[May 30], and touched first at the Canary, and then at the Cape de V^erd 
islands [July 4]. From the former he despatched three of his ships with a 
supply of provisions for the colony in Hispaniola ; with the other three, he 
continued his voyage towards the south. No remarkable occurrence 
happened until they arrived within five degrees of the line [iuly 19]. 
There they were becalmed, and at the same time the heat became so 
excessive that many of their wine casks burst, the liquors in others soured, 
and their provisions corrupted.il The Spaniards, who had never ventured 
so far to the south, were atraid that the ships would take fire, and began to 
apprehend the reality of what the ancients had taught concerning the 
destructive qualities of that torritl region of the globe. They were 
relieved, in some measure, from their lears by a seasonable fall of rain. 
This, however, though so heavy and unintermitting that the men could 
hardly keep the deck, did not greatly mitigate the intenseness of the heat. 
The admiral, who with his usual vigilance had in person directed every 
operation from the beginning of the voyage, was so much exhausted bj 

♦ Herrera, dec. 1. lib. !ii. c. 2. Touron Hi^t. Gener. de rAmerique, I. p. 51. t P- Mart) 

epiet 168. i Lite of Columbus, c. C5. ( Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c 9, |1 F. Maitv 

4eo. p. 70. 



76 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

fatigue and want of sleep, that it brought on a violent fit of the gout, 
accompanied with a fever. All these circumstances constrained him to 
yield to the importunities of his crew, and to alter his course to the north- 
west, in order to reach some of the Caribbee islands, where he might refit, 
and be supplied with provisions. 

On the first of August, the man stationed in the round top surprised them 
with the joyful cry of Land! They stood toward it, and discovered a 
considerable island, which the admiral called Trinidad, a name it still 
retains. It lies on the coast of Guiana, near the mouth of the Orinoco. 
This, though a river only of the third or fourth magnitude in the New 
World, far surpasses any of the streams in our hemisphere. It rolls towards 
the ocean such a vast body of water, and rushes into it with such impetuous 
force, that when it meets the tide, which on that coast rises to an uncommon 
height, their collision occasions a swell and agitation of the waves no less 
surprising than formidable. In this conflict, the irresistible toiTent of the 
river so far prevails, that it freshens the ocean many leagues with its flood.* 
Columbus, before he could conceive the danger, was entangled among those 
adverse currents and tempestuous waves, and it was with the utmost 
difficulty that he escaped through a narrow strait, which appeared so 
tremendous that he called it La Boca del Drago. As soon as the conster- 
nationwhich this occasioned permitted him toreflect upon the nature of an 
appearance so extraordinary, he discerned in it a source of comfort and 
hope. He justly concluded that such a vast body of water as this river con- 
tained, could not be supplied by any island, but must flow through a countiy 
of iinmense extent, and of consequence that he was now arrived at that 
continent which it had long been the object of his wishes to discover. 
Full of this idea, he stood to the west along the coast of those provinces 
which are now known by the names of Paria and Cumana. He landed 
in several places, and had some intercourse with the people, who resembled 
those of Hispaniola in their appearance and manner of life. They wore, 
as ornaments, small plates of gold, and pearls of considerable value, which 
they willingly exchanged for European toys. Thej' seemed to possess a 
better understanding and greater courage than the inhabitants of the islands. 
The country produced four-footed animals of several kinds, as well as a 
great variety of fowls and fruits.t The admiral was so much delighted 
with its beauty and fertility, that, with the warm enthusiasm of a discoverer, 
he imagined it to be the Paradise described in Scripture, which the Almighty 
chose tor the residence of man Avhile he retained innocence that rendered 
him worthy of such a habitation. J [21] Thus Columbus had the glory 
not only of discovering to mankind the existence of a new World, but made 
considerable progress towards a perfect knowledge of it ; and was the first 
man who conducted the Spaniards to that vast continent which has been the 
chief seat of their empire, and the source of their treasures in this quarter 
of the globe. The shattered condition of his ships, scarcity of provisions, 
his own infirmities, together with the impatience of his crew, prevented 
him from pursuing his discoveries any further, and made it necessary to 
bear away for Hispaniola. In his way thither he discovered the islands ot 
Cubngua and Mai-garita, which afterwards became remarkable for their 
pearl-fishery. When he arrived at Hispaniola [Aug. 30], he was wasted 
to an extreme degree, with fatigue and sickness ; but found the affairs oi 
the colony in such a situation as afforded hiin no prospect of enjoying that 
repose of*^ which he stood so much in need. 

Many revolutions had happened in that countiy duiing his absence. His 
brother, the adelantado, in consequence of an advice which the admiral 
gave before his departure, had removed the colony from Isabella to a more 

* Gumilla Hist, de I'Orenoque, torn. i. p. 14. T Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 9—11. Life of 

Columbus, c. Oti— 73. % HeiTera, dec. 1. lib. iii, c. 12. Gomara, c. 84. 



AMERICA. 77 

commodious station, on the opposite side of the island, and laid the foundation 
of St. Domingo,* which was long the most considerable European town in 
the New World, and the seatol the supreme courts in the Spanish dominions 
there. As soon as the Spaniards were established in this new settlement, 
the adelantado, that they might neither languish in inactivity, nor have 
leisure to form new cabals, marched into those parts of the island which 
his brother had not yet visited or reduced to obedience. As the people were 
unable to resist, they submitted every where to the tribute which he im- 
posed. But they soon tbund the burden to be so intolerable that, overawed 
as they were by the superior power of their oppressors, they took arms 
against them. Those insurrections, however, were not formidable. A 
conflict with timid and naked Indians was neither dangerous nor of doubtful 
issue. 

But while the adelantado was employed against them in the field, a 
mutiny of an aspect far more alarming broke out among the Spaniards. 
The ringleader of it was Francis Roldan, whom Columbus had placed in 
a station which required him to be the guardian of order and tranq-uillity 
in the colony. A turbulent and inconsiderate ambition precipitated him 
into this desperate measure, so unbecoming his rank. The arguments 
which he employed to seduce his countrymen were frivolous and ill 
founded. He accused Columbus and his two brothers of aiTogance and 
severity ; he pretended that they aimed at establishing an independent 
dominion in the country ; he taxed them with an intention of cutting off 
part of tlie Spaniards by hunger and fatigue, that they might more easily 
reduce the remainder to subjection ; he represented it as unworthy of 
Castilians, to remain the tame and passive slaves of these Genoese 
adventurers. As men have always a propensity to impute the hardships 
of which they feel the pressure to the misconduct of their rulers ; as every 
nation views with a jealous eye the power and exaltation of foreigners, 
Roldan's insinuations made a deep impression on his countrymen. His 
character and rank added weight to them. A considerable number of the 
Spaniards made choice of him as their leader ; and, taking arms against 
the adelantado and his brother, seized the king's magazine of provisions, 
and endeavoured to surprise the fort at St. Domingo. This was preserved 
by the vigilance and courage of Don Diego Columbus. The mutineers 
were obliged to retire to the province of Xaragua, where they continued 
not only to disclaim the adelantado's authority themselves, but excited the 
Indians to throw off the yoke.j 

Such was the distracted state of the colony when Columbus landed at 
St. Domingo. He was astonished to find that the three ships which he had 
despatched from the Canaries were not yet arrived. By the unskilfulness of 
the pilots, and the violence of currents, they had been carried a hundred and 
sixty miles to the west of St. Domingo, and forced to take shelter in a 
harbour of the province of Xaragua, where Roldan and his seditious 
followers were cantoned. Roldan carefully concealed from the commanders 
of the ships his insurrection against the adelantado, and, employing his 
utmost address to gain their confidence, persuaded them to set on shore a 
considerable part of the new settlers whom they brought over, that they 
might proceed by land to St. Domingo. It required but kw arguments to 
prevail with those men to espouse his cause. They were the refuse of the 
jails of Spain, to whom idleness, licentiousness, and deeds of violence were 
familiar ; and they returned eagerly to a course of life nearly resembling 
that to which they had been accustomed. The commanders of the ships 
perceiving, when it was too late, their imprudence in disembarking so many 
of their men, stood away for St. Domingo, and got safe into the port a few 

* P. Martyr, dec. p. 56. t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. &— 8. Life of Columbue, c, 74—77. 

Column, c. 23. p. Martyr, p. 78. 



78 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

days after the admiral ; but their stock of provisions was so wasted during 
a voyage of such Jong continuance that they brought little relief to the 
colony.^ 

By this junction with a band of such bold and desperate associates, 
Roldan became extremely formidable, and no less extravagant in his 
demands. Columbus, though filled with resentment at his ingratitude, and 
highly exasperated by the insolence of his tbilovvers, made no haste to take 
the field. He trembled at the thoughts of kindling the flames of a civil 
war, in which, whatever party prevailed, the power and strength of both 
must be so much wasted as might encourage the common enemy to unite 
and complete their destruction. At the same time, he observed, that the 
prejudices and passions which incited the rebels to take arms, had so I'ar 
inlecled those who still adhered to him, that many of them were adverse, 
and all cold to the service. From such sentin^.ents, with respect to the 
public interest, as well as from this view of his o^vn situation, he chose to 
negotiate rather than to tight. By a seasonable proclamation, oflering free 
pardon to such as should merit it by returning to their duty, he made 
impression upon some of the malecontents. By engaging to grant such as 
should desire it the liberty of returning to Spain, he allured all those unfor- 
tunate adventurers, who, from sickness and disappointment, were disgusted 
with the country. By promising to re-establish Koldan in his former othce, 
ne soothed his pride ; and, by complying with most of his demands in 
behalt' of his followers, he satisfied their avarice. Thus, gi-adually and 
without bloodshed, but alter many tedious negotiations, he dissolved this 
dangerous combination, which threatened the colony with ruin ; and restored 
the appearance of order, regular government, and tranquillity.t 

In consequence of this agreement with the mutineers, lands were allotted 
them in ditterent parts of the island, and the Indians settled in each district 
were appointed to cultivate a certain portion of ground tor the use of those new 
masters [1499]. The performance of this work was substituted in place of 
the tribute formerly imposed ; and how necessary soever such a regulation 
might be in a sickly and feeble colony, it introduced among the Spaniards 
the Repartiinientos, or distributions of Indians estabhshed by them in all 
their settlements, which brought numberless calamities upon that unhappy 
people, and subjected them to the most grievous oppession.| This was 
not the only bad effect of the insurrection in Hispaniola ; it prevented 
Columbus from prosecuting his discoveries on the continent, as self-pre- 
servation obliged hiin to keep near his person his brother the adelantado, 
and the sailors whom he intended to have employed in that service. As 
soon as his affairs would permit, he sent some of his ships to Spain with a 
journal of the voyage \vhich he had made, a description of the new countries 
which he had discovered, a chart of the coast along which he had sailed, 
and specimens of the gold, the pearls, and other curious or valuable pro- 
ductions which he had acquired by trafficking with the natives. At the 
same time he transmitted an account of the insurrection in Hispaniola ; he 
accused the mutineers not only of having thrown the colony into such violent 
convulsions as threatened its dissolution, but of having obstructed every 
attempt towards discoveiy and improvement, by their unprovoked rebellion 
against their superiors, and proposed several regulations for the better 
government of the island, as well as the extinction of that mutinous spirit, 
which, though suppressed at present, might soon burst out with additional 
rage. Koldan and his associates did not neglect to convey to Spain, by the 
same ships, an apology for their own conduct, together with their recrimi- 
nations upon the admiral and his brothers. Unfortunately for the honour of 

* Hcirera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 12. Life of Columbus, c. 78, 70. t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iii. C. 

13, 14. Ui'e 01 Columbus, c. 80. &c. ; Hcrtura, dec. 1. lib. iii. c. 14, ^c. 



A M ERIC \^ 79 

Spain and the happiness of Columbus, the latter gained most credit in the 
court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and produced unexpected effects.* 

But, previous to the relating of these, it is proper to take a view of some 
events, which merit attention,l)oth on account of their own importance, and 
their connection with the history of the New World. While Columbus 
was engaged in his successive voyages to the west, the spirit of discovery 
did not languish in Portugal, the kingdom where it tirst acquired vigour- 
and became enterprising. Selt-condenmation and neglect were not the only 
sentiments to which the success of Columbus, and reflection upon their own 
imprudence in rejecting his proposals, gave rise among the Portuguese. 
They excited a general emulation to surpass his performances, and an ardent 
desire to make some reparation to their country for their own error. With 
this view, Emanuel, who inherited the enterprising genius of his predecessors, 
persisted in their grand scheme of opening a passage to the East Indies by 
the Cape of Good Hope, and soon after his accession to the throne equipped 
a squadron for that important voyage. He gave the command of it to Vasco 
de Gama, a man of noble birth, possessed of virtue, prudence, and courage, 
equal to the station. The squadron, like all those fitted out tor discovery 
in the infancy of navigation, was extremely feeble, consisting only of three 
vessels, of neither burden nor force adequate to the service. As the 
Europeans were at that lime little acquainted with the course of the trade- 
winds and perioviical monsoons, which render navigation in the Atlantic 
ocean as well as in the sea that separates Africa from India, at some 
seasons easy, and at others not only dangerous but almost impracticable, the 
time chosen for Gair.a's departure was the most improper during the whole 
year. He set sail from Lisbon on the ninth of July, [1497], and, standing 
towards the south, had to struggle for four months with contrary winds 
before he could reach the Cape of' Good Hope. Here their violence began 
to abate [Nov. 20] ; and during an interval of calm weather, Gama doubled 
that formidable promontory, which had so long been the boundary of 
navigation, and directed his course towards the north-east, along the African 
coast. He touched at several ports ; and after various adventures, which 
the Portuguese historians relate with high but just encomiums upon his 
conduct and intrepidity, he came to anchor betore the city of Melinda. 
Throughout all the vast countries which extend along the coast of Africa, 
from the river Senegal to the confines of Zanguebar, the Portuguese had 
found a race of men rude and uncultivated, strangers to letters, to arts, and 
commerce, and differing from the inhabitants of Europe no less in their 
features and complexion than in their manners and institutions. As they 
advanced from this, they observed, to their inexpressible joy, that the 
human form gradually altered and improved ; the Asiatic features began 
to predominate, marks of civilization appeared, letters were known, the 
Mahometan religion was established, and a commerce far from being incon- 
siderable was carried on. At that time several vessels from India were in 
the port of Melinda. Gama now pursued his voyage with almost absolute 
certainty of success, and, under the conduct of a Mahometan pilot, arrived 
at Calecut, upon the coast of Malabar, on the twenty-second of May, one 
thousand tour hundred and ninety-eight. What he beheld of the wealth, 
the populousness, the cultivation, the industry, and arts of this highly 
civilized country, far surpassed any idea that he had formed, from the 
imperfect accounts which the Europeans had hitherto received of it. But 
as he possessed neither sufficient force to attempt a settlement, nor proper 
commodities with which he could carry on commerce of any consequence, 
he hastened back to Portugal, with an account of his success in performing 
a_ voyage, the longest, as well as most difficult, that had ever been made 
since the first invention of navigation. He landed at Lisbon on the four- 

* Heirera, dec. 1. lib. ul. e. li. Benxon. Hlet. Nov. Orb. lib. i. c 3. 



80 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

teenth of September, one thousand A:)ur hundred and ninety -nine, two years 
two months and five days from the time he left that port.* 

Thus, during the course of the fifteenth century, mankind made greater 
progress in exploring the state of the habitable globe, than in all the ages 
which had elapsed previous to that period. The spirit of discovery, feeble 
at first and cautious, moved within a ver}' narrow s])hcre, and made its 
efforts with hesitation and timidity. Encouraged by success, it became 
adventurous, and boldly extended its operations. In the course of its pro- 
gression, it continued to acquire vigour, and advanced at length with a 
rapidity and force which burst through all the limits within which ignorance 
and fear had hitherto circumscribed the activity of the human race. Almost 
fifty years were employed by the Portuguese in creeping along the coast 
of Africa from Cape Non to Cape de Verd, the latter of which lies only 
twelve degrees to the south of the former. In less than thirty years they 
ventured beyond the equinoctial line into another hemisphere, and penetrated 
to the southern extremity of Africa, at the distance of forty -nine degrees 
from Cape de Verd. During the last seven years of the century, a New 
World was discovered in the west, not inferior in extent to all the parts of 
the earth with which mankind were at that time acquainted. In the East, 
unknown seas and countries were found out, and a conmiunication, long 
desired, but hitherto concealed, was opened between Europe and the 
opulent regions of India. In comparison with events so wonderful and 
unexpected, all that had hitherto been deemed great or splendid faded away 
and disappeared. Vast objects now presented themselves. The human 
mind, roused and interested by the prospect, engaged with ardour in pursuit 
of them, and exerted its active powers in a new direction. 

This spirit of enterprise, though but ncAvly awakened in Spain, began 
soon to operate extensively. All the attempts towards discovery made in 
that kingdom had hitherto been carried on by Columbus alone, and at the 
expense of the Sovereign. But now private adventurers, allured by the 
magnificent descriptions he gave of the regions which he had visited, as 
well as by the specimens of their wealth wliich he produced, offered to fit 
out squadrons at their own risk, and to go in quest of new countries. The 
Spanish court, whose scanty revenues were exhausted by the chaise of its 
expeditions to the New World, which, though they opened alluring p^iospects 
of future benefit, yielded a very sparing return of present profit, was 
extremely willing to devolve the burden of discovery upon its subjects. 
It seized with joy an opportunity of rendering the avarice, the ingenuity, 
and efforts of projectors instrumental in promoting designs of certain advan- 
tage to the public, though of doubtful success vvjtli respect to themselves. 
One of the first propositions of this kind was made hy Alonzo de Ojeda, a 
gallant and active officer, who had accompanied Columbus in his second 
voyage. His rank and character procured him such credit with the mer- 
chants of Seville, that they undertook to equip four ships, provided he 
could obtain the royal license, authorizing the voyage. Tb.e povverfiil 
patronage of the Bishop of Badajos easily secured success in a suit 
so agreeable to the court. Without consulting Columbus, or regarding 
the rights and jurisdiction which he had acquired by the capitulation 
in one thousand four hundred and ninety-two, Ojeda was permitted 
to set out for the New World. In order to direct his course, the bishop 
communicated to him the admiral's journal of his last voyage, and his 
charts of the countries which he had discovered. Ojeda struck out into no 
new path of navigation, but adhering servilely to the route which Columbus 
had taken, arrived on the coast of Paria U^I^iyJ- ^^^ traded with the 
natives, and, standing to the west, proceeded as far as Cape de Vela, and 
ranged along a considerable extent of coast beyond that on which Columbus 

• Ramueio, vol. i. 113. D. 



AMERICA. 81 

had touched. Having thus ascertained the opinion of Columtus, that this 
countiy was a part of the continent, Ojeda returned by way of Hispaniola 
to Spain [October], with some reputation as a discoverer, but with little 
benefit to those who had raised the funds for the expedition.* 

Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, accompanied Ojeda in this 
Voyage. In what station he served is uncertain ; but as he was an experienced 
sailor, and eminently skilled in all the sciences subservient to navigation, 
he seems to have acquired such authority among his companions, that they 
willingly allowed him to have a chief share in diiecting their operations 
during tlie voyage. Soon after his return, he transmitted an account of his 
adventures and discoveries to one of his countrymen ; and labouring with 
the vanity of a traveller to magnify his own exploits, he had the address 
and confidence to frame his narrative so as to make it appear that he had 
the glory of having first discovered the continent in the New World. 
Amerigo s account was drawn up not only with art, but with sonie elegance. 
It contained an amusing history of his voyage, and judicious observations 
upon the natural productions, the inhabitants, and the customs of the 
countries which he had visited. As it was the first description of any part 
of the New World that was published, a performance so well calculated to 
gratify the passion of mankind for what is new and marvellous, circulated 
rapidly, and was read with admiration. The country of which Amerigo 
was supposed to be the discoverer, came gradually to be called by his 
name. The caprice of mankind, often as unaccountable as unjust, has 
perpetuated this error. By the universal consent of nations, America is the 
name bestowed on this new quarter of the globe. The bold pretensions of 
a fortunate impostor, have robbed the discoverer of the New World of a 
distinction which belonged to him. The name of Amerigo has supplanted 
that of Columbus ; and mankind maj^ regret an act of injustice, which, 
having received the sanction of time, it is now too late to redress. [22] 

During the same year, another voyage of discovery was undertaken. 
Columbus not only introduced the spirit of naval enterprise into Spain, but 
all the first adventurers who distinguished themselves in this new career 
were formed by his instructions, and acquired in his voyages the skill and 
information which qualified them to imitate his example Alonso Nigno, 
who had served under the admiral in his last expedition, fitted out a single 
ship, in conjunction with Christopher Guerra, a merchant of Seville, and 
sailed to the coast of Paria. This voyage seems to have been conducted 
with greater attention to private emolument than to any general or national 
object. Nigno and Guerra made no discoveries of any importance ; but 
they brought home such a return of gold and pearls as inflamed their coun- 
trymen with the desire of engaging in similar adventures.! 

Soon after [Jan. 13, 1500], Vincent Yanez Pinzon, one of the admiral's 
companions in his first voyage, sailed from Palos with four ships. He stood 
boldly towards the south, and was the first Spaniard who ventured across 
the equinoctial line ; but he seems to have landed on no part of the coast 
beyond the mouth of the Maragnon, or river of the Amazons, All these 
navigators adopted the erroneous theory of Columbus, and believed that 
the countries which they had discovered were part of the vast continent of 
India.| 

During the last year of the fifteenth century, that fertile district of 
America, on the confines of which Pinzon had stopped short, was more 
fully discovered. The successful voyage of Gama to the East Indies having 
encouraged the King of Portugal to fit out a fleet so powerful as not only 
to carry on trade but to attempt conquest, he gave the command of it to 
Pedro Alvarez Cabral. In order to avoid the coast of Africa, where he was 

• Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iv. r. 1, 2, 3. t P- Mart\T. dee. p. 87. Heirera, dec. 1. lib. iv. c. S 
t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iv. c. 6. P. Martvr, dec. p. 95. 

Vol. I.—ll 



82 HISTORY OF - [Book II 

certain of meeting with variable breezes or frequent calins, which might 
retard his voyage, Cabral stood out to sea, and kept so far to the wrst, that, 
to bis surprise, he found himself upon the shore of an unknown country, in 
the tenth degree beyond the line. He imagined at iirst that it was some 
island in the Atlantic ocean, hitherto unobserved ; but, proceeding along 
its coast for several days, he was led gradually to believe, that a country 
so extensiv!^ formed a part of some great continent. This latter opinion 
was we!! founded. Tiie country with which he fell in belongs to that 
province in Sou'h America now known by the name of Brasil. He landed ; 
and having formed a very high idea of the fertility of the soil, and agreea- 
bleness of the climate, he took possession of it for the crown of Portugal, 
and despatched a ship to Lisbon with an account of this event, which 
appeared to be no less important than it was unexpected.* Columbus's 
discovery of the New World was the eflbrt of an active genius enlightened 
by science, guided by experience, and acting: upon a regular plan executed 
with no less courage than perseverance. But from this adventure of the 
Portuguese, it appears that chance might have accomplished that great 
design which it is now the pride of human reason to have formed and 
periected. If the sagacity of Columbus had not conducted mankind to 
America, Cabral, by a fortunate accident, might have led them, a few years 
later, to the knowledge of that extensive continent.! 

While the Spaniards and Portuguese, by those successive voyages, were 
daily acquiring more enlarged ideas of the extent and opulence of that 
quarter of the globe which Columbus had made known to them, he 
himselt, far from enjoying the tranquillity and honours with which his 
services should have been recompensed, was struggling with every distress 
wi which the envy and malevolence of the people under his command, or 
the ingratitude of the court which he served, could involve him. Though 
the pacification with Roldan broke the union and ^veakened the force of the 
mutineers, it did not extirpate the seeds of discord out of the island. 
Several of the malecontents continued in arms, refusing to submit to the 
adnn'ral. He and his brothers were obliged to take the field alter- 
nately, in order to check their incursions, or to punish their crimes. The 
perpetual occupation and disquiet which this created, prevenled him 
Irom giving due attention to the dangerous machinations of his enemies in 
the court of Spain. A good number of such as were most dissatisfied with 
his ad^ninistration had embraced the opportunity of retuiiiing to Europe with 
the ships which he despatched from St. Domingo. The final disappointment 
oi all the ir hopes inflamed the rage of these unfortunate adventurers against 
Columbus to the utmost pitch. Their poverty and distress, by exciting 
compassion, rendered their accusations credible, and their complaints inte- 
restini;-. They teased Ferdinand and Isabella incessantly with mcmcrials, 
containing the detail of their own grievances, and the articles of their 
charge against Columbus. Whenever either the king or queen appeared 
in public, they surrounded them in a tumultuaiy manner, insisting with 
importunate clamours for the payment of the arrears due to them, and de- 
manding vengeance upon the author of their sufferings. They insulted the 
admiral's sons wherever iliey met them, reproaching them as the offspring 
ot the projector, whose fatal curiosity had discovered those pernicious 
regions which clrained Spain of its wealth, and would prove the grave of 
its people. These avowed endeavours of the malecontents from America 
to ruin Columbus, were seconded by the seci-et but more dangerous ii'sinu- 
ations of tljat party among the courtiers, which had always thwarted his 
schemes, and envied his success and credit.| 

Ferdinand was disposed to listen, not only with a willing but with a partial 
ear, to these accusations. Notwithstanding the flattering acrounts which 

♦ Ileriera, dec. J. lih. iv. c. 7. | Ibid. dec. 1. lib. vii. c. 5. } Lifo of Columbus, c. 85. 



AMERICA. 83 

Columbus had given of the riches of America, the remittances from it had 
hitherto been so scanty that they fell far short of deiraying the expense of 
the armaments fitted out. The glory of the discovery, together with the 
prospect of remote commercial advantages, was all that Spain had yet 
received in return for the efforts v^'hich she had made. But time had 
already diminished the first sensations of joy which the discovery of a 
New World occasioned, and fame alone was not an object to satisfy the 
cold interested mind of Ferdinand. The nature of commerce was then so 
little understood that, where immediate gain was not acquired, the hope of 
distant benefit, or of slow and moderate returns, was totally disregarded. 
Ferdinand considered Spain, on this account, as having lost by the enterprise 
of Columbus, and imputed it to his misconduct and incapacity for govern- 
ment, that a country abounding in gold had yielded nothing of value to its 
conquerors. Even Isabella, who from the favourable opinion which she 
entertained of Columbus had unilbrmly protected him, was shaken at length 
by the number and boldness of his accusers, and began to suspect that 
a disaffection so general must have been occasioned by real grievances which 
called for redress. The Bishop of Badajos, with his usual animosity against 
Columbus, encouraged these suspicions, and confirmed them. 

As soon as the queen began to give way to the toiTent of calumny, a 
resolution fatal to Columbus was taken. Francis do Bovadiila, a knight ot 
C'alatrava, was appointed to repair to Hispaniola, with full powers to inquire 
into the conduct of Columbus, and if he should find the chp^ge of malad- 
ministration proved, to supersede him, and assume the government of the 
island. It was impossible to escape condemnation, when this preposterous 
commission made it the interest of the judge to pronounce the person whom 
he was sent to try, guilty. Though Columbus had now composed ail the 
dissensions in the island ; though he had brought both Spaniards and 
Indians to submit peaceably to his government ; though he had made such 
effectual provision tor working the mines, and cultivating the country, as 
would have secured a considerable revenue to the king, as well as lai^e 
profits to individuals ; Bovadiila, without deigning to attend to the nature 
or merit of those services, discovered from the -moment that he landed in 
Hispaniola, a determined purpose o^ treating him as a criminal. He took 
possession of the admiral s house in St. Domingo, from which its master 
happened ?! that time to be absent, and seized h:" effects, as if his guilt had 
been already fully proved ; he rendered himself master of the fort and of the 
King's stores by violence ; he required ail persons to acknowledge him as 
supreme governor ; he set at liberty the prisoners confined by the admiral, 
and summoned him to appear before his tribunal, in ord^r to answer for his 
conduct ; transmitting to him, together with the summons, a copy of the 
royal mandate, by which Columbus was enjoined to yield implicit obedience 
to his commands. 

Columbus, though deeply affected with the ingratitude and injustice of 
Ferdinand and Isabella, did not hesitate a moment about his own conduct. 
He submitted to the will of his sovereigns with a respectful silence, and 
repaired directly [October] to the court of that violent and partial judge 
whom they had authorized to try him. Bovadiila, without admitting him 
into his presence, ordered him instantly to be arrested, to be loaded with 
chains, and hurried on board a ship. Even under this humiliating reverse 
of fortune, the firmnessof mind which distinguishes the character of Columbus 
did not tbrsake him. Conscious of his own integrity, and solacing him<:_lf 
with reflecting upon the great things which he hau achieved, he endurod 
this insult offered to his character, not only with composure but with 
dignity. Nor had he the consolation of sympathy to mitigate his sufferings. 
Bovadiila had already rendered himself so extremely popular, by granting 
various immunities to the colony, by liberal donations of Indians to all who 
applied for them, and by relaxing the reins of discipline and goviernment. 



84 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

that the Spaniards, who were mostly adventurers, whom their indigence or 
crimes had compelled to abandon their native country, expressed tlie most 
indecent satisfaction with the disgrace and imprisonment of Columbus. 
They flattered themselves that now thej should enjoy an uncontrolled liberty 
more suitable to their disposition and tormer habits of life. Among persons 
thus prepared to censure the proceedings, and to asperse the character of 
Columbus, Bovadilla collected materials for a charge against hinri. All 
accusations, the most improbable as well as inconsistent, were received. 
No informer, however infam.ous, was rejected. The result of this inquest, 
no less indecent than partial, he transmitted to Spain. At the same time he 
ordered Columbus, with his two brothers, to be carried thither in fetters ; 
and, adding crueltj' to insult,^ he confined them in different ships, and 
excluded them from the comfort of that friendly intercourse which migh» 
have soothed their common distress. But while the Spaniards in Hispaniola 
viewed the arbitrary and insolent proceedings of Bovadilla with a general 
approbation, which reflects dishonour upon their name and country, one man 
still retained a proper sense of the great actions which Columbus had 
performed, and was touched with the sentiments of veneration and pity 
due to his rank, his age, and his merit. Alonzo de Valejo, the captain of 
the vessel on board which the admiral was confined, as soon as he was clear 
of the island, approached his prisoner with great respect, and offered to 
release him from the fetters with which he was unjustly loaded. " No," 
replied Columbus Avith a generous indignation, " I wear these irons in 
consequence of an order trom my sovereigns. They shall find me as 
obedient to this as to their other injunctions. By their command I have 
been confined, and their command alone shall set me at liberty."* 

Nov. 23.] Fortunatelv, the voyage to Spain was extremely short As 
soon as Ferdinand and Isabella were informed that Columbus was brought 
home a prisoner and in chains, they perceived at once what universal 
astonishment this event must occasion, and what an impression to their 
disadvantage it must make. All Europe, they foresaw, would be fiHed with 
indignation at this ungenerous requital of a man who had performed actions 
worthy of th'e highest recompense, and would exclaim against the injustice 
of the nation, to which he had been such an eminent benefactor, as well as 
against the ingratitude of the princes whose reign he had rendered illustrious. 
•'Ashamed of their own conduct, and eager not only to make some reparation 
for this injury, but to efface the stain which it might fix upon their character, 
they instantly issued orders to set Columbus at liberty [Dec. 17], invited 
him to court, and remitted money to enable him to appear there in a m.anner 
suitable to his rank. When he entered the royal presence, Columbus threw 
himself at the feet of his sovereigns. He remained for some time silent ; 
the various passions which agitated his mind suppressing his power of 
utterance. At length he recovered himself, and vindicated his conduct in a 
long discourse, producing the most satisfying proofs of his own integrity' as 
well as good intention, and evidence, no less clear, of the malevolence of 
his enemies, who, not satisfied with having ruined his fortune, laboured to 
deprive him of what alone was now left, his honour and his fame. Ferdi- 
nand received him with decent civility, and Isabella with tenderness and 
respect. They both expressed their sorrow for what had happened, 
disavowed their knowledge of it, and joined in promising him protection 
and future favour. But though they instantly degraded Bovadilla, in order 
to remove from themselves any suspicion ot having authorized his violent 
proceedings, tliey did not restore to Columbus his jurisdiction and privileges 
as viceroy of those countries which he had discovered. Though willing to 
appear the avengers of Columbus's wrongs, that illiberal jealousy which 

• Life of Columbus, c. 86. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. It. c. 3—11. Gomara Hist. c. S3. O\redo, 
Ub. tii. c. 6. 



AMERICA 85 

prompted them to invest Bovadilla with sOch authority, as put it in his 
power to treat" the admiral with indignity, still subsisted. I'hey were 
afraid to trust a man to whom they had been so highly indebted ; and 
retaining him at court under various pretexts, they appointed Nicholas 
de Ovando, a knight of the military order of Alcantara, governor ot 
Hispaniola,* 

Columbus was deeply affected with this new injury, which came from 
hands that seemed to be employed in making reparation for his past 
sufferings. The sensibility with which great minds feel every thing that 
implies any suspicion of their integrity, or that wears the aspect of an 
affront, is exquisite. Columbus had experienced both from the Spaniards, 
and their ungenerous conduct exasperated him to such a degree that he 
could no longer conceal the sentiments which it excited. Wherever he 
went he carried about with him, as a memorial of their ingratitude, those 
fetters with which he had been loaded. They were constantly hung up 
in his chamber, and he gave orders, that when he died they should be 
buried in his grave. t 

1501.] Meanwhile the spirit of discovery, notwithstanding the severe 
check which it had received by the ungenerous treatment of the man who 
first excited it in Spain, continued active and vigorous. [January] Roderigo 
de Bastidas, a person of distinction, fitted out two ships in copartnery with 
John de la Cosa, who having served under the admiral in two of his voyages 
was deemed the most skilful pilot in Spain. They steered directly towards 
the continent, arrived on the coast of Paria, and, proceeding to the west, 
discovered all the coast of the province now known by the name of Tierra 
Firme, from Cape de Vela to the Gulf of Darien. Not long after Ojeda, 
with his former associate Amerigo Vespucci, set out upon a second voyage, 
and, being unacquainted with the destination of Bastidas, held the same 
course and touched at the same places. The voyage of Bastidas was 
prosperous and lucrative, that of Ojeda unfortunate. But both tended to 
increase the ardour of discovery ; for in proportion as the Spaniards acquired 
a more extensive knowledge of the American continent, their idea of its 
opulence and fertility increased.^ 

Before these adventurers returned from their voyages, a fleet was 
equipped, at the public expense, for carrying over Ovando, the new 
governor, to Hispaniola. His presence there was extremely requisite, in 
order to stop the inconsiderate career of Bovadilla, whose imprudent 
administration threatened the settlement with ruin. Conscious of the violence 
and iniquity of his proceedings against Columbus, he continued to make it 
his sole object to gain the favour and support of his countrymen, by 
accommodating himself to their passions and prejudices. With this view, 
he established regulations in every point the reverse of those which Columbus 
deemed essential to the prosperity of the colony. Instead of the severe 
discipline, necessary in order to habituate the dissolute and corrupted members 
of which the society was composed, to the restraints of law and subordination, 
he suffered them to enjoy such uncontrolled license as encouraged the wildest 
excesses. Instead oi protecting the Ividians, he gave a legal sanction to the 
oppression of that unhappy people. He took the exact number of such as 
survived their past calamities, divided them into distinct classes, distributed 
them in property among his adherents, and reduced all the people of the 
island to a state of complete servitude. As the avarice of the Spaniard-? 
was too rapacious and impatient to try any- method of acquiring wealth 
but that of searching for gold, this servitude became as grievous as it was 
unjust. The Indians were driven in crowds to the mountains, and compelled 
to work in the mines, by masters who imposed their tasks without mercy or 

• Herrera, dec. l. lib. iv. c. 10—12. Lifeof Columbus, c. 87 t LUe of Columbus, c 86. 

p. 577. I Herrera, dec. 1. lib. iv. c. 11. 



86 HISTORYOF [Book II. 

discretior;. Labour so disproportioned to their strength and former habits 
of life, wasted that feeble race of men with such rapid consumption, as must 
have soon terminated in the utter extincliun of the ancient hihabitants of 
the country.* 

The necessity of applying a speedy remedy to those disorders hastened 
Ovando's departure. He had the command of the most respectable arma- 
ment hitherto fitted out for the New World. It consisted of thirty-two ships, 
on board of which two thousand five hundred persons embarked with an 
intention of settling in the countrj\ [1502.] Upon the arrival of the new 
g(3vernor with this powerful reinforcement to the colony, Bovadilla resigned 
his charge, and was commanded to return instantly to Spain, in order to 
answer lor his conduct. Roldan and the other ringleaders of the mutineers, 
■vvho had been most active in opposing Columbus, were required to leave 
the island at the same time. A proclamation was issued, declaring the 
natives to be free subjects of Spain, of whom no service was to be expected 
contrary to their own inclination, and without paying them an adequate price 
for their labour. \Vidi respect to the Spaniards themselves, various regu- 
lations were made, tending to suppress the licentious spirit which had been 
so fatal to the colony, and to establish that reverence for law and order on 
which society is founded, and to which it is indebted lor its increase and 
stability. In order to limit the exorbitant gain which private persons were 
supposed to make by working the mines, an ordinance was published, 
directing all the gold to be brought to a public smelting-house, and declaring 
one half of it to be the property of the crown.f 

While these steps were taking for securing the tranquillity and welfare 
of the colony which Columbus had planted, he himself was engaged in the 
unpleasant employment of soliciting the favour of an ungrateful court, and 
notwithstanding all his merit and services, he solicited in vain. He 
demanded, in terms of the original capitulation in one thousand lour hundred 
and ninety-two, to be reinstated in his office of viceroy over the countries 
which he had discovered. By a strange tatality, the circumstance which 
he urged in support of his claim, determined a jealous monarch to reject 
it. The greatness of his discoveries, and the prospect oi their increasing 
value, made Ferdinand consider the concessions in the capitulation as 
extravagant and impolitic. He was afraid of intrusting a subject with the 
exercise of a jurisdiction ihat now appeared to be so extremely extensive, 
and might grow to be no less formidable. He inspired Isabella with the 
same suspicions; and under various pretexts, equally frivolous and unjust, 
they eluded all Columbus's requisitions to perform that which a solemn 
compact bound them to accomplish. After attending the Court of Spain 
for near tv.'o years, as an humble suitor, he found it impossible to remove 
Ferdinand's prejudices and apprehensions; and perceived at length that 
he laboured in vain, when he ui^ed a claim of justice or merit with an 
interested and unfeeling prince. 

But even this ungenerous return did not discourage him from pursuing 
the great object which first called forth his inventive genius, and excited 
him to attempt discovery. To open a new passage to the East Indies was 
his original and favourite scheme. This still engrossed his thoughts ; and 
either trom his own observations in his voyage to Paria, or trom some 
obscure hint of the natives, or from the accounts given by Bastidas and de 
la Cosa of their expedition, he conceived an opinion that beyond the con- 
tinent of America there was a sea which extended to the East Indies, and 
hoped to find some strait or narrow neck of land, by which a communica- 
tion might be opened with it and the part of the ocean already known. 
By a very fortunate conjecture, he supposed this strait or isthmus to be 

• Herrera, dec. 1. lib. Iv. c. 11, &c. Oviedo Hist. lib. iil. c. 6. p. 97. Benzon Hist. lib. i. c IZ 
p. 51. t Solorzano Politica Indiana, lib. i. c. 12. Henera, dec. 1. Ub. iv. c. 12. 



AMERICA. 87 

situated near the Gulf of Darien. Full of this idea, thoug-h he was now of 
an advanced age, worn out with fatigue, and broken with infirmities, he 
ofTered, with the alacrity of a youthlui adventurer, to undertake a voyage 
which would ascertain this important point, and perfect the grand scheme 
which from the beginning he proposed to accomplish. Several circumstances 
concurred in disposing Ferdinand and Isabella to lend a favourable ear to 
this proposal. They were glad to have the pretext of any honourable 
employment for removing from court a man with whose demands they 
deemed it impolitic to comply, and vvliose services it was indecent to 
neglect. Though unwilling to reward Columbus, they were not insensible 
of iiis merit, and from their experience of his skill and conduct, had reason 
to give credit to his conjectures, and to confide in his success. To these 
considerations, a third must be added of still more powerful influence. 
About this time the Portuguese fleet, under Cabral, arrived from the Indies ; 
and, by the richness of its cargo, gave the people of Europe a more perfect 
idea than they had hitherto been able to form, of the opulence and fertility 
of the East. The Portuguese had been more fortunate in their discoveries 
than the Spaniards. They had opened a communication with countries 
where industry, arts, and elegance flourished ; and where commerce had 
been longer established, and carried to greater extent than in any region 
of the earth. Their first voyages thither yielded immediate as well as vast 
returns of profit, in commodities extremely precious and in great reqaest. 
Lisbon became immediately the seat of commerce and wealth ; while Spain 
had only the expectation of remote benefit, and of future gain, from the western 
world. Nothing, then, could be more acceptable to the Spaniards than 
Columbus's offer to conduct them to the East, by a route which he expected 
to be shorter, as well as less dangerous than that which the Portuguese had 
taken. Even Ferdinand was roused by such a prospect, and warmly- 
approved of the undertaking. 

But interesting as the object of this voyage was to the nation, Columbus 
could procure only four small barks, the largest of which did not exceed 
seventy tons in burden, for performing it. Accustomed to brave danger, 
and to engage in arduous undertakings with inadequate force, he did not 
hesitate to accept the command of this pitiful squadron. His brother Bar- 
tholomew, and his second son Ferdinand, the historian of his actions, 
accompanied him. He sailed from Cadiz on the ninth of May, and touched, 
as usual, at the Canary islands ; from thence he proposed to have stood 
directly for the continent ; but his largest vessel was so clumsy and unfit 
for service, as constrained him to bear away for Hispaniola, m hopes of 
exchanging her for some ship of the fleet that had carried out Ovando. 
When he arrived at St. Domingo [June 29], he found eighteen of these 
ships ready loaded, and on the point of departing tor Spain. Columbus 
immediately acquainted the governor with the destination of his voyage, 
and the accident which had obliged him to alter his route. He requested 
permission to enter the harbour, not only that he might negotiate the 
exchange of his ship, but that he might take shelter during a violent hurri- 
cane, of which he discerned tlie approach from various prognostics which 
his experience and sagacity had taught him to observe. On that account, 
he advised him likewise to put on for some days the departure of tne 
fleet bound for Spain. But Ovando refused his request, and despised his 
counsel. Under circumstances in which humanity would have afiforded 
refuge to a stranger, Columbus was denied admittance into a country of 
■which he had discovered the existence and acquired the possession. His 
salutary warning, which merited the greatest attention, was regarded as 
the dream of a visionary prophet, who arrogantly pretended to predict an 
event beyond the reach of human foresight. The fleet set sail for Spain. 
Next nijjht the hurricane came on with dreadful impetuosity. Columbus, 
aware of the danger, took precautions against it, and saved his little squadron. 



98 HISTORY OF [Book II. 

The fleet destined for Spain met with the fate which the rashness and 
obstinacy of its commanders deserved. Of eighteen ships two or three 
only escaped. In this general wreck perished Bovadilla, Roldan, and the 
greater part of those who had been the most active in persecuting Columbus, 
and oppressing the Indians. Together with themselves, all the wealth 
which they had acquired by their injustice and cruelty was swallowed up. 
It exceeded in value two hundred thousand /jcso5 ; an immense sum at that 
period, and sufficient not only to have screened them from any severe scrutiny 
info their conduct, but t') have secured them a gracious reception in the 
Spanish court. Among the ships that escaped, one had on board all the 
effects of Columbus which had been recovered from the ruins of his 
fortune. Historians, struck with the exact discrimination of characters, as 
well as the just distribution of rewards and punishments, conspicuous in 
those events, universally attribute them to an immediate interposition of Divine 
Providence, in order to avenge the wrongs of an injured man, and to punish the 
oppressors of an innocent people. Upon the ignorant and superstitious race 
of men, who were witnesses of this occurrence, it made a different im- 
pression. From an opinion which vulgar admiration is apt to entertain 
with respect to persons who have distinguished themselves by their sagacity 
and inventions, they believed Columbus to be possessed of supernatural 
powers, and imagined that he had conjured up this dreadful storm by 
magical art and incantations in order to be avenged of his enemies.* 

Columbus soon left Hispaniola [July 14], where he met with such an 
inhospitable reception, and stood towards the continent. After a tedious 
and dangerous voyage, he discovered Guanaia, an island not far distant 
from the coast ot Honduras. There he had an interview with some 
inhabitants of the continent, who arrived in a large canoe. They appealed 
to be a people more civilized, and who had made greater progress in the 
knowledge of useful arts than any whom he had hitherto discovered. In 
return to the inquiries which the Spaniards made, with their usual eager- 
ness, concerning the places where the Indians got the gold which they 
wore by way of ornament, they directed them to countries situated to the 
west, in which gold was found in such profusion that it was applied to the 
most common uses. Instead of steering in quest of a country so inviting, 
which would have conducted him along the coast of Yucatan to the rich 
Empire of Mexico, Columbus was so bent upon his favourite scheme of 
finding out the strait which he supposed to communicate with the Indian 
ocean, that he bore away to the east towards the gulf of Darien. In this 
navigation he discovered all the coast of the continent, from Cape Gracias 
a Dios to a harbour which, on account of its beauty and security, he called 
Porto Bello. He searched in vain for the imaginary strait, through which 
he expected to make his way into an unknown sea ; and though he went 
on shore several times, and advanced into the countiy, he did not penetrate 
so far as to cross the narrow isthmus which separates the Gulf oi Mexico 
from the great Southern ocean. He was so much delighted, however, 
with the fertility of the country', and conceived such an idea of its wealth 
from the specimens of gold produced by the natives, that he resolved to leave 
a small colony upon the river Belen, in the province of Veragua, under the 
command of his brother, and to return himself to Spain [1503], in order to 
procure what was requisite for rendering the establishment permanent. But 
the ungovernable spirit of the people under his command, deprived Colum- 
Dus of the glory of planting the first colony on the continent of America. 
Their insolence and rapaciousness provoked the natives to take arms ; and 
as these were a more hardy and warlike race of men than the inhabitants 
of the islands, they cut off part of the Spaniards, and obliged the rest to 
abandon a station which was found to be untenable.! 

♦ Ovicdo, lib. iii. c. 7. 9. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. v. c. 1, 9. Lifr of Columbus, e. 80. f Herrer* 
4eo I lib. V. e. 5, See. Life of Coltunbus, c. 69, jcc Oviedo, lib iii c. 9. 



^ ,^ AMERICA. 89 

This repulse, the first that the Spaniards met with from any of the Ame- 
rican nations, was not the only misfortune that befell Columbus : it was 
followed by a succession of all the disasters to which navigation is exposed. 
Furious hurricanes, with violent storms of thunder and lightning, threatened 
his leaky vessels with destruction ; while his discontented crew, exhausted 
with fatigue, and destitute of provisions, was unwilling or unable to execute 
his commands. One of his ships perished ; he was obliged to abandon 
another, as unfit for service ; and with the two which remained, he quitted 
that part of the continent, which, in his anguish, he named the Coast of 
Vexation,* and bore away for Hispaniola. New distresses awaited him 
in this voyage. He was driven back by a violent tempest from the coast of 
Cuba, his ships fell foul of one another, and were so much shattered by the 
shock that with the utmost difficulty they reached Jamaica [June 24], 
where he was obliged to run them aground, to prevent them from sinking. 
The measure of his calamities seemed now to be full. He was cast ashore 
upon an island at a considerable distance from the only settlement of the 
Spaniards in America. His ships were ruined beyond the possibility of 
being repaired. To convey an account of his situation to Hispaniola 
appeared impracticable ; and without this it was in vain to expect relief. 
His genius, fertile in resources, and most vigorous in those perilous ft's^tre- 
mities when feeble minds abandon themselves to despair, discovered the 
only expedient which afforded any prospect of deliverance. He had 
recourse to the hospitable kindness of the natives, who, considering the 
Spaniards as beings of a superior nature, were eager, on every occasion, to, 
minister to their wants. From them he obtained two of their canoes, eaclt 
formed out of the trunk of a single tree hollowed with fire, an.d so misshapen 
and awkward as hardly to merit the name of boats. In these, which were 
fit only for creeping along the coast, or crossing, from one side of a bay to 
another, Mendez, a Spaniard, and Fieschi, a Genoese, two gentlemen parti 
cularly attached to Columbus, gallantly oSiered to set out foe- Hispaniola,-* 
upon a voyage of above thirty leagues.! This they accomplished in ten 
days, after surmounting incredible dangers, and enduriVig such fatigues that 
several of the Indians wjio accompanied them sunk under it, and died. 
T-he attention paid to them by the goV^n6r of Hispaniola was neither such 
as their courage merited, nor the distress of the persons from whom they 
came required. Ovando, from a mean jealousy of Columbus, was afraid 
of allowing him to set foot in the island under his government. This unge- 
nerous passion hardened his heart against every tender sentiment which 
reflection upon the services and misfortunes of that great man, or compas- 
sion for his own fellow-citizens, involved in the same calamities, must have 
excited. Mendez and Fieschi spent eight months in soliciting relief for 
their commander and associates, without any prospect of obtaining it. 

During this period, various passions agitated the mind of Columbus and 
his companions in adversity. At first, the expectation of speedy deliverance, 
from the success of Mendez and Fieschi's voyage, cheered the spirits of 
the most desponding. After some time the most timorous began to suspect 
that they had miscarried in their daring attempt [1504]. At length, even 
the most sanguine concluded that they had perished. The ray of hope 
which had broke in upon them, made their condition appear now more 
dismal. Despair, heightened by disappointment, settled in every breast. 
Their last resource had failed, and nothing remained but the prospect of 
ending their miserable days among naked savages, far from their country 
and their friends. The seamen, in a transport of rage, rose in open mutiny, 
threatened the life ot Columbus, whom they reproached as the author oi 
all their calamities, seized ten canoes, which they had purchased from the 
Indians, and, despising his remonstrances and entreaties, made o£f with 

* La Cosu de los Constraate«. t Ovicdo, lib. iii. c. 9* 

Vol. I.— 12 6 



90 HISTORY OF [BookIL 

them to a distant part of the island. At the same time the natives mur- 
mured at the long residence of the Spaniards in their country. As their 
industry was not greater than that ot their neighbours in Hispaniola, Uke 
them they found the burden of supporting so mr^ny strangers to be aitoge- 
thei intolerable. They began to bring in provisions with reluctance, they 
furnished them with a sparing hand, and threatened to witlidraw those 
supplies altogether. Such a resolution must liave been quickly fatal to the 
Spaniards. Their safety depended upon the good will of the Indians ; and 
unless they could revive the admiration and reverence with which tliat 
simple people had at first beheld them, destruction was unavoidable. 
Though the licentious proceedings of tlie mutineers had in a great measure 
effaced those impressions which had been so favourable to the Spaniards, 
the ingenuity of Columbus suggested a happy artifice, that not only restored 
but heightened the high opinion which the Indians had originally entertained 
of them. By his skill in astronomy, he knew that there was shortly to be a 
total eclipse of the moon. He a'jsembled all the principal persons of the 
district around him on the day before it happened, and, after reproaching 
them for their fickleness in withdrawing their aflfection and assistance from 
men whom they had lately revered, he told them, that the Spaniards 
were servants of the Great Spirit who dwells in heaven, who made and 
governs the world ; that he, offended at their refusing to support men who 
were the objects of his peculiar favour, was preparing to punish this crime 
with exemplary severity, and that very night the moon should withhold her 
light, and appear of a bloody hue, as a sign of the divine wrath and an 
emblem of the vengeance ready to fall upon them. To this marvellous 
prediction some of them listened with the careless indifference peculiar to 
the people of America ; others, with the credulous astonishment natural 
to barbarians. But when the moon began gradually to be darkened, and 
at length appeared of a red colour, all were struck with terror. They ran 
with consternation to their houses, and returning instantly to Columbus 
loaded with provisions, threw them at his teet, conjuring him to intercede 
with the Great Spirit to avert the destruction with which they were threat- 
ened. Columbus, see.ming to be moved by their entreaties, promised to 
comply with their desire. The eclipse went off, the moon recovered its 
splendour, and Irom that day the Spaniards were not only furnished profusely 
with provisions, but the natives, Avith superstitious attention, avoided eveiy 
thing that could give them offence.* 

During those transactions, the mutineers had made repeated attempts to 
pass over to Hispaniola in the canoes Avhich they had seized. But, from 
their own misconduct or the violence of the winds and currents, their efforts 
were all unsuccessful. Enraged at this disappointment,they marched towards 
that part of the island where Columbus remained, threatening him with 
new insults and danger. While they were advancing, an event happened, 
more cruel and afflicting than any calamity which he dreaded from them. 
The governor of Hispaniola, whose mind was still filled with some dark 
suspicions of Columbus, sent a small bark to Jamaica, not to deliver 
his distressed countrymen, but to spy out their condition. Lest the sympathy 
of those whom he employed should afford them relief', contrary to his inten- 
tion, he gave the command of this vessel to Escobar, an inveterate enemy 
of Columbus, who, adhering to his instructions with malignant accuracy, cast 
anchor at some distance from the island, approached the shore in a small 
boat, observed the wretched plight of the Spaniards, delivered a letter of 
empty compliments to the admiral, received his answer, and departed. 
When the Spaniards first descried the vessel standing towards the island, 
every heart exulted, as if the long expected hour of their deliverance had 
at length arrived ; but when it disappeared so suddenly, they sunk into the 

* Life of Columbus, c. 103. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. 5, 6. Benron, Hist. lib. i. c 14 



AMERICA, 91 

deepest dejection, and all their hopes died away. Columbus alone, though 
he felt most sensilily this wanton insult which Ovando added to his past 
neglect, retained such composure of mind as to be able to cheer his followers. 
He assured them ihat Mendez and Fieschi had reached Hispaniola in safety j 
that they would speedily procure ships to carry them otf ; but, as Escobar's 
vessel could not take them all on board, that he had refused to go with her, 
because he was determined never to abandon the faithful companions of his 
distress. Soothed with the expectation of speedy deliverance, and delighted 
with his apparent generosity in attending more to their preservation than to 
his own safety, their spirits revived, and he regained their confidence.* 

Without this confidence he could not have resisted the mutineers, who 
were now at hand. All his endeavours to reclaim {[tOse desperate men had 
no effect but to increase their frenzy. Their demands became eveiy day 
more extravagant, and their intentions more violent and bloody. The 
common safety rendered it necessary to oppose them with open force. 
Columbus, who had been long afflicted with the gout, could not take the 
field. His brother, the adelantado, marched against them [May 20]. 
They quickly met. The mutineers rejected v.ith scorn terms of accom- 
modation, which were once more offered them, and rushed on boldly to the 
attack. They fell not upon an enemy unprepared to receive them. In the 
first shock, several of their most daring leaders were slain. The adelan- 
tado, whose strength was equal to his courage, closed with their captain, 
wounded, disarmed, and took him prisoner.! At sight of this, the rest 
fled with a dastardly fear suitable to their Ibrmer insolence. Soon alter, 
they submitted in a body to Columbus, and bound themselves by the most 
.solemn oaths to obey all his commands. Hardly was tranquillity re- 
established when the ships appeared, whose arrival Colum.bus had promised 
with great address, though he could foresee it with little certainty. With 
transports of joy the Spaniards quitted an island in which the unfeeling- 
jealousy of Ovando had suffered them to languish above a year, exposed to 
misery in all its various forms. 

^V\hen they arrived at St. Domingo [Aug. 13], the governor, with the mean 
artifice of a vulgar mind, that labours to atone for insolence by servility, 
fawned on the man whom he envied, and had attempted to ruin. He 
received Columbus with the most studied respect, lodged him in his own 
house, and distinguished him with every mark of honour. But amidst those 
overacted demonstrations of regard, he could not conceal the hatred and 
malignity latent in his heart. He set at liberty the captain of the mutineers, 
whom Columbus had brought over in chains to be tried for his crimes ; and 
threatened such as had adhered to the admiral with proceeding to a judicial 
inquiry into their conduct. Columbus submitted in silence to what he 
could not redress ; but discovered an extreme impatience to quit a country 
Avhich was under the jurisdiction of a man who had treated him, on every 
occasion, with inhumanity and injustice. His preparations were soon finished, 
and he set sail for Spam with two ships [Sept. 12]. Disasters similar to 
those which had accompanied him through life continued to pursue him 
to the end of his career. One of his vessels being disabled, was soon forced 
back to St. Domingo ; the other, shattered by violent storms, sailed several 
hundred leagues withjurj'-masts, and reached with difliculty the port of St. 
Lucar [December].^ 

There he received the account of an event the most fatal that could have 
befallen him, and which completed his misfortunes. This was the death of 
his patroness Queen Isabella [Nov. 9], in whose justice, humanity, and 
favour he confided as his last resource. None now remained to redress his 
wrongs, or to reward him for his services and sufferings, but Ferdinand, who 

* Life of Columbus, c. 104. Herrcra, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. 17. f Ibid. c. 107. Herrera, dec U 
Jib. vi. 0. II. t Ibid, c 10& Hericia, dec. 1. lib. vi. o. 19w 



9i HISTORYOF [Book III. 

had so Ion? opposed and so often injured him. To solicit a prince thus 

firejudiced against him was an occupation no less irksome than hopeless, 
n this, however, was Columbus doomed to employ the close of his days. 
As soon as his health was in some degree re-established, he repaired to 
court ; and though he was received there with civility barely decent, he 
plied Ferdinand Avith petition after petition, demanding the punishment of 
his oppressors, and the restitution of all the privileges bestowed upon him 
by the capilijlation of one thousand four hundred and ninety-two. Ferdi- 
nand amused him with fair words and unmeaning promises. Instead of 
granting his claims, he proposed expedients in order to elude them, and 
spun out the affair with such apparent art, as plainly discovered his intention 
that it should never be terminated. The declining heahh of Columbus 
flattered Ferdinand with the hopes of being soon delivered from an 
importunate suitor, and encouraged him to persevere in this illiberal plan. 
Nor was he deceived in his expectations. Disgusted with the ingratitude of 
a monarch whom he had served >vith such fidelity and success, exhausted 
with the fatigues and hardships which he had endured, and broken with 
the infirmities which these had brought upon him, Columbus ended his life 
at Valladolid on the twentieth of May, one thousand five hundred and six 
in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He died with a composure of mind 
suitable to the magnanimity which distinguished his character, and with 
sentiments of piety, becoming that supreme respect for religion which he 
manifested in eveiy occurrence of his life."* 



BOOK III. 

While Columbus was employed in his last voyage, several events worthy 
of notice happened in Hispaniola. The colony there, the parent and nurse 
of all the subsequent establishments of Spain in the New World, gradually 
acquired the form of a regular and prosperous society. The humane 
solicitude of Isabella to protect the Indians from oppression, and particularly 
the proclamation bj^ which the Spaniards were prohibited to compel them 
to work, retarded, it is true, for some time the progress of improvement. 
The natives, who considered exemption from toil as extreme felicity, scorned 
every allurement and reward by which they were invited to labour. The 
Spaniards had not a sufficient number of hands either to work the mines or 
to cultivate the soil. Several of the first colonists who had been accus- 
tomed to the service of the Indians, quitted the island, when deprived of 
those instruments, without which they knew not how to carry on any 
operation. Many of the new settlers who came over with Ovando, were 
seized with the distempers peculiar to the climate, and in a short space above 
a thousand of them died. At the same time, the exacting one half of the 
product of the mines, as the royal share, was ibund to be a demand so exor- 
bitant that no adventurers would engage to work them upon such terms. In 
order to save the colony from ruin, Ovando ventured to relax the rigour of 
the royal edicts [1505]. He made a new distribution of the Indians among 
the Spaniards, and compelled them to labour, for a stated time, in digging 
the mines, or in cultivating the ground ; but in order to screen himself from 
the imputation of having subjected them again to servitude, he enjoined 
their masters to pay them a certain sum, as the price of their work. He 

• Life of Columbus, c. 108. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. 13, 14, 15. 



A M E R I C A. 93 

reduced the royal share of the gold found in the mines fioin the half to the 
third part, and soon after lowered it to a fifth, at which it long remained. 
Notwithstanding Isabella's tender concern for the good treatment of the 
Indians, and Ferdinand's eagerness to improve the Royal revenue, Ovando 
persuaded the court to approve of both these regulations.* 

But the Indians, after enjoying respite from oppression, though during a 
short interval, now felt the yoke of bondage to be so galling that they made 
several attempts to vindicate their own liberty. This the Spaniards consi- 
dered as rebellion, and took arms in order to reduce them to subjection. 
When war is carried on between nations whose state of improvement is in 
any degree similar, the means of defence bear some proportion to those 
employed in the attack ; and in this equal contest such efforts must be made, 
such talents are displayed, and such passions roused, as exhibit mankind to 
view in a situation no less striking than interesting. It is one of the noblest 
functions of history to observe and to delineate men at a juncture when their 
minds are most violently agitated, and all their powers and passions are 
called forth. Hence the operations of war, and the struggles between 
contending states, have been deemed by historians, ancient as well as 
modern, a capital and important article in the annals of human actions. 
But in a contest between naked savages, and one of the most warlike of the 
European nations, where science, courage, and discipline on one side, were 
opposed by ignorance, timidity, and disorder on the other, a particular 
detail of events would be as unpleasant as uninstructive. If the simplicity 
and innocence of the Indians had inspired the Spaniards with humanity, 
had softened the pride of superiority into compassion, and had induced them 
to improve the inhabitants of the New World, instead of oppressing them, 
some sudden acts of violence, like the too rigorou? chastisements of 
impatient instructors, might have been related without horror. But, unfor- 
tunately, this consciousness of superiority operated in a different manner. 
The Spaniards were advanced so far beyond the natives of America in 
improvement of every kind, that they viewed them with contempt. They 
conceived the Americans to be animals of an inferior nature, who were not 
entitled to the rights and privileges of men. In peace they subjected them 
to servitude. In war they paid no regard to those laws which, by a tacit 
convention between contending nations, regulate hostility, and set some 
bounds to its rage. They considered them not as men fighting in defence 
of their liberty, but as slaves who had revolted against their masters. Their 
caziques, when taken, were condemned, like the leaders of banditti, to the 
most cruel and ignominious punishments ; and all their subjects, without 
regarding the distinction of ranks established among them, were reduced 
to the same state of abject slavery. With such a spirit and sentiments were 
hostilities carried on against the cazique of Higuey, a province at the 
eastern extremity of the island. This war was occasioned by the perfidy 
of the Spaniards, in violating a treaty which they had made with the 
natives, and it was terminated by hanging up the cazique, who defended 
his people with bravery so far superior to that of his countrymen, as 
entitled nim to a better fate.t 

The conduct of Ovando, in another part of the island, was still more 
treacherous and cruel. The province anciently named Xaragua, which 
extends from the fertile plain where Leogane is now situated to the western 
extremity of the island, was subject to a female cazique, named Anacoana, 
highly respected by the natives. She, from that partial fondness with which 
the women of America were attached to the Europeans (the cause of 
which shall be afterwards explained), had always courted the friendship 
of the Spaniards, and loaded them with benefits. But some of the adhe- 
rents of Koldan having settled in her country, were so much exasperated 

• Herrera, dec. 1. lib. v. c. 3 ! Ibid dec. 1. Jib. vi. t. 9, 10. 



91 HISTORYOF [Book III. 

at her endeavouring to restrain their excesses, that they accused her of 
having formed a plan to throw off the yoke, and to exterminate the 
Spaniards. Ovando, thou2:h he knew well what little credit was due to 
such profligate men, marched, without further inquirj', towards Xaragua, 
with three hundred foot and seventy horsemen. To prevent the Indians 
from taking alarm at this hostile appearance, lie gave out that his sole 
intention was to visit Anacoana, (owhom his countrjnnen had been so much 
indebted, in the most respectful manner, and to regulate with her the mode 
of levying the tribute payable to the king of Spain. Anacoana, in order 
to receive this illustrious guest with due honour, assembled the principal men 
in her dominions, to the nun.ber of three hundred ; and advancing at the 
head of these, accompanied by a great ciowd of pereons of inferior rank, 
«he welcomed Ovando with songs and dances, according to the mode of 
the country, and conducted him to the place of her residence. There he 
was teasted for some days, with all the kindness of simple hospitality, and 
amused v/ith the games and spectrtclcs usual among the Americans upon 
occasions of mirth and festivity. But amidst the security ".vhich this 
inspired, Ovando was meditating the destruction of his unsuspicious enter- 
tainer and her sut/jects ; and the mean perfidy with which he executed this 
scheme, equalled his barbarity in forming it. Under colour of exhibiting 
to the Indians the parade of a European tournament, he advanced with his 
troops, in battle array, towards the house in which Anacoana and the chiefs 
wlic attended her were assembled. The infantry took possession of all the 
avenues which led to the village. The horsemen encompassed the house. 
'1 hese movements were the object of admiration, without any mixture of 
fear, until, upon a signal which had been concerted, the Spaniards suddenly 
drew their swords, and rushed upon the Indians, defenceless, and astonished 
at an act of treachery which exceeded the conception of undesigning men. 
In a moment Anacoana was secured. All her attendants were seized and 
bound. Fire was set to the house ; and without examination or conviction, 
all these unhapjay persons, the inost illustrious in their own countr)', were 
consumed in the tlames. Anacoana was reserved for a more ignominious 
fate. She was carried in chains to St. Domingo, and, after the formrlity of 
a trial before Spanish judges, she was condemned, upon the evidence of 
those very men who had betrayed her, to be publicly hanged.* 

Overawed and humbled by this atrocious treatment of their princes and 
nobles, who were objects of their highest reverence, the people in all the 
provinces of Hispaniola submitted, without further resistance, to the Spanish 
yoke. Upon the death of Isabella all the regulations tending to mitigate the 
rigour of their servitude were forgotten. The small gratuity paid to them 
as the price of their labour was withdrawn, and at the same time the tasks 
imposed upon them were increased [l506]. Ovando, without any restraint, 
distributed Indians among his friends in the island. Ferdinand, to whom 
the Queen had left by will one half of the revenue arising from the settle- 
ments in the New World, conferred grants of a similar nature upon his 
courtiers, as the least expensi\e mode of rewarding their services. They 
farmed out the Indians, of whom they were rendr red proprietors, to their 
countrymen settled in Hispaiiola ; and that wretched people, beins: com- 
pelled" to labour in order to satisfy the rapacity of both, the exactmns of 
their oppressors no longer knew any bound-. But, barbarous as their policy 
was, and fatal to the inhabitants of Hispaniola, it {Produced, for some time, 
very considerable effects. By calling forth the force of a whole nation, 
and exerting itself in one direction, the working of the mines was carried 
on with amazing rapidity and success. During several years the gold brought 
into the royal smelting houses in Hispaniola amounted annually to four hundred 

• Ovt'dn, lib. iii. r. 12. Herrcra, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. 4. Relacion de Destruyc' delas Indias por 
Biirt. de Vdx Cas.i.i, p. S. 



AMERICA. 95 

and sixty thous?nd pesos, above a hundred thousand pounds sterlino: ; which, 
if we attend to the great change in the value of money since the beginning 
of the sixteenth century to the present times, must appear a considerable 
sum. Vast fortunes were created, of a sudden, by some. Othe;- dissipnted, 
in ostentatious profusion, what they acquired with facility. Dazzled by 
both, new adventurers crowded to America, with the most eager impatience, 
to share in those treasures which had enriched their couiitrj^men ; and, 
notwithstanding the mortality occasioned by the unhealthiness of the climate, 
the colony continued to increase.* 

Ovando governed the Spaniards with wisdom and justice not inferior to 
the rigour with which he treated the Indians. He established equal laws ; 
afld, by executing them with impartiality, accustomed the people of the 
colony to reverence them. He founded several new towns in ditVerent parts 
of the island, and allured inhabitants to them by the concession of various 
immunities. He endeavoured to turn the attention of tho Spaniards to 
some branch of indus'iy more useful than that of searching tor gold in the 
mines. Some slips of the sugarcane having been brought from the Canary 
islands by way of experiment, they were found to thrive with such increase 
in the rich soil and warm climate to which they were transplanted, that 
the cultivation of them soon became an object of commerce. Extonsive 
plantations were begun ; sugarworks, which the Spaniards called in^^enios, 
from the various machinery employed in them, were erected, and in a few 
years the manufacture of this commodity was the great occupation of 
the inhabitants of Hispaniola, and the most considerable source of their 
wealth.! 

The prudent endeavours of Ovando, to promote the welfare of the 
colony, were powerlully seconded by Ferdinand. The large remittances 
which he received from the New World opened his eyes, at length, with 
respect to the importance of those discoveries, which he had hitherto 
affected to undervalue. Fortune, and his own addiess, having -.ow ex- 
tricated him out of those ditficuliies in which he had been involved by 
the death of his Queen [1507], and by his disputes with his son-in-law 
aoout the government of her dominions,]; he had full leisure to turn bis 
altention to the affairs of America. I'o his provident sagacity Spain is 
indebted for many of those regulations which "-radually formed that 
system of profound but jealous policy, by which she governs her dominions 
in the Nev/ World. He erected a court distinguished by the tide of 
Casa Je Coniratacion, or Board of Trade, composed of persons eminent 
for rank and abilities, to whom he committed the administration of American 
affairs. This board assembled regularly in Seville, and was invested with 
a distinct and extensive jurisdiction. He gave a regular form to ecclesias- 
tical government in America, by nominating archbishops, bishops, deans, 
together with clergymen of subordinate ranks, to take charge of the Spaniards 
established there, as well as of the natives who should embrace the Christian 
faith, but notv/ithstanding the obsequious devotion of the Spanish court to 
the papal see, such was Ferdinand's solicitude to prevent any foreign power 
from claiming jurisdiction, or acquiring influence, in his new dominions, 
that he reserved to the crown of Spain the sole right of patronage to the 
benefices in America, and stipulated that no papal bull or mandate should 
be promulgated there until it was previously examined and approved of by 
his council. With the same spirit of jealousy, he prohibited any goods to 
be exported to America, or any person to settle there without a special 
licer^e from that council. § 

But, notwithstanding this attention to the police and welfare of the colony, 
a calamity impended which threatened its dissolution. The original inha- 

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. 18, &c. f Oviedo, lih. Iv. c. 8. i History of Uic Rtigii of 

Ctiarles V. p. 6, &.c. § Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vi. c. li), 20 



96 }I IS T O II Y O F [Book III. 

bitants, on whose labour the Spaniards in Hispaniola depended for their 
prosperity, and even their existence, wasted so fast that the extinction of the 
whole race seemed to be inevitable. When Columbus discovered Hispa- 
niola, the number of its inhabitants was computed to be at least a million.* 
They were now reduced to sixty thousand in the space of fifteen years. 
This consumption of the human species, no less amazing than rapidf, was 
the effect of^ several concurring causes. The natives of the American 
islands were of a more feeble constitution than the inhabitants of the 
other hemisphere. They could neither perform the same work nor endure 
the same fatigue with men whose organs were of a more vigorous con- 
formation. The listless indolence in which they delighted to pass their 
days, as it was the effect of their debility, contributed likewise to increase 
it, and rendered them from habit, as well as constitution, incapable of hard 
labour. The food on which they subsisted afforded little nourishment, and 
they were accustomed to take it in small quantities, not sutficient to invigorate 
a languid frame, and render it equal to the efforts of active industiy. The 
Spaniards, without attending to those peculiarities in the constitution of the 
Americans, imposed tasks upon them which, though not greater than 
Europeans might have performed with ease, were so disproportioned to 
their strength, that many sunk under the fatigue, and ended their wretched 
days. Others, prompted by impatience and despair, cut short their own 
lives with a violent hand. Famine, brought on bv compelling such numbers 
to abandon the culture of their lands, in order to labour in the mines, proved 
fatal to many. Diseases of various kinds, some occasioned by the hardships 
♦to which they were exposed, and others by their intercourse with the 
Europeans, who communicated to them some of their peculiar maladies, 
completed the desolation of the island. The Spaniards, being thus deprived 
of the instruments which thej' were accustomed to employ, found it impos- 
sible to extend their improvements, or even to carry on the works which 
they had already begun [1508]. In order to provide an immediate remedy 
for an evil so alarming, Ovando proposed to transport the inhabitants of the 
Lucayo islands to Hispaniola, under pretence that they might be civilized 
with more facility, and instructed to greater advantage in the Christian 
religion, if they^ were united to the Spanish colony, and placed under the 
immediate inspection of the missionaries settled there. Ferdinand, deceived 
by this artifice, or willing to connive at an act of violence which policy 
represented as necessary, gave his assent to the proposal. Several vessels 
were fitted out for the Lucayos, the commanders of which informed the 
natives, with whose language they were now well acquainted, that they 
came from a delicious country, in which the departed ancestors of the 
Indians resided, by whom they were sent to invite their descendants to resort 
thither, to partake of the bliss enjoyed there by happy spirits. That simple 
people listened with wonder and credulity ; and, fond of visiting their 
relations and friends in that happy region, followed the Spaniards with 
eagerness. By this artifice above forty thousand were decoyed into His- 
paniola, to share in the sufferings which were the lot of the inhabitants of 
that island, and to mingle their groans and tears with those of that wretched 
race of men.j 

The Spaniards had, for some time, carried on their operations in the 
mines of Hispaniola with such ardour as well as success, that these seemed 
to have engrossed their whole attention. The spirit of discovery lan- 
guished ; and, since the last voyage of Columbus, no enterprise of any 
moment had been undertaken. But as the decrease of the Indians rendered 
it impossible to acquire wealth in that island with the same rapidity as 
formerly., this urged some of the more adventurous Spaniards to search for 
new countries, where their avarice might be gratified with more facility. 

* Henera, dec. I. lib. x. c. 12. t Ibid. lib. vli. c. 3. Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 6. Gomara Hist. c. 41. 



AMERICA. 97 

Juan Ponce de Leon, who commanded under Ovando in the eastern district 
of Hispaniola, passed over to the island of St. Juan de Puerto Rico, which 
Columbus had discovered in his second voyage, and penetrated into the 
interior part of the country. As he found the soil to be fertile, and ex- 
pected, from some symptoms, as well as from the information of the 
inhabitants, to discover mines of gold in the mountains, Ovando permitted 
him to attempt making a settlement in the island. This was easily effected 
by an officer eminent for conduct no less than for courage. In a few years 
Puerto Rico was subjected to the Spanish government, the natives were 
reduced to servitude ; and being treated with the same inconsiderate rigour 
as their neighbours in Hispaniola, the race of original inhabitants, worn out 
with fatigue and sufferings, was soon exterminated.* 

About "the same time Juan Diazde Solis, in conjunction with Vincent Yanez 
Pinzon, one of Columbus's original companions, made a voyage to the conti- 
nent. They held the same couise which Columbus had taken as far as the 
island of Guanaios ; but, standing from thence to the west, they discovered 
a new and extensive province, afterwards known by the name of Y ucatan, 
and proceeded a considerable way along the coast of that country.! 
Though nothing memorable occurred in this voyage, it deserves notice, 
because it led to discoveries of greater importance- For the same reason 
the voyage of Sebastian de Ocampo must be mentioned. By the command 
of Ovando he sailed round Cuba, and first discovered with certainty, that 
this country, which Columbus once supposed to be a part of the continent, 
was a large island.^ 

This voyage round Cuba was one of the last occurrences under the admi 
nistration of Ovando. Ever since the death of Columbus, his son, Don 
Diego, had been employed in soliciting Ferdinand to grant him the offices 
of viceroy and admiral in the New World, together with all the other 
immunities and profits which descended to him by inheritance, in consequence 
of the original capitulation with his father. But if these dignities and_ 
revenues appeared so considerable to Ferdinand, that, at the expense of 
being deemed unjust as well as ungrateful, he had wrested them from 
Columbus, it was not surprising that he should be unwilling to conier them 
on his son. Accordingly Don Diego wasted two years in incessant but 
iruitless importunity. Weary of this, he endeavoured at length to obtain 
by a legal sentence what he could not procure from the favour of an inte- 
rested monarch. He commenced a suit against Ferdinand before the 
council which managed Indian affairs ; and that court, with integrity which 
reflects honour upon its proceedings, decided against the king, and sustained 
Don Diego's claim of the viceroyalty, together with all the other privileges 
stipulated in the capitulation. Even after this decree Ferdinand's repugnance 
to put a subject in possession of such extensive rights might have thrown 
m new obstacles, if Don Diego had not taken a step which interested very 
powerful persons in the success of his claims. The sentence of the 
council of the Indie:, gave him a title to a rank so elevated, and a fortune so 
opulent, that he found no difficulty in concluding a marriage with Donna 
Maria, daughter of Don Ferdinand de Toledo, great commendator of Leon, 
and brother of the duke of Alva, a nobleman of the first rank, and nearly 
related to the king. The duke and his family espoused so warnily the 
cause of their new ally, that Ferdinand could not resist tlieir solicitations 
[1509]. He recalled Ovando, and appointed Don Diego his successor, 
though even in conferring this favour he could not conceal his jealousy; 
lor he allowed him to assume only the title of governor, not that of viceroy, 
which had been adjudged to belong to him.§ 

Don Diego quickly repaired to Hispaniola, attended by his brother, his uncles, 

• Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vil. c. 1 — 4. Oomara Hist. c. 41. Relacion de B. do Ins Cas^s, p. 10. 
t Il)id. dec. J. Uh. vi. c. 17 J Ibid. lib. vii. =. I. 5 Ibid. dec. 1. lib. vii. c. 4, &.C. 

Vol. I.-13 



98 HISTORY OF (Book III. 

his wife, whom the courtesy of the Spaniards honoured with the title of vice- 
queen, and a numerous retinue of persons of both sexes born of good families. 
He lived with a splendour and ma^iiticence hitherto unknown in the New 
World ; and the tamily of Columbus seemed now to enjoy the honours and 
rewards due to his inventive genius, of which he himself had been cruelly de- 
frauded. The coloiw itself acquired new lustre by the accession of so many 
inhabitants, of a different rank and character from most of those who had 
hitherto migrated to America, and many of the most illristrious families in the 
Spanish setdements are descended from the persons who at that time accom- 
panied Don Diego Columbus.* 

No benefits accrued to the unhappy natives from this change of governors. 
Don Diego was not only authorized by a royal edict to continue the repar- 
timientos, or distribution of Indians, but the particular number which he 
might grant to every person, according to his rank in the colony, was spe- 
cified. He availed himself of that permission ; and soon after he landed at 
St. Domingo, he divided such Indians as were still unappropriated, among 
his relations and attendants.! 

The next care of the new governor was to comply with an instruction 
which he received from t)ie king, about settling a colony in Cubagua, a 
srnall island which Columbus had discovered in his third voyage. Though 
this barren spot hardly yielded subsistence to its wretched inhabitants, 
such quantities of those oysters which produce pearls were found on its 
coast, that it did not long escape the inquisitive avarice of the Spaniards, 
and became a place of considerable resort. Large fortunes Avere acquired 
b^ the fishery of pearls, which was carried on with extraordinary ardour. 
The Indians, especially those from the Lucayo islands, were compelled to 
dive for them ; and this dangerous and unhealthy employment was an addi- 
tional calamity which contributed not a little to the extinction of that 
devoted race.| 

About this period, Juan Diazde Solis and Pinzon set out, in conjunction, 
upon a second voyage. They stood directly south, towards the equinoctial 
line, which Pinzon had formerly crossed, and advanced as far as the fortieth 
degree of southern latitude. They were astonished to find that the conti- 
nent of America stretched on their right hand through all this vast extent of 
ocean. They landed in different piaces, to take possession in name of their 
sovereign ; but though the countiy appeared to be extremely fertile and 
inviting, their force was so small, having been fitted out rather lor discovery 
than making settlements, that they left no colony behind them. Their 
voyage served, however, to give the Spaniards more exalted and adequate 
ideas with respect to the dimensions of this new quarter of the globe. § 

Though it was about ten years since Columbus had discovered the main 
land of America, the Spaniards had hitherto made no settlement in any 
part of it. What had been so long neglected was now seriously attemptea, 
and with considerable vigour ; though the plan for this purpose was neither 
formed by the crown, nor executed at the expense of the nation, but carried 
on by the enterprising spirit of private adventurers. The scheme took its 
rise from Alonso de Ojeda, who had already made two voyages as a disco- 
verer, by which he acquired considerable reputation, but no wealth. But 
his character for intrepidity and conduct easily procured him associates, who 
advanced the money requisite to defray the changes of the expedition. 
About the same time, Diego de Nicuessa, who had acquired a large fortune 
in Hispaniola, formed a siinilar design. Ferdinand encouraged both ; and 
though he refused to advance the smallest sum, he was extremely liber-l of 
titles and patents. He erected two governments on the continent, onr ex- 
tending from Cape de Vela to the GulT of Darien, and the other from thit to 
Cape Gracias a Dios. The formerwas given to Ojeda, the latter to Nicuessa. 

• Oviedo. lib. iii. c I. t ReconiUcion de Leyea, lib. vi. tit. 8. 1. 1, 2. Horrer.i, rtcc. 1 lib. 

vli.c.io. I Herrera, dec. 1. lib. \Ti. c. •^. Gomar* Hi6L c. 7d ^ Ibi4. dec. 1. ub. vu.» 9. 



AMERICA. 99 

Ojeda fitted out a ship and two brigantines, with three hundred men, 
Nicuessa, six vessels, with seven hundred and eighty men. They sailed 
about the same time from St. Domingo for their respective governments. 
In order to give their title to those countries some appearance of validity, 
several of the most eminent divines and lawyers in Spain were employed to 
prescribe the mode in which they should take possession of them.* There 
IS not in the history of mankind any thing more singular or extravagant than 
the form which they devised for this purpose. They instructed those 
invaders, as soon as they landed on the continent, to declare to the natives 
the principal articles ot the Christian faith ; to acquaint them in parti- 
cular, with the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope over all the kingdoms of 
the earth ; to inform them of the grant which this holy pontiff had made of 
their country to the king of Spain ; to require them to embrace the doctrines 
of that religion which the Spaniards made known to them ; and to submit 
to the sovereign whose authority they proclaimed. If the natives retused to 
comply with this requisition, the terms of which must have been utterly 
incomprehensible to uninstructed Indians, then Ojeda and Nicuessa were 
authorized to attack them with fire and sword ; to reduce them, their 
wives and children, to a state of servitude ; and to compel them by force 
to recognise the jurisdiction of the church, and the authority of the monarch, 
to which they would not voluntarily subject themselves [23]. 

As the inhabitants of the continent could not at once yield assent to 
doctrines too refined for their uncultivated understandings, and explained to 
them by interpreters imperfectly acquainted with their language ; as they 
did not conceive how a foreign priest, of whom they had never heard, 
could have any right to dispose of their country, or how an unknown prince 
should claim jurisdiction over them as his subjects ; they fiercely opposed 
the new invaders of their territories. Ojeda and Nicuessa endeavoured 
to effect by force what they -could not accomplish by persuasion. The 
contemporary writers enter into a very minute detail in relating their 
transactions ; but as they made no discovery of importance, nor established 
any permanent settlement, their adventures are not entitled to any consi- 
derable place in the general history of a period where romantic valour, 
struggling with incredible hardships, distinguishes every effort of the 
Spanish arms. They found the natives in those countries of which they 
went to assume the government, to be of a character very different from thai 
of their countrymen in the islands. They were free and warlike. Tlieir 
arrows were dipped in a poison so noxious, that every wound was followed 
■\vith certain death. In one encounter they slew above seventy of Ojeda's 
followers, and the Spaniards, for the first time, were taught to dread the 
inhabitants of the New World. Nicuessa was opposed by people equally 
resolute in defence of their possessions. Notliing could soften their 
ferocity. Though the Spaniards employed every art to soothe them, and to 
gain their confidence, they refused to hold any intercourse, or to exchange 
any friendly othce, with men whose residence among them they considered 
as fatal to their liberty and independence [1510]. This implacable enmity 
of the natives, though it rendered an attempt to establish a settlement in 
their country extremely dilficult as well as dangerous, might have been 
surmounted at length by the perseverance of the Spaniards, by the supe- 
riority of their arms, ana their skill in the art of war. But every disaster 
which can be accumulated upon the unfortunate combined to complete their 
ruin. The loss of their ships by various accidents upon an unknown 
coast, the diseases peculiar to a climate the most noxious in all America, 
the want of provisions unavoidable in a country imperfectly cultivated, 
dissension among themselves, and the incessant hostilities of the natives, 
involved them in a succession of calamities, the bare recital of which strikes 

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. \'ii. c. 15. 



100 HISTORY OF (Book III. 

one with horror. Though they received two considerable reinforcements 
from Hispaniola, the greater part of those who had engaged in tliis unhappy 
expedition perished, in less than a year, in the most extreme misi.ry. A 
few who survived settled as a feeble colony at Santa Mari- el Antigua, on 
the Gulf of Darien, under the command of Vasco Nugnez de Balboa, who, 
in the most desperate exigencies, displayed such courage and conduct as 
first gained the confidence oi his countrymen, and marked him out as their 
leader in more splendid and successful undertakings. Nor w?s he the 
only adventurer in this expedition who will appear with lustre in more 
important scenes. Francisco Pizarro was one of Ojeda's companions, and 
in this school of adversity acquired or improved the talents wliich fitted him 
for the extraordinary actions which he afterwards p formod. Keman 
Cortes, whose name became still more famous, had likewise engaged early 
in this enterprise, which roused all the active youth of H'spaniola to arms ; 
but the good fortune that accompanied him in his subsequent adventures 
interposed to save him from the disasters to which his companions were 
exposed. He was taken ill at 3t. Domingo before the departure of the 
fleet, and detained there by a tedious indisposition.* 

Notwithstanding the unfortunate issue of this expedition, the Spaniards 
were not deterred from engaging in new schemes of a .similar nature. 
When wealth is acquired gradually'by the persevering hand of industry, or 
accumulated by the slow operations of regular commerce, the means 
employed are so proportioned to the end attained, that there is nothing to 
strike the imagination, and little to urge on the active powers of the mind 
to uncommon efforts. But when large fortunes were created almost 
instantaneously ; when gold and pcdfls were procurea in exchange for 
baubles ; when the countries which produced these rich commodities, 
defended only by naked savages, might be seized by the first bold invader ; 
objects so singular and alluring roused a wonderful spirit of enterprise 
among the Spaniards, who rushed with ardour into this new path that was 
opened to wealth and distinction. While this spirit continued warm -and 
vigorous, eveiy attempt either towards discovery or conquest was applauded, 
and adventurers engaged in it with emulation. The passion for new _,nder- 
takings, which characterizes the age of discovery in the latter part of the 
fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century, would alone have been 
sufficient to prevent the Spaniards from stopping short in their career. But 
circumstances peculiar to Hispaniola, at this juncture, concuiTed with it in 
extending their navigation and conquests. The rigorous treatment of the 
inhabitants of that island having almost extirpated the race, many of the 
Spanish planters, as I have already observed, finding it impossible to carry 
on their works with the same vigour and profit, were obliged to look out for 
settlements in some country where people were not yet wasted by op- 
pression. Others, with the inconsiderate levity natural to men upon whom 
wealth pours in with a sudden flow, had squandeiod in thoughtless prodigality 
what they acquired with ease, and were driven by necessity to embark in 
the most desperate schemes, in order to retrieve their affairs. From all 
these causes, when Don Diego Columbus proposed [l5ll] to conquer the 
island of Cuba, and to establish a colony there, many persons of chief 
distinction in Hispaniola engaged with alacrity in the measure. He gave 
the command of the troops destined for that service to Diego Velasquez, 
one of his father's companions in his second voyage, and who. having been 
long settled in Hispaniola, had acquired an ample fortune, with such repu- 
tation ibr probity and prudence, that he seemed to be well qualified for 
conducting an expedition of importance. Three hundred men were deemed 
sufficient Tor the conquest of an island of above seven hundred miles in 

» Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vii, c. 11, fcc. Goraara Hist. c. 57, 58, 59. Benzon. Hist. lib. i. c. 19— 33L 
P. Miirtyi\j decaJ. p. 122. 



AMERICA. 101 

length, and filled with inhabitants. But they were of the same unwarlike 
character with the people of Hispaniola. They were not only intimidated 
by the appearance of their new enemies, but unprepared to resist them. 
For though, from the time that the Spaniards took possession of the adjacent 
island, there was reason to expect a descent on their territories, none of 
the small communities into which Cuba was divided, had either made any 
provision for its own defence, or had formed any concert for their common 
safety. The only obstruction the Spaniards met with was from Hatuey, a 
cazique, who had tied from Hispaniola, and had taken possession of the 
eastern extremity of Cuba. He stood upon the defensive at their first 
landing, and endeavoured to drive them back to their ships. His feeble 
troops, however, were soon broken and dispersed ; and he himself being 
taken prisoner, Velasquez, according to the barbarous maxim of the 
Spaniards, considered him as a slave who had taken arms against his master, 
and condemned him to the flames. When Hatuey was fastened to the 
stake, a Franciscan friar, labouring to convert him, promised him imme- 
diate admittance into the joys of heaven, if he would embrace the Christian 
faith. " Are there any Spaniards," saj's he, after some pause, " in that 
region of bliss which you describe ?" — " Yes," replied the monk, " but 
only such as are worthy and good."—" The best of them," returned the 
indignant cazique, " have neither worth nor goodness : I will not go to a 
place where I may meet with one of that accursed race."* This dreadful 
example of vengeance struck the people of Cuba Avith such terror that they 
scarcely gave any opposition to the progress of their invaders ; and Velas- 
quez, without the loss of a man, annexed this extensive and fertile island to 
the Spanish monarchy.! 

The facility with which this important conquest was completed served 
as an incitement to other undertakings. Juan Ponce de Leon, having 
acquired both fame and wealth by the reduction of Puerto Rico, was 
impatient to engage in some new enterprise. He fitted out three ships at 
his own expense, lor a voyage of discovery [1512], and his reputation soon 
drew together a respectable body of followers. He directed his course 
towards the Lucayo islands ; and after touching at several of them, as well 
as of the Bahama isles, he stood to the south-west, and discovered a country 
hitherto unknown to the Spaniards, which he called Florida, either because 
he fell in with it on Palm Sunday, or on account of its gay and beautiiul 
appearance. He attempted to land in different places, but met with such 
vigorous opposition from the natives, who were fierce and warlike, as con- 
vinced him that an increase of force was requisite to effect a settlement. 
Satisfied with having opened a communication with a new country, of whose 
value and importance he conceived very sanguine hopes, he returned to 
Puerto Rico through the channel now known by the name of the Gulf of 
Florida. 

It was not merely the passion of searching for new countries that prompted 
Ponce de Leon to undertake this voyage ; he was influenced by one of 
those visionary ideas, which at that time often mingled with the spirit of 
discovery, and. rendered it more active. A tradition prevailed among the 
natives of Puerto Rico, that in the isle of Bimini, one of the Lucayos, there 
was a fountain of such wonderful virtue as to renew the youth and recall 
the vigour of every person who bathed in its salutary waters. In hopes of 
finding this grand, restorative. Ponce de Leon and his followers ranged 
through the islands, searching with fruitless solicitude and labour for the 
fountain which was the chief object of their expedition. That a tale so 
fabulous should gain credit among simple and uninstructed Indians is not 
surprising. That it should make any impression upon an enlightened people 
appears in the present age altogether incredible. The fact, however, is 

* B. de laa Cosas, p. 40. t Herrera, dec. I. lib. U. c. 2, 3, tec. Oviodo, lib. zvii. c 3. p. 170 



102 HISTORY OF [Book III. 

certain ; and the most authentic Spanish historians mention this extravagant 
saily of their credulous countrj'men. The Spaniards at that period were 
engaged in a career oi" activity which gave a romantic turn to their imae;ina- 
tion, and daily presented to them strange and marvellous oLjecls. A New 
World was opened to their view. They visited islands and continents, of 
whose existence mankind in former ages had no conception. In those 
delightiul countries nature seemed to assume another form : every tree and 
plant and animal was different from diose of the ancient hemisphere. They 
seemed to be transported into enchanted ground ; and after the wonders 
w hich they had seen, nothing, in the warmth and novelty of their admira- 
tion, appeared to them so extraordinary as to be beyond belief. If the 
rapid succession of new and striking scenes made such impression even 
upon the sound understanding of Columbus, that he boasted of having found 
the seat of Paradise, it will not appear strange that Ponce de Leon should 
dream of discovering the fountain of youth.* 

Soon after the expedition to Florida, a discovery of much greater import- 
ance was made in another part of America. Balboa having been raised 
to the government of the small colony at Santa Maria in Darien, by the 
voluntary suffrage of his associates, was so extremely desirous to obtain 
from the crown a confirmation of their election, that he despatched one of 
his officers to Spain, in order to solicit a royal commission, which might 
invest him with a legal title to the supreme command. Conscious, however, 
that he could not expect success from the patronage of Ferdinand's ministers, 
with whom he was unconnected, or from negotiating in a court to the arts 
of which he was a stranger, he endeavoured to merit the dignitj' to which 
he aspired, and aimed at performing some signal service that would secure 
him the prelerence to every competitor. Full of this idea, he made frequent 
inroads into the adjacent country, subdued several of the caziques, and 
collected a considerable quantity of gold, which abounded more in that 

Eart of the continent than in the islands. In one of those excursions, the 
paniards contended with such eagerness about the division of some gold, 
that they were at the point of proceeding to acts of violence against one 
another. A young cazique who was present, astonished at the high value 
which they set upon a thing of which he did not discern the use, tumbled 
the gold out of the balance with indignation ; and turning to the Spaniards, 
" Why do you quarrel (says he) about such a trifle ? If you are so passion- 
ately fond of gold, as to abandon your own country, and to disturb the 
tranquillity of distant nations for its sake, I will conduct you to a region 
where the metal which seems to be the chief object of your admiration and 
desire is so common that the meanest utensils are formed of it." Transported 
with what they heard, Balboa and his companions inquired eagerly 
where this happy country lay, and how they might arrive at it. He 
informed them that at the distance of six suns, that is, of six days' journey, 
towards the south, they should discover another ocean, near to which this 
•wealthy kingdom was situated ; but if they intended to attack that powerful 
state, they must assemble forces far superior in number and strength to those 
with which they now appeared.! 

This was the first information which the Spaniards received concerning 
the great southern ocean, or the opulent and extensive country known after- 
wards by the name of Peru. Balboa had now before him objects suited 
to his boundless ambition, and the enterprising ardour of his genius. He 
immediately concluded the ocean which the cazique mentioned, to be that 
for which Columbus had searched without success in this part of America, 
in hopes of opening a more direct communication with the East Indies ; and he 

• p. Martyr, decad. p. 202. Ensayo Chronol. para la Hist, de la Florida, par de Gab. Cardenas, 

p. 1. Oviedo, lib. xvi. c. 11. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ix. c. 5. Hist, de la Conq. de la Florida, par 

Garc. de la Vega, lib. 1. c. 3. t ilorrero, dec. 1. lib. ii. c, 2. Gomara, c. GO. P. Martyr, de<v. 
p. 149. 



AMERICA. 103 

jectured that the rich territoiy which had been described to him must be 
part of that vast and opulent region of the earth. Elated with the idea 
of performing what so great a man had attempted in vain, and eager to 
accomplish a discovery which he knew would be no less acceptable to the 
king than beneficial to his country, he was impatient until he could set out 
upon this enterprise, in comparison of which all his former exploits appeared 
/nconsiderable. But previous arrangement and preparation were requisite 
to ensure success. He began with courting and securing the friendship oi 
the neighbouring caziques. He sent some of his officers to Hispaniola with 
a larc:e quantity of gold, as a proof of his past success, and an earnest of 
his future hopes. By a proper distribution of this, they secured the favour 
of the governor, and allured volunteers into the service. A considerable 
reinforcement from that island joined him, and he thought himself in a con- 
dition to attempt the discovery. 

The isthmus of Darien is not above sixty miles in breadth ; but this neck 
of land which binds together the continents of North and South America, 
is strengthened by a chain of loftj' mountains stretching through its whole 
extent, which render it a barrier of solidity sutficient to resist the impulse 
of two opposite oceans. The mountains are covered with forests almost 
inaccessible. The valleys in that moist climate where it rains during two- 
thirds of the year, are marshy, and so frequently overflowed that the 
inhabitants find it necessary, in many places, to build their houses upon 
trees, in order to be elevated at some distance from the damp soil, and the 
odious reptiles engendered in the putrid waters.* Large rivers rush down 
with an impetuous current from the high grounds. In a region thinly 
mhabited by wandering savages, the hand of industry had done nothing to 
mitigate or correct those natural disadvantages. To march across this 
unexplored countrj" v/ith no other guides but Indians, whose fidelity could 
be little trusted, was, on all those accounts, the boldest enterprise on which 
the Spaniards had hitherto ventured in the New World. But the intrepidity 
of Balboa was such as distinguislied him among his countrymen, at a period 
wnen every adventurer was conspicuous for daring courage [1513]. Nor 
was bravery his only merit ; he was prudent in conduct, generous, affable, 
and possessed of those popular talents which, in the most desperate under- 
takings, inspire confidence and secure attachment. Even after the junction 
of the volunteers from Hispaniola, he was able to muster only a hundred 
and ninety men for his expedition. But they were hardy veterans, inured 
to the climate of America, and ready to follow him through every danger. 
A thousand Indians attended them to carry their provisions ; and, to com- 
plete their warlike array, they took with them several of those fierce dogs, 
which were no less formidable than destructive to their naked enemies. 

Balboa set out upon this important expedition on the first of September, 
about the time that the periodical rains began to abate. He proceeded 
by sea, and without any difficulty, to the territories of a cazique whose 
friendship he had gained ; but no sooner did he begin to advance into the 
interior part of the country, than he was retarded by every obstacle, which 
he had reason to apprehend, from the nature of the territory, or the dispo- 
sition of its inhabitants. Some of the caziques, at his approach, fled to the 
mountains with all their people, and carried off or destroyed whatever 
could afford subsistence to his troops. Others collected their subjects, in 
order to oppose his progress ; and he quickly perceived what an arduous 
undertaking it was to conduct such a body of men through hostile nations, 
across swamps, and rivers, and woods, which had never been passed but 
by straggling Indians. But by sharing in every hardship with the meanest 
soldier, by appearing the foremost to meet every danger, by promising 
confidently to his troops the enjoyment of honour and riches superior to 

• P. Martyr, dec. p. 15a 



10^4 HISTORY OF [Book III. 

what had been attained by the most successful of their countrymen, he 
inspired them with such enthusiastic resolution, that they followed him 
without murmuring. AV'hen they had penetrated a good way into ths 
mountains, a powerful cazique appeared in a narrow pass, with a numerous 
body of his subjects, lo obstruct their progress. But men who had sur- 
mounted so many obstacles, despised the opposition of such feeble enemies 
They attacked them with impetuosity, and, having dispersed them with 
much ease and great slaughter, continued their march. Though their 
guides had represented the breadth of the isthmus to be only a journey of 
six days, they had already spent twenty-tive in Ibrcing their way through 
the woods and mountains. Many of them were ready to sink under such 
uninterrupted fatigue in that sultiy climate, several were taken ill of the 
dysentery and other diseases frequent in that country, and all became 
impatient to reach the period of their labours and sufferings. At length 
the Indians assured them, that from the top of the next mountain they 
should discover the ocean which was the object of their wishes. When, 
with infinite toil, they had climbed up tlie greater part of that steep ascent, 
Balboa commanded his men to halt, and advanced alone to the summit, 
that he might be the tirst who should enjoy a spectacle which he had so 
long desired. As soon as he beheld the bouth Sea stretching in endless 

Erospect below him, he fell on his knees, and, lifting up his hands to 
eaven, returned thanks to God, who had conducted him to a discovery so 
beneficial to his country, and so honourable to himself. His followers, 
observing his transports of joy, rushed forward to join in his wonder, 
exultation, and gratitude. They held on their course to the shore with 
great alacrity, when Balboa, advancing uj) to the middle in the waves with 
his buckler and s^vord, took possession of that ocean in the name of the 
king his master, and vowed to defend it with these arms, against all his 
enemies.* 

That part of the great Pacific or Southern Ocean which Balboa first 
discovered, still retains the name of the Gulf of St. Michael, which he 
gave to it, and is situated to the east of Panama. From several of the 
petty princes, who governed in the districts adjacent to that gulf, he extorted 
provisions and gold by force of arms. Others sent them to him volun- 
tarily. To these acceptable presents, some of the caziques added a 
considerable quantity of pearls ; and he learned from them, with much 
satisfaction, that pearl oysters abounded in the sea which he had newly 
discovered. 

Together with the acquisition of this wealth, which served to soothe 
and encourage his followers, he received accounts which confirmed his 
sanguine hopes of future and more extensive benefits from the expedition. 
All the people on the coast of the South Sea concurred in informing him 
that there was a mighty and opulent kingdom situated at a considerable 
distance towards the south-east, tiie inhabitants of which had tame animals 
to carry their burdens. In order to give the Spaniards an idea of these, they 
drew upon the sand the figure of the llamas or sheep, afterwards ibund in 
Peru, which the Peruvians had taught to perform such services as they 
described. As the llama in its form nearly resembles a camel, a beast of 
burden deemed peculiar to Asia, this circumstance, in conjunction with the 
discovery of the pearls, another noted production of that country, tended to 
confirm the Spaniards in their mistaken theory with respect to the vicinity 
of the New World to the East Indies.j 

But though the information which Balboa received from the people on the 
coast, as well as his own conjectures and hopes, rendered him extremely 
impatient to visit this unknown country, his prudence restrained him from 

* Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. J, &c. Gomara, c. 62, &c. P. Martyr, dee. p. 205, &c. t IbidL 
dec. 1. lib. X. c. 3. 



AMERICA. 105 

attempting to invade it with a handful of men exhausted hj fatigue and 
weakened by diseases. [24] He determined to lead back his followers, at 
present, to their settlement of Santa Maria in Darien, and to return next 
season with a force more adequate to such an arduous enterprise. In order 
to acquire a more extensive knowledge of the isthmus, he marched back by 
a different route, which he found to be no less dangerous and difficult than 
that which he had formerly taken. But to men elated with success, and 
animated with hope, nothing is insurmountable. Balboa returned to Santa 
Maria [1514], from Avhich he had been absent four months, with greater 
^loiT and more treasure than the Spaniards had acquired in any expedition 
m the New World. None of Balboa's ofhcers distinguished themselves 
more in this service than Francisco Pizarro, or assisted with greater courage 
and ardour in opening a communication with those countries in which he 
was destined to act soon a more illustrious part.* 

Balboa's first care was to send information to Spain of the important dis- 
covery which he had made : and to demand a reinforcement of a thousand 
men, in order to attempt the conquest of that opulent country concerning 
which he had received such inviting intelligence. The first account of the 
discovery of the New World hardly occasioned greater joy than the unex- 
pected tidings that a passage was at last found to the great southern ocean. 
The communication with the East Indies, by a course to the westward of 
the line of demarcation drawn by the Pope, seemed now to be certain. 
The vast wealth which flowed into Portugal, from its settlements and 
conquests in that country, excited the envy and called forth the emulation 
of other states. Ferdinand hoped now to come in for a share in this lucra- 
tive commerce, and, in his eagerness to obtain it, was willing to make an 
effort beyond what Balboa required. But even in this exertion, his jealous 
policy, as well as the fatal antipathy of Fonseca, now Bishop of Burgos, to 
every man of merit who distinguished himself in the New World, was con- 
spicuous. Notwithstanding Balboa's recent services, which marked him 
out as the most proper person to finish that great undertaking which he had 
beg'.in, Ferdinand was so ungenerous as to overlook these, and to appoint 
Pedrarias Davila governor of Darien. He gave him the command of 
fifteen stout vessels and twelve hundred soldiers. These were fitted out 
at the public expense, with a liberality which Ferdinand had never dis- 
played in any former armament destined for the New World ; and such 
was the ardour of the Spanish gentlemen to follow a leader who was about 
to conduct them to a countiy where, as fame reported, they had only to 
throw their nets into the sea and draw out gold,! that fifteen hundred 
embarked on board the fleet, and, if they had not been restrained, a much 
greater number Avould have engaged in the service.| 

Pedrarias reached the Gulf of Darien without any remarkable accident, 
and immediately sent some of his principal officers ashore to inform Balboa 
of his arrival, with the king's commission to be governor of the colony. 
To their astonishment, they found Balboa, of whose great exploits they 
had heard so much, and of whose opulence they had formed such high ideas, 
clad in a canvass jacket, and wearing coarse hempen sandals used only by 
the meanest peasants, emplcrj'^ed, together with some Indians, in thatching 
his own hut with reeds. Even in this simple garb, which corresponded so 
ill with the expectations and wishes of his new guests, Balboa received 
them with dignity. The fame of his discoveries had drawn so many adven- 
turers from the islands, that he could now muster four hundred and fifty men. 
At the head of those daring veterans, he was more than a match for the 
forces which Pedrarias brought with him. But, though his troops mur- 
mured loudly at the injustice of the king in superseding their commander, 

• Hcrrcra, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 3—6. Goniara, c 04. P. Martyr, dec. p. 229, &c t Ibid. c. 14. 
t Ihid. c. 6, 7. P. Martyr, dec. p. 177. 29€. 

Vol. I.— 14 



106 H I S T R y F [Book III. 

and complained that strangers would now reap the fruits of their toil and 
succeds, Balboa submitted with implicit obedience to the will of his sove- 
reien, and received Pedrarias with all the deference due to his character.* 

Notwithstanding this moderation, to which Pedrarias owed the peaceable 
possession of his government, he appointed a judicial inquiry to be made 
into Balboa's conduct, while under the command of Nicuessa, and imposed 
a considerable fine upon him, on account of the irregularities of which he had 
then been guilty. Balboa felt sensibly the mortification of being subjected 
to trial and to punishment in a place where he had so lately occupied the farnt 
station. Pedrarias could not conceal his jealousy of his superior merit ; so 
that the resentment of the one and the envy of the other gave rise to dissen- 
sions extremely detrimental to the colony. It was threatened with a cala- 
mity still more fatal. Pedrarias had landed in Darien at a most unlucky time 
of tlie year [July], about the middle of the rainy season, m that part of the 
torrid zone where the clouds pour down r.uch torrents as are unknown in 
more temperate clima*es.t The village of Santa Maria was seated in a 
rich plain, environed with marshes and woods. The constitution of Euro- 
peans was unable to withstand the pestilential influence of such a situation, 
in a climate naturally so noxious, and at a season so peculiarly unhealthy. 
A violent and destructive malady carried off many of the soldiers who 
accompanied Pedrarias. An extreme scarcity of provision augmented this 
distress, as it rendered it impossible to find proper refreshment for the sick, 
or the necessary sustenance for the healthy. J In the space of a month, above 
six hundred persons perished in the utmost misery. Dejection and despair 
spread through the colony. Many principal persons solicited their dismis- 
sion, and were glad to relinquish all their hopes of wealth, in order to 
escape from that pernicious region. Pedrarias endeavoured to divert those who 
remained from brooding over their misfortunes, by finding them employnrient. 
With this view, he sent several detachments into the interior parts of the 
country, to levy gold among' the natives, and to search for the mines in 
which it was produced. Tnose rapacious adventurers, more attentive to 
present gain than to the means of facilitating their future progress, plun- 
dered without distinction wherever they marched. Regardless ot the 
alliances which Balboa had made with several of the caziques, they stripped 
them of every thing valuable, and treated them, as well as their subjects, 
witb the utmost insolence and c^uelt}^ By their tyranny and exactions, 
which Pedrarias, either from want of authority or inclination, did not restrain, 
all the country from the Gulf of Darien to the lake of Nicaragua was deso- 
lated, and the Spaniards were inconsiderately deprived of the advantages 
which they might have derived from the friendship of the natives, in extend- 
ing their conquests to the South Sea. Balboa, who saw with concern that 
such ill-judged proceedings retarded the execution of his favourite scheme, 
sent violent remonstrances to Spain against the imprudent government of 
Pedrarias, who had ruined a happy and flourishing colony. Pedrarias, 
on the other hand, accused him of having deceived the King, by magnifying 
his own exploits, as well as by a false representation of the opulence and 
value of the country.§ 

Ferdinand became sensible at length of his imprudence in superseding 
the most active and experienced officer he had in the New World, and, by 
way of compensation to Balboa, appointed him Adelantado, or Lieutenant- 
Governor of the countries upon the South Sea, with very extensive privi- 
leges and authority. At the same time he enjoined Pedrarias to support 
Balboa in all his operations, and to consult with him concerning every 
measure which he liimsclf pursued. [1315] But to effect such a sudden 

• Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 13, 14. t Richard, Hist. Namrelle de I'Air, torn. 1, p. 204. 

t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. 14. P. Martyr, decad. p. 272. ^ Ibid. dec. 1. lib. x. c. 15. dec. 2, 

e. 1, &C. Gomara, c. 66. P. Martyr, dec. 3. c. lU. Kelacion de B. de las Casas, p. 12. 



A M E R I C A. 107 

transition from inveterate enmity to perfect confidence, exceeded Ferdinand's 

{3ovver. Pedrarias continued to treat his rival willi neglect ; and Balboa's 
brtune being exhausted by the payment of his tine, and other exactions of 
Pedrarias, he could not niake suitable preparations for taking possession of 
his new government. At length, by the interposition and exhortations of the 
Bishop of Darien, they were brought to a reconciliation ; and, in order to 
cement this union more firmly, Pedrarias agreed to give his daughter in 
marriage to Balboa. [iSlfi.] The firet effect of their concord was, that 
Balboa was permitted to m:',ke several small incursions into the country. 
These he conducted with such prudence, as added to the reputation which 
he had already acquired. Many adventurers resorted to him, and, with 
the countenance and aid of Pedrarias, he began to prepare tor his expedi- 
tion to the South Sea. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary to 
build vessels capable of conveying his troops to those provinces which he 
purposed to invade. [1517.] After surmounting many obstacles, and 
enduring a variety of those hardships which were the portion of the con- 
querors of America, he at length finished four small brigantines. In these, 
with three hundred chosen men, a force superior to that with which Pizarro 
afterwards undertook the same expedition, he was ready to sail towards 
Peru, when he received an unexpected message from Pedrarias.* As his 
reconciliation with Balboa had never been cordial, the progress which his 
son-in-law was making revived his ancient enmity, and added to its rancour. 
He dreaded the prosperity and elevation of a man whom he had injured 
so deeply. He suspected that success would encourage him to aim at inde- 
pendence upon his jurisdiction ; and so violently did the passions of hatred, 
fear, and jealousy operate upon his mind, that, in order to gratify his 
vengeance, he scrupled not to defeat an enterprise of the greatest moment 
to his country. Under pretexts which were false, but plausible, he desired 
Balboa to postpone his voyage for a short time, and to repair to Ada, in 
order that he might have an interview with him. Balboa, with the unsus- 
picious confidence of a man conscious of no crime, instantly obeyed the 
suaimons; but as soon as he entered the place, he was arrested by order of 
Pedrarias, whose impatience to satiate his revenge did not suffer him to 
languish long in confinement. Judges were immediately appointed to pro- 
ceed to his trial. An accusation of disloyalty to the king, and of an intention 
to revolt against the governor was preferred against him. Sentence of death 
was pronounced; and though the judges who passed it, seconded by the 
whole colony, interceded warmly for his pardon, Pedrarias continued inex- 
orable ; and the Spaniards beheld, with astonishment and sorrow, the public 
execution of a man whom they universally deemed more capable than any 
one who had borne command in America, of forming and accomplishing 
great designs.! Upon his death, the expedition which he had planned was 
relinquished. Pedrarias, notwithstanding the violence and injustice of his 
proceedings, was not only screened from punishment by the powerful patron- 
age of the Bishop of Burgos and other courtiers, but continued in power. 
Soon after he obtained permission to remove the color)y from its unwhole- 
some station of Santa Maria to Paiiama, on the opposite side of the isthmus ; 
and though it did not gain much in point of healthfulness by the change, 
the commodious situation of this new settlement contributed greatly to 
facilitate the subsequent conquests of the Spaniards in the extensive countries 
situated upon the Southern Ocean.J 

During these transactions in Darien [1315], the history of which it was 
proper to carry on in an uninterrupted tenour, several important events 
occurred with respect to the discoveiy, the conquest, and government of 
other provinces in the New World. Ferdinand was so intent upon opening 

• Ucnera, dec 2. lib. i. c. 3. lib. ii. c. U. 13. 21, t Ibid. dec. 2. lib. il. c. 21, 22. t Ibid. Hb. 
Iv. 0. I. 



108 HISTORY OF [Book III. 

a communication with the Molucca or Spice Islands by the wcit, that in the 
year one thousand five hundred and fifteen he fitted out two ships at his own 
expense, in order to attempt such a voyage, and gave the comriiand of them 
to Juan Diaz de Solis, who was deemed one of the most skilful navigators 
in Spain. He stood along the coast of South America, £Uid on the first of 
January, one thousand five hundred and sixteen, entered a river which he 
called Janeiro, where an extensive commerce is now carried on. From 
thence he proceeded to a spacious bay, which he supposed to be the entrance 
into a strait that communicated with the Indian Ocean ; but, upon advancing 
further, he found it to be the mouth of Rio de Plata, one of the vast rivers 
by which the southern continent of America is watered. In endeavouring 
to make a descent in this country, De Solis and several of his crew were 
slain by the natives, who, in sight of the ships, cut their bodies in pieces, 
roasted and devoured them. Discouraged with the loss of their commander, 
and terrified at this shocking spectacle, the surviving Spaniards set sail for 
Europe, without aiming at any further discovery.* Though this attempt 
proved abortive, it was not without benefit. It turned the attention of 
ingenious men to this course of navigation, and prepared the way for a more 
fortunate voyage, by which, a few years posterior to this period, the gr«at 
design that Ferdinand had in view was accomplished. 

Though the Spaniards were thus actively employed in extending their 
discoveries and settlements in America, they still considered Hispaniola as 
their principal colony, and the seat of government. Don Diego Columbus 
wanted neither inclination nor abilities to have rendered the members of this 
colony, who were most immediately under his jurisdiction, prosperous and 
happy. But he was circumscribed in all his operations by the suspicious 
policy of Ferdinand, who on every occasion, and under pretexts the most 
frivolous, retrenched his privileges, and encouraged the treasurer, the judges, 
and other subordinate ofiicers to counteract his measures, and to dispute his 
authority. The most valuable prerogative which the governor possessed 
was that of distributing Indians amons; the Spaniards settled in the island. 
The rigorous servitude of those unhappy men having been but little mitigated 
by all the regulations in their favour, the power of parcelling out such 
necessary instruments of labour at pleasure, secured to the governor great 
influence in the colony. In order to strip him of this, Ferdin-^.nd created 
a new office, with the power of distributing the Indians, and bestowed it 
upon Rodrigo Albuquerque, a relation of Zapata, his confidential minister. 
^lortified with the injustice as well as indignity of this invasion upon his 
rights, in a point so essential, Don Diego could no longer remain in a place 
where his power and consequence were almost annihilated. He repaired 
to Spain with the vain hopes of obtaining redress.f Albuquerque entered 
upon his office with all the rapacity of an" indigent adventurer impatient to 
amass wealth. He began with taking the exact number of Indians in the 
island, and found that from sixty thousand, who in the year one thousand 
five hundred and eight survived at'ter all their sufferings, they were now 
reduced to fourteen thousand. These he threw into separate divisions or 
lots, and bestowed them upon such as were willing to purchase them at the 
highest price. By this arbitrary distribution several of the natives were 
removed trom their original habitations, many were taken from their ancient 
masters, and all of them subjected to heavier burdens, and to more intolerable 
labour, in order to reimburse their new proprietors. — Those additional 
calamities completed the misery, and hastened on tlie extinction of this 
wretched and innocent race of men.| 

The violence of these proceedings, together with the fatal consequences 
which attended them, not only excited complaints among such as thought 

• Henera, dec. 2. lib. i c. 7. P. Martyr, dec. p. 317. t H^'d- dec. 1. lib. U. c. 5. lib. x. c 1& 
} Ibid. dtc. 1. lib. x. c. 12. 



AMERICA. 109 

themselves aggrieved, but touched the hearts of all who retained any 
sentiments of humanity. From the time that ecclesiastics were sent as 
instructors into America, they perceived that the rigour with which their 
countrymen treated the natives, rendered their ministiy altogether fruitless. 
The missionaries, in conformity to the mild spirit of that religion which 
they were employed to publish, eaily remonstrated against the maxims of 
the planters with respect to the Americans, and condemned the repartimi- 
entos, or distributions, by which they were given up as slaves to their 
conqueroi-s, as no less contraiy to natural ju?tice and the precepts of 
Christianity than to sound policy. The Dom.inicans,toAvhom the instruction 
of the Americans was originally committed, were most vehement in testi- 
fying against the repartimientos. In the year one thousand live hundred 
and eleven, Montesino,one of their most eminent preachers, inveighed against 
this practice, in the great church of St. Domingo, with all the impetuosity 
of popular eloquence. Don Diego Columbus, the principal ofPcers of the 
colony, and all the laymen who had been his hearers, complained of the 
monk to his superiors ; but they, instead of condemr^ng, applauded his 
doctrine as equally pious and seasonable. The Franciscano, influenced by 
the spirit of opposition and rivalship which subsists between the two orders, 
discovered some inclination to take part with the laity, and to espouse ''le 
defence of the repartimievtos. But as they could not with decency give 
their avowed approbation to a system of oppression so repugnant to the 
spirit of religion, they endeavoured to palliate what they could not justify, 
and alleged, in excuse for the conduct of their countrymen, that it was 
impossible to carry on any improvement in the colony, unless the Spaniards 
possessed such dominion over the natives that they could compel them to 
labour.* 

The Dominicans, regardless of such political and interested considerations, 
would not relax in any degree the rigcr of their sent'ments, and even 
refused to absolve, or admit to the sacrament, such of their countrymen as 
continued to hold the natives in servitude.! Both parties applied to the 
king for his decision in a matter of such importance. Ferdinand empowered 
a committee of his privy council, asslstad by some of the most eminent 
civilians anu divines in Snain, to heai- the deputies sent from Hispaniola in 
support of \hmr respective opinions. After a long discussion, the spc culative 

rioint in controversy was determined in favour of the Dominicans, the 
ndians were declared to be a free people entitled to all the natural rights 
of men ; but notwithstanding this decision, the repartimientoc were continued 
■jpon their ancient footing.J As this defarmination admitted ttie principle 
upon which the Dominicans founded their opinion, they renewed their efforts 
to obtain relief for the Indians with additional boldness and zeal. At 
length, in order to quiet the colony, which was alarmed by their remon- 
strances and censures, Ferdinand issued a decree of his privy council [1513], 
declaring, that after mature consiaeration of the Apostolic Bull, and other 
titles by which the crown of Castile claimed a right to its possessions in the 
New World, the servitude of the Indians was wan-anted both by the laws 
of God and of man ; that unless they were subjected to the dominion of 
the Spaniards, and compelled to reside under their inspection, it would be 
impossible to reclaim them from idolatry, or to instruct them in the principles 
of the Christian faith ; that no further scruple ought to be entertained con- 
cerning the lawfulness of the repartimientos, as the king and council were 
willing to take the charge of that upon their own consciences ; and that 
therefore the Dominicans and monks of other religious orders should abstain 
for the future from those invectives which, from an excess of charitable but 
U-informed zeal, they had uttered against that practice. § 
That his intention of adhering to this decree might be fully understood, 

♦ Herrera, dec. 1. lib. viii. c. 11. Oviedo, lib. iii. c. 6. p. 97. j Oviedo, lib. iii c. 6. p. 07. 

} Hcrrura, dee. 1. lib. viii. c. 13. lib. ii. c. 5 ^ Ibid. dec. 1. lib. ix. c. 14. 



no HISTORY OF [Book III. 

Ferdinand conferred new grants of Indians upon several of bis courtiers [25]. 
But, in order that he might not seem altogether inattentive to the rights of 
humanity, he published an edict, in which he endeavoured to provide for 
the mild treatment of the Indians under the yoke to which he subjected 
them ; he regulated the nature of the work which they should be required 
to perform ; he prescribed the mode in which they should be clothed and 
fed, and gave directions with respect to their instructions in the principles of 
Christianity.* 

But the Dominicans, who from their experience of what was past judged 
concerning the future, soon perceived the inefficacy of those provisions, and 
foretold, tliat as long as it was the interest of individuals to treat the Indians 
with rigour, no public regulations could render their servitude mild or 
tolerable. They considered it as vain, to waste their own time and strength 
in attempting to communicate the sublime truths of religion to men whose 
spirits were broken and tiieir faculties impaired by oppression. Some ol 
them in despair, requested the permission of their superiors to remove to 
the continent, and to pursue the object of their mission among such of the 
natives as were not hitherto corrupted bj the example of the Spaniards, or 
alienated by their cruelty from the Christian faith. Such as remained in 
Hispaniola continued to remonstrate, with decent firmness, against the ser- 
vitude of the Indians.! 

The violent operations ot Albuquerque, the new distributor of Indians, 
.revived the zeal of the Dominicans against the repnrtimientos, and called 
forth an advocate for that oppressed people, who possessed all the courage, 
the talents, and activity requisite in supporting such a desperate cause. 
This was Bartholomew de las Casas, a native of Seville, and one of the 
clergymen sent out with Columbus in his second voyage to Hispaniola, in 
order to settle in that island. He early adopted the opinion prevalent 
among ecclesiastics, with respect to the unlawfulness of reducing the 
natives to servitude ; and that he might demonstrate the sincerity of his 
conviction, he relinquished all the Indians who had fallen to his own share 
in the division of the inhabitants among their conquerors, declaring that he 
should ever bewail his own misfortune and guilt, in having exercised for a 
moment this impious dominion over his fellow-creatures.| From that time 
he became the avowed patron of the Indians ; and by his bold interpositions 
in their behalf, as well as by the respect due to his abilities and character, 
he had often the merit of setting some bounds to the excesses of his coun- 
trj'men. He did not fail to remonstrate warmly against the proceedings 
01 Albuquerque ; and though he soon found that attention to his own 
interest rendered this rapacious officer deaf to admonition, he did not aban- 
don the wretched people whose cause he had espoub^d. He instantly- 
set out for Spain, with the most sanguine hopes of opening the eyes and 
softening the heart of Ferdinand, by that striking picture of the oppression 
of his new subjects which he would exhibit to his view.§ 

He easily obtained admittance to the King, whom he found in a declining' 
state of health. With much freedom, and no less eloquence, he repre- 
sented to him all the fatal effects of the repartiinientos in the New World, 
boldly charging him with the guilt of having authorized this impious 
measure, which had brought misery and destruction upon a numerous and 
innocent race of men, whom Providence had placed under his protection. 
Ferdinand, whose mind as well as body was much enfeebled by his dis- 
temper, was greatly alarmed at this charge of impiety, which at another 
juncture he would have despised. He listened with deep compunction to 
the discourse of Las Casas, and promised to take into serious consideration 

* Herrera, dpc. 1. lib. ix. c. 14. t Id. ibid. Touron. Histoire Gin^rale de rAm^rique, torn. 1 

p. 252. % Fr. Aug. Davila Padilla Hist, de la Fiind.icioii de la Provincia de St. Jago de Mexico, 

p 303, 304. Herrera, doc. I. lib. x. c. 12. ij HerrPra, dec. 1. lib. .x. c. 12. Dec. 2. lib. i. c. IL 

Oavila Padilla Hisi. p. 304. 



AMERICA. Ui 

the means of redressing? the evil of which he complained. But death pre- 
vented him from executing his resolution. Charles of Austria, to whom all 
his crowns devolved, resided at that time in his paternal dominions in the 
Low Countiies. Las Casas, with his usual ardour, prepared immediately 
to set out for Flanders, in order to occupy the ear of the young monarch, 
when Cardinal Ximenes, who, as regent, assumed the reins of government 
in Castile, commanded him to desist from the journey, and engaged to bear 
his complaints in person. 

He accordingly weighed the matter with attention equal to its importance ; 
and as his impetuous mind delighted in schemes bold and uncommon, be soon 
fixed upon a plan which astonished the ministers trained up under the formal 
and cautious administration of Ferdinand. Withoutregardingeitherthe rights 
of Don Diego Columbus, or the regulations established by the late King, he 
resolved to send thiee persons to America as superintendents of all the colonies 
there, with authority, after examining all circumstances on the spot, to decide 
finally with respect to the point in question. It was a matter of delibera- 
tion and delicacy to choose men qualified for such an important station. 
As all the laymen settled in America, or who had been consulted in the 
administration of that department, had given their opinion that the Spaniards 
could not keep possession of iheir new settlements, unless they were allowed 
to retain their dominion over the Indians, he saw that he could not rely on 
their impartiality, and determined to commit the trust to ecclesiastics. As 
the Dominicans and Franciscans had already espoused opposite sides in the 
controversy, he, from the same principle of impartiality, excluded both these 
fraternities from the commission. He confined his choice to the monks of 
St. Jerome, a small but respectable order in Spain. With the assistance of 
their general, and in concert with Las Casas, he soon pitched upon three 
persons whom he deemed equal to the charge. To them he joined Zuazo, 
a private lawyer of distinguished probity, with unbounded power to regu- 
late all judicial proceedings in the colonies. Las Casas was appointed to 
accompany them, with the title of protector of the Indians.* 

To vest such extraordinary powers, as might at once overturn the system 
of government established m the New Woild, in four persons, who, from 
their humble condition in life, were little entitled to possess this high autho- 
rity, appeared to Zapata, and other ministers of the late king, a measure so 
wild and dangerous, that they refused to issue the despatches necessary for 
canying it into execution. But Ximenes was not of a temper patiently to 
brook opposition to any of bis schemes. He sent for the refractory mmis- 
ters, and addressed them in such a tone that in the utmost consternation they 
obeyed his orders. f The superintendents, with their associate Zuazo and 
Las Casas, sailed for St. Domingo. Upon their arrival, the first act of their 
authority was to set at liberty all the India.ns who had been granted to the 
Spanish courtiers, or to any person not residing in America. This, together 
with the intormation which had been received from Spain concerning the 
object of the commission, spread a general alarm. The colonists concluded 
that they were to be deprived at once of the hands with which they 
carried on their labour, and that, of consequence, ruin was unavoidable. 
But the fathers of St. Jerome proceeded with such caution and prudence as 
soon dissipated all their fears. They discovered, in every step of their 
conduct, a knowledge of the world, and of affairs, which is seldom acquired 
in a cloister ; and displayed a moderation as well as gentleness still ntore 
rare among persons trained up in the solitude and austerity of a monastic 
life. Their ears were open to information from every quarter ; they com- 
pared the different accounts which they received ; and, after a mature 
consideration of the whole, they were fully satisfied that the state of the 
colony rendered it impossible to adopt the plan proposed by Las Casas, 

• Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. e. 3. t IMd. dec. 2. lib. li. c. 6. 



112 HISTORY OF [Book III. 

and recommended by the Cardinal. They plainly perceived that the Spaniards 
settled in America were so few in number, that they could neither work the 
mines which had been opened, nor cultivate the country; that they depended 
for effecting both upon the labour of the natives, and, if deprived of it, they 
must instantly relinquish their conquests, or give up all the advantages which 
they derived from them ; that no allurement was so powerful as to surmount 
the natural aversion of the Indians to any laborious effort, and that nothing 
but the auttiority of a master could compel them to work ; and if they were 
not kep^ constantly under the eye and discipline of a superior, so great was 
their natural listlessness and .ndifference, that they would neither attend to 
religious instruction, nor observe those rites of Christianity which they had 
been already taught. Upon all those accounts, the superintendents found 
it necessary to tolerate the repartiinientoc, and to suffer the Indians to remain 
under subjection to their Spanish masters. They used their utmost endea- 
vours, however, to prevent the fatal effects of this establishment, and to 
secure to the Indians the consolation of the best treatment compatible with 
a state of servitude. For this purpose, they revived former regulations, 
they prescribed new ones, they neglected no circumstance that tended to 
mitigate the rigour of the yoke ; and by their authority, their example, and 
their exhortations, they laboured to inspire their countiymen with sentiments 
of equity and gentleness towards the unhappy people upon whose industry 
they depended. Zuazo, in his department, seconded the endeavours of the 
superintendents. He reformed the courts of justice in such a manner as to 
render their decisions equitable as well as expeditious, and introduced 
various regulations which greatly improved the interior policy of the colony. 
The satisfaction which his conduct and that of the superintendents gave 
was now universal amon^ the Spaniards fnttled in the New World ; and all 
admired the boldness of Ximenes in having departed from the ordinary 
path of business in forming his plan, as well is his sagacity in pitching upon 
persons whose wisdoin, moderation, and disinterestedness rendered them 
worthy of this high trust.* 

Las Casas alone was dissatisfied. The prudential consideration which 
influenced the superintendents made no impression upon him. He regarded 
tlieir idea of accommodating their conduct to the state of the colony, as the 
maxim of an unhallowed tinud policy, which tolerated what was unjust 
because it was beneficial. He contended that the Inuians were by nature 
free, and, as their protector, he required the superintendents not to bereave 
them of the common privilege of humanity. T.iey received his most Virulent 
remonstrances without emotion, but adhered firmly to their o\*'n system. 
The Spanish planters did not bear with him so patiently, and were ready 
to tear him in pieces for insisting in a requisition so odious to them. Las 
Casas, in order to screen himself Troia their rage, found it necessary to take 
shelter in a convent ; and perceiving that all his efforts in America were 
fruitless, he soon set out for Europe, with a fixed resolution not^to abandon 
the prot^eciion of a people whom he deemed to be cruelly oj- pressed.! 

Had Ximenes retained that vigour of mind with which he usually applied 
to business, Las Casas must have met with no very gracious reception upon 
his return to Spain. But he found the Cardinal languishing under a mortal 
distemper, and preparing to resign his authority to the young king, who was 
daily expected from the Low Countries. Charles arrived, took possession 
of the government, and, by the deatli of Ximenes, lost a minister whose 
abilities and integrity entitled him to direct his affairs. Many of the Flemish 
nobility had accompanied their sovereign to Spain. From that warm pre- 
dilection to his countiymen, which was natural at his age, he consulted them 
with respect to all the transactions in his new kingdom ; and they, with 

♦ Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 15. Remcsal, HUt. Gener. lib. ii. e. 14, 15, 16. t Ibid dec. 2 libi 
ti. c. 16. 



AMERICA. 113 

an indiscreet eagerness, intruded tiiemselves into eveiy business, and seized 
almost every department of administration.* The direction of American 
aflfairs was an object too alluring to escape their attention. Las Casas 
observed their growing influence ; and though projectors are usually too 
sarguine to conduct their schemes with much dexterity, he possessed a 
bustling, indefatigable activity, which sometimes accomplishes its purposes 
with greater success than the most exquisite discernment and address. He 
courted the Flemish ministers with assiduity. He represented to them the 
absurdity of all the maxims hitherto adopted with respect to the govern 
ment of America, particularly during the administration of Ferdinand, and 
pointed out the defects of those arrangements which Ximenes had in- 
troduced. The memory of Ferdinand was odious to the Flemings. The 
superior virtues and abilities of Ximenes had long been the object of their 
envy. They fondly wished to have a plausible pretext for condemning the 
measures both of the monarch and of the minister, and of reflecting some 
discredit on their political wisdom. The friends of Don Diego Columbus, 
as well as the Spanish courtiers who had been dissatisfied with the Cardi- 
nal's administration, joined Las Casas in censuring the scheme of sending 
superintendents to America. This union of so many interests and passions 
was irresistible,; and inconsequence of it the fathers of St. Jerome, together 
with their associate Zuazo, were recalled. Roderigo de Figueroa, a 
lawyer of some eminence, was appointed chief judge of the island, and 
received instructions, in compliance with the request of Las Casas, to 
examine once more, with the utmost attention, the point in controversy 
between him and the people of the colony, with respect to the treatment 
of the natives ; and in the mean time to do every thing in his power to 
alleviate their sufferings, and prevent the extinction of the race.f 

This was all that the zeal of Las Casas could procure at that juncture in 
favour of the Indians. The impossibility of carrying on any improvements 
in America, unless the Spanish planters could command the labour of the 
natives, was an insuperable objection to his plan of treating them as free 
subjects. In order to provide some remedy for this, without which he 
found it was in vain to mention his scheme, Las Casas proposed to purchase 
a sufficient number of negroes from the Portuguese settlements on the coast 
of Africa, and to transport them to America, in order that they might be 
employed as slaves in working the mines and cultivating the ground. One 
of the first advantages which the Portuguese had derived from their disco- 
veries in Africa arose from the trade in slaves. Various circumstances 
concurred in reviving this odious commerce, which had been long abolished 
in Europe, and which is no less repugnant to the feelings of humanity than 
to the principles of religion. As early as the year one thousand five hundred 
and three, a few negro slaves had been sent into the New World. J In the 
year one thousand nve hundred and eleven, Ferdinand permitted the impor- 
tation of them in greater numbers.^ They were found to be a more robust 
and hardy race than the natives of America. They were more capable of 
enduring fatigue, more patient under servitude, and the labour of one negro 
was computed to be equal to that of four Indians.il Cardinal Ximenes, 
however, when sohcited to encourage this commerce, peremjitorily rejected 
the proposition, because he perceived the iniquity of^ reducing one race of 
men to slavery, while he was consulting about the means of restoring liberty 
to another.ll But Las Casas, from the inconsistency natural to men who 
hurry with headlong impetuosity towards a favourite point, was incapable 
of making this distinction. While he contended earnestly for the liberty of 
the people bom in one quarter of the globe, he laboured to enslave the 

• History of Charles V. t Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. IG. 19. 21. lib. iii. c. 7, 8. 

$ r>id. dec. 1. lib. v. c. 12. « Ibid. lib. vlli. c. 9. I Ibid. lib. ix. c 5. IT Ibid. dec. 2. lib. 
U C.8. 

Vol. I.-15 7 



114 H I S T O K Y F [Book lit 

inhabitants ot" anoclier region ; and in the warmth of his zeal to save the 
Americans irom the yoke, pronounced it to be lawful and expedient to impose 
one still heavier upon the \fricans. Unfortunately for the latter. Las Casas'a 
plan was adopted. Ch; rles granted a patent to one of his Flemish favour- 
ites, containing an exclusive right of importing four thousand negroes into 
America. The favourit'" sold his patent to some Genoese merchants tor 
twenty-five thousand ducats, and they were the first who brought into a 
regular form that commerce ibr slaves between Africa and America, which 
has since been carried on to such an amazing extent.* 

But the Genoese merchants [1518], conducting their operations, at first, 
with the rapacity of monopolists, demanded such a high price for negroes, 
that the number imported into Hispaniola made no great change upon the 
state of the colony. Las Casas, whose zeal was no less inventive than inde- 
fatigable, had recourse to another expedient for the relief of the Indians 
He observed, that most of the persons who had settled hitherto in America, 
were sailors and soldiers employed in the discovery or conquest cf the 
countiy ; the younger sons of noble families, allured by the prospect of 
acquiring sudden wealth ; or desperate adventurers, whom their indigence 
or crimes forced to abandon their native land. Instead of such men, who 
were dissolute, rapacious, and incapable of that sober persevering induc.ry 
which is requisite in forming new colonies, he proposed to supply the set- 
tlements in Hispaniola and other parts of the New World with a sufficient 
number of labourers and husbandmen, who should be allured by suitabloi 
premitims to remove thither. These, as they were accustomed to fatigue, 
would be able to perform the work to which the Indians, from the feebleness 
of their constitution, were unequal, and might soon become useful and 
oj^ulent citizens. But though Hispaniola stood much in need of a recruit 
ot inhabitants, having been visited at this time with the small-pox, which 
swept off almost all the natives who had survived their long continued op- 
pression ; and though Las Casas had the countenance of the Flemish 
ministers, this scheme was defeated by the bishop of Burgos, who thwarted 
all his projects.! 

Las Casas now despaired of procuring any relief for the Indians in those 
places where the Spaniards were already settled. The evil was become 
so inveterate there as not to admit of a cure. But such discoveries were 
daily making in the continent as gave a high idea botli ot its extent and 
populousness. In all those vast regions there was but one feeble colony 
planted ; and except a small spot on the isthmus of Darien, the natives still 
occupied the whole country. This opened a new and more ample field for 
the humanity and zeal of Las Casas, who flattered himself that he might 
prevent a pernicious system from being introduced there, though he had 
tailed of success in his attempts to overturn it where it was already esta- 
blished. Full of this idea, he applied for a grant of the unoccupied country 
stretching along the seacoast from the Gulf of Paria to the western frontier 
of that province now known by the name of Santa Martha. He proposed 
to settle there with a colony composed of husbandmen, labourers, and 
ecclesiastics. He engaged in the space of two years to civilize ten thousand 
<9f the natives, and to instruct them so thoroughly in the arts of social life, 
that from the t'ruits of their industry an annual revenue of fii'teen thousand 
ducats should arise to the king. In ten years ho expected that his improve- 
ments \vould be so far advanced as to yield annually sixty thousand ducats. 
He stipulated, that no soldier or sailor should ever be permitted to settle 
in this district ; and that no Spaniard whatever should enter it without his 
permission. He even projected to clothe the people whom he took along 
with him in some distinguishing garb, which did not resemble the Spanish 
dress, that they might appear to the natives to be a different race of men 

• Hurrera dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 30. t I^'J- *!««■ 2. lib. ii. c. 21. 



AMERICA. im 

IVom those who had brought so many calamities upon their country.* From 
this scheme, of which I have traced only the great lines, it is manifest that 
Las Casas had formed ideas concerning the method of treating (he Indians, 
similar to those by which the Jesuits afterwards carried on their great 
operations in another part of the same continent. He supposed that the 
Europeans, by availing themselves of that ascendant which they possessed 
in consequence of their superior progress in science and improvement, might 
gradually form the minds of the Americans to relish those comforts of which 
the/ were destitute, might train them to the arts of civil life, and render them 
capable of its functions. 

But to the bishop of Burgos, and the council of the Indies, this project, 
appeared not only chimerical, but dangerous in a high degree. They deemed 
the faculties of the Americans to be naturally so limited, and their indolence 
so excessive, that every attempt to instruct or to improve them would be 
fruitless. They contended, that it would be extremely imprudent to give 
the command of a country extending above a thousand miles along the coast 
to a fanciful presumptuous enthusiast, a stranger to the affairs of the world, 
and unacquainted with the arts of Government. Las Casas, far from being 
discouraged with a repulse, which he had reason to expect, had recourse 
once more to the Flemish favourites, who zealously patronized his scheme 
merely because it had been rejected by the Spanish ministers. They pre- 
vailed with their master, who had lately been raised to the Imperial 
dignity, to refer the consideration of this measure to a select number of his 
privy counsellors ; and Las Casas having- excepted against the members ot 
the council of the Indies, as partial and interested, they were all excluded. 
The decision of men chosen by recommendation of the Flemings was 
perfectly conformable to their sentiments. They warmly approved of Las 
Casas's plan, and gave orders for carrying it into execution, but restricted 
the territory allotted him to three hundred miles along (he coast of Cumana • 
allowing him, however, to extend it as far as he pleased towards the interior 
part of the country.! 

This determination did not pass uncensured. Almost every person who 
had been in the West Indies exclaimed against it, and supported their 
opinion so confidently, and with such plausible reasons, as made it advisable 
to pause and to review the subject more deliberately. Charles himself, 
thouo;h accustomed, at this early period of his life, to adopt the sentiments 
of his ministers with such submissive deference as did not promise that 
decisive vigoui of mind which distinguished his riper years, could not help 
suspecting that the eagerness with which the Flemings tr'>k part in every 
affair relating to America flowed from some improper motive, and began to 
discover an inclination to examine in person into the state of the question 
concerning the character of the Americans, and the proper manner of 
treating them. An opportunity of making this inquiry with great advantage 
soon occurred [June 20]. Quevedo, the bishop of Darien, who had accom- 
panied Pedrarias to the continent in the year one thousand five hundred 
and thirteen, happened to land at Barcelona, where the court then resided. 
It was quickly known that his sentiments concerning the talents and dis- 
position of the Indians diffisred from those of Las Casas : and Charles 
naturally concluded that by confronting two respectable persons, ^vho, 
during their residence in America, had full leisure to observe the manners 
of the people whom they pretended to describe, he might be able to 
discover which of them had formed his opinion with tlie greatest discern- 
ment and accuracy. 

A day for this solemn audience was appointed. The emperor appeared 
with extiaordinary pomp, and took his seat on a throne in the great hall of 

* Herrera, dec. 2. lib. iv. c. 2. t Gomata HiHt. Gcner. e. 77. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. Iv c. a 

Oviedo, lib. xix. c. 5. 



116 HISTORY OF LBookIII. 

the palace. His principal courtiers attended. Don Diego Columbus, 
admiral of the Indies, was summoned to be present. The bishop of Darien 
was called upon first to deliver his opinion. He, in a short discourse, 
lamented the fatal desolation of America hj the extinction of so many of 
its inhabitants ; he acknowledged that this must be imputed, in some 
degree, to the extensive rigour and inconsiderate proceedings of the 
Spaniards ; but declai-ed that all the people of the New World whom he 
had seen, either in the continent or in the islands, appeared to him to be a 
race of men marked out, by the inferiority of their talents, for servitude, 
and whom it would be impossible to instruct or improve, unless they were 
kept under the continual inspection of a master. Las Casas, at greater 
length and with more fervour, defended his own system. He rejected with 
indignation the idea that any race of men was born to servitude as irreligious 
and inhuman. He asserted that the faculties of the Americans were not 
naturally despicable, but unimproved ; that they were capable of receiving- 
instruction in the principles of religion, as well as of acquiring the industry 
and arts which would quality them for the various oifices of social life ; 
that the mildness and timidity of their nature r'^ndered them so submissive 
and docile, that they might be led and formed with a gentle hand. He 
professed that his intentions in proposing the scheme now under considera 
tion were pure and disinterested ; and though from the accomplishment of 
his designs inestimable benefits would result to the crown of Castile, he 
never had claimed, nor ever would receive, any recompense on that 
account. 

Charles, after hearing both, and consulting with his ministers, did not 
think himself sufficiently inform-ed to establish any general arrangement 
with respect to the state of the Indians ; hvl "s he had perfect confidence in 
the integrity of Las Casas, and as even the bishop of Darien admitted h«s 
scheme to be of such importance that a trial should be made of its effects, 
he issued a patent [152:2], granting him the district of Cumana formerly 
mentioned, with full power to establish a colony there according to his 
own plan.* 

Las Casas pushed on the preparations for his voyage with his usual 
ardour. But, either from his own inexperience in the conduct of atlairs, 
or from the secret opposition of the bpanish nobility, who universally 
dread'^'d the success of an institution that might rob them of the industrious 
and useful hands which cultivated their estates, his progress in engaging 
husbandmen and labourers was extremely slow, and he could not prevail 
on more than two hundred to accompany him to Cumana. 

Nothing, however, could damp his zeal. With this slender train, hardly 
sufficient to take possession of such a large territory, and altogether unequal 
to any effectual attempt towards civilizing its inhabitants, he set sail. The 
first place at which he touched was the island of Puerto Rico. There he 
received an account of a new obitacle to tlie execution of his scheme, 
more iasuperable than any he had hitherto encountered. When he left 
America, in the year one thousand five hundred and sixteen, the Spaniards 
had little intercourse with any part of the continent except the countries 
adjacent to the Gulf of Darien. But as every species of internal industry 
began to stagnate in Hispaniola, when, by the rapid decrease of ♦he natives, 
the Spaniards were deprived of those hands with which they had hitherto 
carriod on their operations, this prompted them to try various expedients 
for supplying that loss. Considerable numbers of negroes were imported ; 
but, on account of their exorbitant price, many of the planters could not 
afford to purchase them. In order to procure slaves at an easier rate, soma 
of the Spaniards in Hispaniola fitted out vessels to cruise along the coast 

• H^rrera, dec. 2. lib. iv. c. 3, i, 5. Argcnsola Annalcs d'Aragon, 74. 97. Remisal Hist. Goner, 
lib. ii. c. 19, 20. 



AMERICA. 117 

ol the continent. In places where they found themselves inferior in stren2;th, 
they traded with the natives, and gave European toys in exchange for die 
plates of gold worn by them as ornaments ; but, wherever they could 
surprise or overpower the Indians, they carried them off by force, and sold 
them as slaves.* In those predatory excursions such atrocious acts of 
violence and cruelty had been committed, that the Spanish name was 
held in detestation all over the continent. Whenever any ships appeared, 
the inhabitants either fled to the woods, or rushed down to the shore in arms 
to repel those hated disturbers of their tranquillity. They forced some 
parties of the Spaniards to retreat with precipitation ; they cut off bthers ; 
and in the violence of their resentment against the whole nation, they 
murdered two Dominican missionaries, whose zeal had prompted them to 
settle in the province of Cumana.t This outrage against persons revered 
for their sanctity excited such indignation among the people of Hispaniola, 
who, notwithstanding ail their licentious and cruel proceedings, were 
possessed with a wonderful zeal for religion, and a superstitious respect 
for its ministers, that they determined to inflict exemplary punishment, 
not only upon the jjerpetrators of that crime, but upon the whole race. 
With this view, they gave the command of live ships and three hundred 
men to Diego Ocampo, with orders to lay waste the country of Cumana 
with fire and sword, and to transport all the inhabitants as slaves to His- 
paniola. This armament Las Casas found at Puerto Rico, in its way to 
the continent ; and as Ocampo relused to defer his voyage, he immediately 
perceived that it would be impossible to attempt the execution of his 
pacific plan in a country destined to be the seatoi waranddesolation.J 

In order to provide against the effects of this unfortunate incident, he 
set sail directly for St. Domingo [April 12], leaving his followers cantoned 
out among the planters in Puerto Rico. From many concurring causes, 
the reception which Las Casas met with in Hispaniola was very unfavour- 
able. In his negotiations for the relief of the Indians, he had censured 
the conduct of his countrymen settled there with such honest severity as 
rendered him universally odious to them. They considered their own 
ruin as the inevitable consequence of his success. They were now elated 
with hope of receiving a large recruit of slaves from Cumana, which must 
be relinquished if Las Casas were assisted in settling his projected colony 
there. Figueroa, in consequence of the instructions which he had received 
in Spain, had made an experiment concerning the capacity of the Indians, 
that was represented as decisive against the system of Las Casas. He 
collected in Hispaniola a good number of the natives, and settled them 
in two villages, leaving them at perfect liberty, and with the uncontrolled 
direction of their own actions. But that people, accustomed to a mode 
of life extremely different from that which takes place wherever civiliza- 
tion has made any considerable progress, were incapable of assuming 
new habits at once. Dejected with their own misfortunes as well as those 
of their country, they exerted so little industiy in cultivating the ground, 
appeared so devoid of solicitude or foresight in providing for their own 
wants, and were such strangers to arrangement in conducting their affairs, 
that the Spaniards pronounced them incapable of being formed to live 
hke men in social life, and considered them as children, who should be 
kept under the perpetual tutelage of persons superior to themselves in 
wisdom and sagacity. § 

Notwithstanding all those circumstances, which alienated the persons 
in Hispaniola to whom Las Casas applied from himself and from his 
measures, he, by his activity and perseverance, by some concessions and 
many threats, obtained at length a small body of troops to protect him 

• Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 3. t Oviedo, Hist. lib. xix. p. 3 J Heirera, dec. 2. lib. U. 

c. 8, 0. $ Ibid. doc. 2. lib. x c. i. 



118 HISTORY OF [Book III. 

and his colony at their first landing. But upon his return to Puerto Rico, 
he found that the diseases of the climate had been fatal to several of his 

?)eople ; and that others having got employment in that island, refused to 
bllow him. With the handful that remained, he set sail and landed in 
Cumana. Ocampo had executed his commission in that province with 
such barbarous rage, having massacred many of the inhabitants, sent others 
in chains to Hispaniola, and forced the rest to fly for shelter to the woods, 
that the people of a small colony, which he had planted at a place which 
he named Toledo, were ready to perish for want in a desolated country. 
There, however, Las Casas was obliged to fix his residence, though 
deserted both by the troops appointed to protect him, and by those under 
the command of Ocampo, who foresaw and dreaded the calamities to 
which he must be exposed in that wretched station. He made the best 
provision in his power for the safety and subsistence of his followers , lut 
as his utmost efforts availed little towards securing either the one or the 
other, he returned to Hispaniola, in order to solicit more effectual aid for 
the preservation of men who, from confidence in him, had ventured into 
a post of so much danger. Soon after his departurp, the natives, having 
discovered the feeble and defenceless state of the Spaniards, assembled 
secretly, attacked them with the furj- natural to men exasperated by many 
injuries, cut off a good number, and compelled the rest to fly in the utmost 
consternation to the island of Cubagua. The small colony settled there 
on account of the pearl fishery, catching the panic with which their coun- 
trymen had been seized, abandoned the island, and not a Spaniard remained 
in any part of the continent, or adjacent islands, from the Gulf of Paria 
to the borders of Darien. Astonished at such a succession of disasters, 
Las Casas was ashamed to show his face after this fatal termination of all 
his splendid schemes. He shut himself up in the convent of the Domini- 
cans at St. Domingo, and soon after assumed the habit of that order.* 

Though the expulsion of the colony from Cumana happened in the year 
one thousand five hundred and twenty-one, I have chosen to trace the progress 
of Las Casas's negotiations from their first rise to their final issue without 
interruption. His system was the object of long and attentive discussion ; and 
though his efforts in behalf of the oppressed Americans, partly fix^m his own 
rashness and imprudence, and partly from the malevolent opposition of his 
adversaries, were not attended with that success which he promised with 
too sanguine confidence, great praise is due to his humane activity, which 
gave rise to various regulations that were of some benefit to that unhappy 
people. I return now to the history of the Spanish discoveries as they 
occur in the order of time.f 

Diego Velasquez, who conquered Cuba in the year one thousand five 
hundred and eleven, still retained the government of that island, as the 
deputy of Don Diego Columbus, though he seldom acknowledged his supe- 
rior, and aimed at rendering his own authority altogether independent.^ 
Under his prudent administration, Cuba became one of the most flourishing 
of the Spanish settlements. The fame of this allured thither many persons 
from the other colonies, in hopes of finding either some permanent establish- 
ment or some employment for their activity. As Cuba lay to the west of 
all the islands occupied by the Spaniards, and as the ocean which stretches 
beyond it towards that quarter had not hitherto been explored, these circum- 
stances naturally invited the inhabitants to attempt new discoveries. An 
expedition tor this purpose, in which activity and resolution might conduct 
to sudden wealth, was more suited to the genius of the age than the patient 
industry requisite in clearing ground and manufacturing sugar. Instigated 

* Hencra, dec. 2. lib. t. c. 5. dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 3, 4, 5. Oviedo, Hist. lib. xix. c. 5. Gomara, c. T7. 
Davila Padilla, lib. i. c. 07. Rcmisal Hist. Gen. lib. zi. c, 22, 23, t Hcrrera. dec. 2. lib. z. c. 5. p. 
329. ; Ibid, lib. 11. c. 19. 



AMERICA. 119 

by this spirit, several officers, who had served under Pedrarias in Danen, 
entered into an association to undertake a voyage of discovery. They 
persuaded Franscisco Hernandez Cordova, an opulent planter in Cuba, 
and a man of distinguished courage, to join with them irthe adventure, and 
chose him to be their commander. Velasquez not only approved of tlie 
■design, but assisted in carrymg it on. As the veterans from Darien were 
extremely mdigent, he and Cordova advanced money for ptirchasing three 
small vessels, and furnished them with every thing requisite either for 
tratfic or ibr war. A hundred and ten men embarked on board of them, 
and sailed from St. Jago de Cuba, on the eighth of February, one thou- 
sand five hundred and seventeen. By the advice of their chief pilot, 
Antonio Alaminos, who had served under the first admiral Columbus, they 
stood directly west, relying on the opinion of that great navigator, who 
uniformly maintained that a westerly course would lead to the most 
important discoveries. 

On the twenty-first day after their departure from St. Jago, they saw land, 
which proved to be Cape Catoche, the eastern point of that large peninsula 
projecting from the continent of America, which still retains its original name 
of Yucatan. As they approached the shore, five canoes came off full of 
people decently clad in cotton garments ; an astonishing spectacle to the 
Spaniards, who had found every other part of America possessed by naked 
savages. Cordova endeavoured by small presents to gain the good will 
of these people. They, though amazed at the strange objects now pre- 
sented for the first time to their view, invited the Spaniards to visit their 
habitations, with an appearance of cordiality. They landed accordingly, 
and as they advanced into the country, they observed with new wonder 
some large houses built with stone. But they soon found that, if the 
people of Yucatan had made progress in improvement beyond their coun- 
trymen, they were likewise more artful and warlike. For though the 
cazique had. received Cordova with many tokens of friendship, he had 
posted a considerable body of his subjects in ambush behind a thicket, 
who, upon a signal given by him, rushed out and attacked the Spaniards 
with great boldness, and some degree of martial order. At the first flight 
of their arrows, fifteen of the Spaniards were wounded ; but the Indians 
were struck with such terror by the sudden explosion of the fire arms, and 
so surprised at the execution done by them, by the cross bows, and by the 
other weapons of their new enemies, that they fled precipitately. Cordova 
quitted a country where he had met widi such a fierce reception, carrying 
off two prisoners, together with the ornaments of a small temple which he 
plundered in his retreat. 

He continued his course towards the west, without losing sight of the coast, 
and on the sixteenth day arrived at Campcachy. There the natives re- 
ceived them more hospitably; but the Spaniards were much surprised, that on 
all the extensive coast along which they had sailed, and which they imagined 
to be a large island, they had not observed any river [26]. As their water had 
began to fail, they advanced, in hopes of finding a supply ; and at length 
they discovered the mouth of a river at Potonchan, some leagues beyond 
Campeachy. 

Cordova landed all his troops, in order to protect the sailors while em- 
ployed in filling the casks ; but notwithstanding this precaution, the natives 
rushed down upon them with such fury and in such numbers, that forty- 
seven of the Spaniards were killed upon the spot, and one man only of the 
whole body escaped unhurt. Their commander, though wounded in 
twelve different places, directed the retreat with presence of mind equal 
to_ the courage with which he had led them on in the engagement, and 
with much difficulty they regained their ships. After this fatal repulse, 
nothing remained but to hasten back to Cuba with their shattered forces. 
In their passage thither they sufifered the most exquisite distress for want 



120 HISTORY OF [Book III. 

of water, that men, wounded and sickly, shut up in small vessels, and ex 
posed to the heat of the torrid zone, can bi^ supposed to endure. Some of 
them, sinkiii<j under these calamities, died by the way ; Cordova, their 
commander, expired soon after they landed in Cuba.^ 

Notwithstanding the disastrous conclusion of this expedition, it con- 
tributed rather to animate than to damp a spirit of enterprise amon? 
the Spaniards. They had discovered an extensive country, situated 
at no great distance from Cuba, fertile in appearance, and possessed 
by a people far superior in improvement to any hitherto known in Ame- 
rica. Though they had carried on little commercial intercourse with 
the natives, they had brought off some ornaments of gold, not conside- 
rable in value, but of singular fabric. These circumstances, related 
with the exaggeration natural to men desirous of heightening the meri*. 
of their own exploits, were more than sufficient to excite romantic hopes 
and expectations. Great numbers offered to engage in a new expedi- 
tion. Velasquez, solicitous to distinguish himself by some service so 
meritorious as might entitle him to claim the government of Cuba in- 
dependent of the admiral, not only encouraged their ardour, but at his 
own expense fitted out four ships for the voyage. Two hundred and 
forty volunteers, among whom were -several persons of rank and fortune, 
embarked in this enterprise. The command of it was given to Juan de 
Grijalva, a young man of known merit and courage, with instiaictions to 
observe attentively the nature of the countries which he should discover, 
to barter for gold, and, if circumstances were inviting, to settle a colony in 
some proper station. He sailed from St. Jago de Cuba on the eighth of 
April, one thousand, five hundred and eighteen. The pilot, Alaminos, 
held the same course as in the former voyage ; but the violence of the 
currents carrying the ships to the south, the first land which they made 
was the island of Cozwnel, to the east of Yucatan. As all the inhabitants 
fled to the woods and mountains at the approach of the Spaniards, they 
made no long stay there, and without any remarkable occurrence they 
readied Potonchan on the opposite side of the peninsula. The desire of 
avenging their countrymen, who had been slain there, concurred with their 
ideas of^good policy, in prompting them to land, that they might chastise 
the Indians of that district with such exemplary rigour as would strike 
terror into all the people round them. But though they disembarked all 
their troops, and carried ashore some field pieces, the Indians fought with 
such courage, that the Spaniards gained the victory with difficulty, and 
were confirmed in their opinion that the inhabitants of this country would 
prove more formidable enemies than any they had met with in other parts of 
America. From Potonchan they contmued their voyage towards the west, 
keeping as near as possible to the shore, and casting anchor every evening, 
from dread of the dangerous accidents to which they might be exposed m 
an unknown sea. During the day their eyes were turned continually 
towards land, with a mixture of surprise and wonder at the beauty of the 
country, as well as the novelty of the objects which they beheld. Many 
villages were scattered along the coast, in which they could distinguish 
houses of stone that appeared white and lofty at a distance. In the warmth 
of their admiration, they fancied these to be cities adorned with towers 
and pinnacles ; and one of the soldiers happening to remark that this 
country resembled Spain in appearance, Grijalva, with universal applause, 
called it JVe-w Spain, the name which still distinguishes this extensive and 
opulent province of the Spanish empire in America [27]. They landed 
in a river which the natives called Tabasco [June 9] ; and the fame of their 

* Herrera, dec, 9. lib. ii. c. 17, 18. Hist. Verdadera de la Conqnista de la Nueva Espana pot 
Bernal Diaz del Cosiillo, cap. 1—7. Oviodo, lib. xvii. c. 3. Gomara, ci 53. P. Martyr de Insulis 
niiper inventia p 329. 



AMERICA. 121 

victory at Potonchan having reached this place, the cazique not only 
received them amicably, but bestoAved presents upon them of such value, 
as confirmed the high ideas which the Spaniards had formed with respect 
to the wealth and fertility of the country. These ideas were raised still 
higher by what occurred at the place where they next touched. This was 
considerably to the west of Tabasco, in the province since known by the 
name of Guaxaca. There they were received with the respect paid to 
superior beings. The people perfumed them, as they landed, with incense 
of gum copal, and presented to them as offerings the choicest delicacies of 
.heir country. They were extremely fond of trading with their new 
visitants, and in six days the Spaniards obtained ornaments of gold of 
curious workmanship, to the value of fifteen thousanc pesos, in exchange 
for European toys of small price. The two prisoners v> hom Cordova had 
Drought from Yucatan, had hitherto served as interpreters ; but as they did 
not understand the language of this country, the Spaniards learned from 
the natives by signs, that they were subjects of a great monarch called 
Montezuma, whose dominions extended over that and many other provinces 
Leaving this place, with which he had so much reason to be pleased, 
Grijalva continued his course towards the west. He landed on a small 
island [June 19], which he named the Isle of Sacrifices, because there the 
Spaniards beheld, for the first time, the horrid spectacle of human victims, 
which the barbarous superstition of the natives offered to their gods. J" it 
touched at another small island, which he called St. Juan de Ulua. From this 
place he despatched Pedro de Alvarado, one of his officers, to Velasquez, 
with a full account of the important discoveries which he had made, and 
with all the treasure that he acquired by trafficking with the natives. 
After the departure of Alvarado, he himself, with the remaining vessels, 
proceeded along the coast as far as the river Panuco,the country still ap- 
pearing to be well peopled, fertile, and opulent. 

Several of Grijalva's officers contended that it was not enough to havfe 
discovered those delightful regions, or to have performed, at their different 
landing-places, the empty ceremony of taking possession of them for the 
crown of Castile, and that their glory was incomplete, unless they planted 
a colony in some proper station, which might not only secure the Spanish 
nation a footing in the country, but, with the reinforcements which they 
were certain of receiving, might gradually subject the whole to the 
dominion of their sovereign. But the squadron had now been above five 
months at sea ; the greatest part of their provisions was exhausted, and 
what remained of their stores so much corrupted by the heat of the 
climate, as to be almost unfit for use ; they had lost some men by death ; 
others were sickly ; the country was crowded with people who seemed 
to be intelligent as well as brave ; and they were under the government 
of one powerfiil monarch, who could bring them to act against their invaders 
with united force. To plant a colony under so many circumstances of 
disadvantage, appeared a scheme too perilous to be attempted. Grijalva, 
though possessed both of ambition and courage, was destitute of the 
superior talents capable of fonning or executing such a great plan. He 
judged it more prudent to return to Cuba, having fulfilled the purpose of 
his voyage, and accomplished all that the armament which he commanded 
enabled him to perform. He returned to St. Jago de Cuba, on the 
twenty-sixth of October, from which he had taken his departure about 
six months before.* 

This was the longest as well as the most successful voyage which the 
Spaniards had hitherto made in the New World. They had discovered 
that Yucatan was not an island as they had supposed, but part of the great 

* Herrera, dec. 11. lib. iil. c. 1, 2. 9, 10. Bernal Diaz, e. 8. 17. Oviedo HiBt. lib. xvii. c. 9. Vi 
Gomara, c. 49 

Vol. I.--16 



123 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

continent of America. From Potonchan they had pursued their course 
for many hundred miles along a coast formerly unexplored, stretching at 
first towards the west, and then turning to the north ; all the country which 
they had discovered appeared to he no less valuable than extensive. As 
soon as Alvarado reached Cuba, Velasquez, transported with success so 
far beyond his most sanguine expectations, immediately despatched a 
person of confidence to carry this important intelligence to Spain, to 
exhibit the rich productions of the countries which had been discovered 
by his means, and to solicit such an increase of authority as might enable 
and encourage him to attempt the conquest of them. Without waiting 
for the return of his messenger, or for the arrival of Grijalva, of whom 
he was become so jealous or distrustful that he was resolved no longer to 
employ him, he began to prepare such a powerful armament as might 
prove equal to an enterprise of so much danger and importance. 

But as the expedition upon which Velasquez was now intent terminated 
in conquests of greater moment than what the Spaniards had hitherto 
achieved, and led them to the knowledge of a people, who, if compared 
with those tribes of America with whom they were hitherto acquainted, 
may be considered as highly civilized ; it is proper to pause before we 
proceed to the history of events extremely different from those which we 
have already related, in order to take a view of the state of the New 
World when first discovered, and to contemplate the policy and manners 
of the rude uncultivated tribes that occupied all the parts of it with which 
the Spaniards were at this time acquainted. 



BOOH IV. 

Twenty-six years had elasped since Columbus had conducted the 
people of Europe to the New World. During that period the Spaniards 
had made great progress in exploring its various regions. They had 
visited all the islands scattered m different clusters through that part of 
the ocean which flows in between North and South America. They had 
sailed along the eastern coast of the continent from the river De la Plata 
to the bottom of the Mexican Gulf, and had found that it stretched without 
interruption through this vast portion of the globe. They had discovered 
the great Southern Ocean, which opened new prospects in that quarter. 
They had acquired some knowledge of the coast of Florida, which led 
them to observe the continent as it extended in an opposite direction; 
and though they pushed their discoveries no further towards the North, 
other nations had visited those parts which they neglected. The English, 
in a voyage the motives and success of which shall be related in another 
part of this History, had sailed along the coast of America from Labrador 
to the confines of Florida ; and the Portuguese, in quest of a shorter 
passage to the East Indies, had ventured into the northern seas, and 
vieHved the same regions.* Thus, at the period where I have chosen to 
take a view of the state of tlic New W^orld, its extent was known almost 
from its northern extremity to thirty-five degrees south of the equator. The 
countries which stretch from thence to the southern boundary of America, 
the great empire of Peru, and the interior state of the extensive dominions 
subject to the sovereigns of Mexico, were still undiscovered. 

♦ Horrera, dec. 1. lib. vl c 10 



AMERICA. 123 

When we contemplate the New World, the first circumstance that 
strikes us is its immense extent. It was not a small portion of the earth, 
so inconsiderable that it might have escaped the observation or research oi 
former ages, which Columbus discovered. He made known a new 
henriisphere, larger ihan either Europe, or Asia, or Africa, the three noted 
divisions of the ancient continent, and not much inferior in dimensions to a 
third part of the habitable globe. 

America is remarkable, not only for its magnitude, but for its position. 
It stretches from the northern polar circle to a high southern latitude, 
above fifteen hundred miles beyond the furthest extremity of the old 
continent on that side of the line. A country of such extent passes through 
all the climates capable of becoming the habitation of man, and fit ior 
yielding the various productions peculiar either to the temperate or to the 
torrid regions of the earth. 

Next to the extent of the New World, the grandeur of the objects which 
it presents to view is most apt to strike the eye of an observer. Nature 
seems here to have carried on her operations upon a larger scale and with 
a bolder hand, and to have distinguished the features ot this country by a 
peculiar magnificence. The mountains in America are much superior in 
height to those in the other divisions of the globe. Even the plain of 
Quito, which may be considered as the base of the Andes, is elevated 
further above the sea than the top of the Pyrenees. This stupendous 
ridge of the Andes, no less remarkable for extent than elevation, rises in 
dinerent places more than one-third above the Peak of Teneriffe, the 
highest land in the ancient hemisphere. The Andes may literally be said 
to hide their heads in the clouds ; the stonns often roll, and the thunder 
bursts below their summits, which, though exposed to the rays of the sun 
in the centre of the torrid zone, are covered with everlasting snows [28], 

From these lot'ty mountains descend rivers, proportionably large, with 
which the streams in the ancient continent are not to be compared, either 
for length of course, or the vast body of water which they roll towards 
the ocean. The Maragnon, the Orinoco, the Plata in South America, the 
Mississippi and St. Laurence in North America, flow in such spacious 
channels, that long before they feel the influence of the tide, they resemble 
arms of the sea rather than rivers of fresh water [29], 

The lakes of the New World are no less conspicuous for grandeur than 
its mountains and rivers. There is nothing in other parts of the globe 
which resembles the prodigious chain of laKes in North America. They 
may properly be termed inland seas of fresh water ; and even those of the 
second or third class in magnitude are of larger circuit (the Caspian Sea 
excepted) than the greatest lake of the ancient continent. 

The New World is of a form extremely favourable to commercial inter- 
course. When a continent is formed, like Africa, of one vast solid mass, 
unbroken by arms of the sea penetrating into its interior parts, with few 
large rivers, and those at a considerable distance from each other, the 

freater part of it seems destined to remain for ever uncivilized, and to be 
ebarred from any active or enlarged communication with the rest of 
mankind. When, like Europe, a continent is opened by inlets of the ocean 
of great extent, such as the Mediterranean and Baltic; or when, like 
Asia, its coasts is broken by deep bays advancing far into the country, such 
as the Black Sea, the Gulfs of Arabia, of Persia, of Bengal, of Siam, and of 
Leotang ; when the surrounding seas are filled with large and fertile 
islands, and the continent itself watered with a variety of navigable rivers, 
those regions may be said to possess whatever can facilitate the progress 
of their mhabitants in commerce and improvement. In all these respects 
America may bear a comparison with the other quartei-s of the globe. The 
Gulf of Mexico, which flows in between North and South America, may 
be considered as a Meditenanean sea, which opens a maritime commerce 



124 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

with all the fertile countries by which it is encircled. The islands 
scattered in it are inferior only to those in the Indian Archipelago, in 
number, in magnitude, and in value. As we stretch along the northern 
division of the American hemisphere, the Bay of Chesapeak presents a 
spacious inlet, which conducts the navigator far into the interior parts ot 
provinces no less fertile than extensive ; and if ever the progress of culture 
and population shall mitigate the extreme rigour of the climate in the more 
northern districts of America, Hudson's Bay may become as subservient 
to commercial intercourse in that quarter of*^ the globe, as the Baltic is in 
Europe. The other great portion of the New World is encompassed on 
every side by the sea, except one narrow neck which separates the Atlantic 
from the Pacific Ocean ; and though it be not opened by spacious bays 
or arms of the sea, its interior parts are rendered accessible by a number of 
large rivers, fed by so many auxiliary streams, flowing in such various 
directions, that almost without any aid from the hand of industry and 
art, an inland navigation may be carried on through all the provinces from 
the river De la Plata totheGulfof Paria. Nor is thisbounty of nature confined 
to the southern division of America ; its northern continent abounds no less in 
rivers which are navigable almost to their sources, and by its immense 
chain of lakes provision is made for an inland communication, more extensive 
and commodious than in any quarter of the globe. T he countries stretching 
from the Gulf of Darien on one side, to that of California on the other, 
which form the chain that binds the two parts of the American continent 
together, are not destitute of peculiar advantages. Their coast on one 
side is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, on the other by the Pacific. Some 
of their rivers flow into the former, some into the latter, and secure to them 
all the commercial benefits that may result from a communication with 
both. 

But what most distinguishes America from other parts of the earth is the 
peculiar temperature of its climate, and the different laws to which it is 
subject with respect to the distribution of heat and cold. We cannot 
determine with precision the portion of heat felt in any part of the globe, 
merely by measuring its distance from the equator. The climate of a 
country is affected, in some degree, by its elevation above the sea, by the 
extent of continent, by the nature of the soil, the height of adjacent moun- 
tains, and many other circumstances. The influence of these, however, 
is from various causes less considerable in the greater part of the ancient 
continent ; and from knowing the position of any country there, we can 
pronounce with greater certainty what will be the warmth of its climate, 
and the nature of its productions. 

The maxims which are founded upon observation of our hemisphere 
will not apply to the other. In the New World, cold predominates. The 
rigour of the frigid zone extends over half of those regions which should 
be temperate by their position. Countries where the grape and the fig 
should ripen, are buried under snow one half of the year ; and lands 
situated in the same parallel with the most fertile and best cultivated 
provinces in Europe, are chilled with perpetual frosts, which almost 
destroy the power of vegetation [30]. As we advance to those parts of 
America which lie in the same parallel with provinces of Asia and Africa, 
blessed with a uniform enjoyment of such genial warmth as is most friendly 
to life and to vegetation, the dominion of cold continues to be felt, and 
winter reigns, though during a short period, with extreme severity. If we 
proceed along the American continent into the torrid zone, we shall find 
the cold prevalent in the New World extending itself also to this region of 
the globe, and mitigating the excess of its fervour. While the negro on 
the coast of Africa is scorched with unremitting heat, the inhabitant of 
Peru breathes an air equally mild and temperate, and is perpetually shaded 
under a canopy of gray clouds, which intercepts the fierce beaons of the 



AMERICA. 12^ 

sun, without obstructing his friendly influence.* Along the eastern coast 
of America, the climate, though more similar to that of the torrid zone in 
other parts of the earth, is nevertheless considerably milder than in those 
countries of Asia and Africa which lie in the same latitude. If from the 
southern tropic we continue our progress to the extremity of the American 
continent, we meet with frozen seas, and countries horrid, barren, and 
scarcely habitable for cold, much sooner than in the north.j 

Various causes combine in rendering the climate of America so extremely 
different from that of the ancient contment. Though the utmost extent of 
America towards the north be not yet discovered, we know that it advances 
much nearer to the pole than either Europe or Asia. Both these have 
large seas to the north, which are open during part of the year ; and even 
when covered with ice, the wind that blows over them is less intensely 
cold than thai which blows over land in the same high latitudes. But in 
America the land stretches from the river St. Laurence towards the pole, 
and spreads out immensely to the west. A chain of enormous mountains 
covered with snow and ice, runs through all this dreary region. The 
wind, in passing over such an extent of high and frozen land, becomes so 
impregnated with cold, that it acquires a piercing keenness, which it 
retains in its progress through warmer climates, and it is not entirely 
mitigated until it reach the Gulf of Mexico. Over all the continent of 
North America, a north-westerly wind and excessive cold are synonymous 
terms. Even in the most sultry weather, the moment that the wind veers 
to that quarter, its penetrating influence is felt in a transition from heat to 
cold no less violent than sudden. To this powerful cause we may ascribe 
the extraordinary dominion of cold, and its violent inroads into the southen? 
provinces, in that part of the globe. J 

Other causes, no less remarkable, diminish the active power of heat in 
those parts of the American continent Avhich lie between the tropics. In 
all that portion of the globe, the wind blows in an invariable direction 
from east to west. As this wind holds its course across the ancient con- 
tinent, it arrives at the countries which stretch along the western shores of 
Africa, inflamed with all the fiery particles which it hath collected from the 
sultiy plains of Asia, and the burning sands in the African deserts. The 
coast of Africa is, accordingly, the region of the earth which feels the most 
fervent heat, and is exposed to the unmitigated ardour of the torrid zone 
But this same wind, which brings such an accession of warmth to the 
countries lying between the river of Senegal and Cafraria, traverses the 
Atlantic Ocean before it reaches the American shore. It is cooled in its 
passage over this vast body of water, and is felt as a refreshing gale alon^ 
the coast of Brazil [3l], and Guiana, rendering these countries, though 
among the warmest in America, temperate, when compared with those 
which lie opposite to them in Africa [32]. As this wind advances in its 
course across America, it meets with immense plams covered with impe- 
netrable forests, or occupied by large rivers, marshes, and stagnating 
waters, where it can recover no considerable degree of heat. At length 
it arrives at the Andes, which run from north to south through the whole 
continent. In passing over their elevated and frozen summlis, it is so 
thoroughly cooled, that the greater part of the countries beyond them 
hardly feel the ardour to which they seem exposed by their situation.§ 
In the ether provinces of America, irora Tierra Ferme westward to the 
Mexican empire, the heat of the climate is tempered, in some places, by 
the elevation of the land above the sea, in others, by their extraordinary 

* Voyage de Ulloa, torn. i. p. 453. Anson's Voyage, p.l81. t Anson's Voyige, p. 74 ; and 

Voyage de Ciairos, chez. Hist. Gen. des Voy/>i!es, torn. liv. p. 83. Kichard Hist. Naturj de I'Air, 
ii. 305, &.C. + Charlevoii Hist, de Nouv. Fr. iii. 165. Hist. General^ des Voyages, torn, xv 

215, .tc. ^ Aco.sta Hist. Novi Orbis, lib. ii. c. II. Biiflbn Hist. Naturclle, &c. torn. ii. 512, &o, 
Ix. 107, &,c. Obborn's Collect, of Voyages, ii. p. 8t)d. 



12« HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

humidity, and in all, by tlie enormous mountains scattered over this tract. 
The islands of America in the torrid zone are either small or mountainous, 
and are fanned alternat'^ly by refreshing sea and land breezes. 

The causes of the extraordinary cold towards the southern limits of 
America, and in the seas beyond it, cannot be ascertained in a manner 
equally satisfying. It was long supposed that a vast continent, distin- 
guished by the name of Terra Australis Incognita, lay between the 
southern extremity of America and the Antarctic pole. The same prin- 
ciples >. ijich account for the extraordinary degree of cold in the northern 
regions of America, were employed in order to explain that Avhich is felt 
at Cape Horn and the adjacent countries. The immense extent of the 
southern continent, and the large ri\ers whl'-h it poured into the ocean, 
were mentioned and admitted by philosophers as causes sufficient to occa- 
sion the unusual sensai-ion of cold, and the still more uncommon appearances 
of frozen seas in that region of the globe. But the imaginary continent to 
which sue ' influence was ascribed, having been searched for in vain, and 
the space which it was supposed to occupy having been ibund to be an open 
sea, new conjectures must be formed with respect to the causes of a tem- 
perature of climate, so extremely different from that which we experience 
in countries removed at the same distance from the opposite pole [33]. 

After contemplating those permanent and characteristic qualities of the 
American continent, which arise fr'rm the peculiarity of its situation, and 
the disposition of its parts, the next object that merits attention is its condition 
when first discovered, as far as that depended upon the industry and operations 
of man. The effects of human ingenuity and labour are more extensive 
and considerable than even our own vanity is apt at first to imagine. When 
we survey the face of the habitable globe, no small part of that fertility and 
beauty which we ascribe to the hand of nature, is the work of man. His 
eflbrts, when continued through a succession of ages, change the appearance 
and improve the qualities of the earth. As a great part of the ancient 
continent has long been occupied by nations far advanced in arts and 
industry, our eye is accustomed to view the earth in that form which it 
assumes when rendered fit to be the residence of a numerous race of men, 
and to supply them with nourishment. 

But in the New World, the state of mankind was ruder, and the aspect 
of nature extremely different. Throughout all its vast regions, there were 
only two monarchies remarkable for extent of territory, or distinguished 
by any progress in improvement. The rest of this continent was possessed 
by small independent tribes, destitute of arts and industry, and neither 
capable to correct the defects nor desirous to meliorate the condition of 
hat part of the earth allotted to them for their habitation. Countries 
occupied by such people were almost in the same state as if they had 
been without inhabitants. Immense forests covered a great part of the 
uncultivated earth ; and as the hand of industry had not taught the rivers 
to run in a proper channel, or drained off the stagnating wr. ter, many of 
the most fertile plains were overflowed with inundations, or converted into 
marshes. In the southern provinces, where the warmth of the sun, the 
moisture of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, combine in calling 
forth the most vigorous powers of vegetation, the woods are so choked 
with its rank luxuriance as to be almost impervious, and the surface 
of the ground is hid from the eye under a thick covering of shrubs and 
herbs and weeds. In this state of wild unassisted nature, a great part of 
the large provinces in South America, which extend from the bottom of 
the Andes to the sea, still remain. The European colonies have cleared and 
cultivated a few spots along the coast ; but the original race of inhabitants, 
as rude and indolent as ever, have done nothing to open or improve a 
country possessing almost every advantage of situation and climate. As 
we advance towards the northern provinces of America, nature continues 



AMERICA. 127 

to wear the same uncultivated aspect, and, in proportion as the rigour of 
the climate increasto, appears more desolate and horrid. There the forests, 
though not encumbered with the same exuberance of vegetation, are of 
immense extent ; prodigious marshes overspread the plains, and few marks 
appear of human activity in any attempt to cultivate or embellish the 
eart' • No wonder that the colonies sent from Europe were astonished ai 
their first entrance into the New World. It appeared to fhem waste, 
solitary, and uninviting. When the English began to settle in America, 
they termed the countries of which they took possession, The Wilderness. 
Nothing but their eager expectation of finding mines of gold could have 
induced the Spaniards to penetrate through the woods and marshes of 
America, where at every step they observed the extreme difference 
between the uncultivated face of nature, and that which it acquires under 
the forming hand of industry and art [34]. 

The labour and operations of man not only improve and embellish the 
earth, but render it more wholesome and Triendiy to life. When any 
region lies neglected and destitute of cultivation, the air stagnates in the 
woods ; putrid 'exhalations arise from the waters ; the surface of the earth, 
loaded with rank vegetation, feels not the purifying influence of the sun 
or of the wind ; the malignity of the distempers natural to the climate 
increases, and new malad'es no less noxious are engendered. Accordingly, 
all the provinces of America, when first discovered, were found to be 
remiii-kably unhealthy. This the Spaniards experienced in every expedi- 
tion into the New World, whether destined for conquest or settlement. 
Though by the natural constitution of their bodies, their habitual tem- 

S)erance, and the persevering vigour of their minds, thev were as much 
brmed as any people in Europe for active service in a sultry climate, they 
felt severely the fatal and pernicions qualities of those uncultivated regions 
through which they marched, or where they endeavoured to plant colonies. 
Great numbers were cut off by the unknown and violent diseases with 
which they were infected. Such as survived the destructive rage of those 
maladies, were not exempted from the noxious influence of the climate. 
They returned to Europe, according to the description of the early Spanish 
historians, feeble, emaciated, with languid looks, and complexions of such 
a sickly yellow colour as indicated the unwholesome temperature of the 
countries where they had resided.* 
The uncultivated state of the New World affected not only the tem- 

f)erature of the air, but the qualities of its productions. The principle of 
ife seems to have been less active and vigorous there than in the ancient 
continent. Notwithstanding the vast extent of America, and the variety 
of its climates, the different species of animals peculiar to it are much 
fewer in proportion than those of the other hemisphere. In the islands 
there were only four kinds of quadrupeds known,, the largest of which 
did not exceed the size of a rabbit. On the continent, the variety was 
greater; and though the individuals of each kind could not fail of multi- 
plying exceedingly when almost unmolested by men, who were neither so 
numerous, nor so united in society, as to be formidable enemies to the 
animal creation, the number of distinct species must still be considered 
as extremely small. Of two hundred different kinds of animals spread 
over the face of the earth, only about one-third existed in America at the 
time of its discovery .f Nature was not only less prolific in the New 
World, but she appears likewise to have been less vigorous in bor pro- 
ductions. The animals originally belonging lo this quarter of the globe 
appear to be of an inferior race, neither so robust nor so fierce as those of 
the other continent. America gives birth to no creature of such bulk as 

• Oomara Hist. c. 20. 22. Oviedo Hist. lib. ii. c. 13. lib- v. c. 10. P. Martyr, Epist. 545. Decad. 
p. 17C. t Butfon Hist. Natuxclle, torn. ix. p. 66. 



128 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

to be compared with the elephant or rhinoceros, or that equals the lion 
and tiger m strength and ferocity [35]. The Tapyr of Brazil, the lai^est 
quadruped of the ravenous tribe in the New World, is not larger than a 
calf of six months old. The Puma and Jaguar, ils fiercest beasts of 
prey, which Europeans have inaccurately denominated lions and tigers, 
possess neither the undaunted courage of the former, nor the ravenous 
cruelty of the latter.* They are inactive and timid, hardly formidable 
to man, and often turn their backs upon the least appearance of resistance.! 
The same qualities in the climate of America v\'hich stinted the growth, 
and enfeebled the spirit, of its native animals, have proved pernicious to 
such as have migrated into it voluntarily from the other continent, or have 
been transportea thither by the Europeans.;}; The bears, the wolves, the 
deer of America, are not equal in size to those of the Old World.§ Most 
of the domestic animals, with which the Europeans have stored the pro- 
vinces wherein they settled, have degenerated with respect either to bulk 
or quality, in a country whose temperature and soil seem to be less favour- 
able to the strength and perfection of the animal creation [36]. 

The same causes which checked the growth and the vigour of the 
more noble animals, were friendly to the propagation and increase oi 
reptiles and insects. Though this is not peculiar to the New World, and 
those odious tribes, nourished by heat, moisture, and corruption, infest 
every part of the torrid zone ; they multiply fastei*, perhaps, in America, 
and grow to a more monstrous bulk. As this country is on the whole less 
cultivated and less peopled than the other quarters of the earth, the active 
principle of life wastes its force in productions of this inferior form. The 
air is often darkened with clouds of insects, and the ground covered with 
shocking and noxious reptiles. The country around Porto Bello swarms 
with toads in such multitudes as hide the surface of the earth. At Guaya- 
quil, snakes and vipers are hardly less numerous. Carthagena is infested 
with numerous flocks of bats, which annoy not only the cattle but the 
inhabitant3.ll In the islands, legions of ants have at different times con- 
sumed every vegetable production [37], and left the earth entirely bare 
as if it had been burned with fire. The damp forests and rank soil ot 
the countries on the banks of the Orinoco and Maragnon teem with 
almost every offensive and poisonous creature which the power of a sultry 
sun can quicken into life. II 

The birds of the New World are not distinguished by qualities so con- 
spicuous and characteristical as those which we have observed in its quad- 
rupeds. Birds are more independent of man, and less affected by the 
changes which his industry and labour make upon the state of the earth. 
They have a greater propensity to migrate from one country to another, and 
can gratify this instinct of their nature without difficulty or danger. Hence 
the number of birds common to both continents is much greater than that 
of quadrupeds ; and even such as are peculiar to America nearly resemble 
those with which mankind were acquainted in similar regions of the ancient 
hemisphere. The American birds of the torrid zone, like those of the 
same climate in Asia and Africa, are decked in plumage which dazzles 
the eye with the beauty of its colours ; but nature, satisfied with clothing 
them in this gay dress, has denied most of them that melody of sound and 
variety of notes which catch and delight the ear. The birds of the tem- 
perate climates there, in the same maniier as in our continent, are less 

♦ Buffon Hist. Natur. tom. ix. p. 87. Maregravii Hist. Nat. Brazil, p. 229. t Buffon Hist. 

Nalur. ix. 13. 203. Acosta Hist. lib. iv.c. 34. Pisonis Hist. p. 6. Herrera, dec. 4. lib. iv. c. 1. lib. 
s.c.lX t Churchill, V. p. 691. Ovalle Relat. otXnili, Church, iii. p. 10. Somario de Oviedo, 
c- J4— 22. Voyage du Des Marchais, iii. 299. § Buffon Hist. Natur. ix. 103. Kalm's Travels 

i. 102. Biet. voy. de France Equinox, p. 339. || Vovage de UUoa, lorn. i. p. 69. lb. p 147. 

Herrera, dec. 11. lib. iii. c. 3. 19. IT Voyage de Condaniine, p. 167. Guniilla, iii. 120, &c. Hist. 
«eiier. des Voyajes, xiv. 317. Duinont Mimoires sur la Louisiane, i. 108. Somario de Oviedo, c 
52—63. 



A Bl E K 1 C A. 129 

splendid in their appearance ; but, in compensation for that defect, they 
have voices of greater compass, and more melodious. In some districts 
of America, the unwholesome tempernture of the air seems to be un- 
favo'iral)le even to this part of tlie creation. The number of birds is less 
than in other countries, and the traveller is struck with the amazing solitude 
and silence of its forests.* It is remarkable, however, that America, 
where the quadrupeds are so dwarfish and dastardly, should produce the 
Condor which is entitled to pre-eminence over all the Hying tribe, in bulk, 
in strength, and in courage. f 

The soil in a continent so extensive as America must, of course, be 
extremely various. In each of its provinces we find some distinguishing 
peculiarities, the description of which belongs to those who write their 
particular history. In general we may observe, that the moisture and 
cold, which predominate so remarkably in all parts of America, must 
have great influence upon the nature of its soil ; countries lying in the 
same parallel with those regions which never feel the extreme rigour of 
winter in the ancient continent, are frozen over in America during a great 
part of the year. Chilled by this intense cold, the ground never acquires 
warmth sufficient to ripen the fruits which are found in the corresponding 
parts of the other continent. If we wish to rear in America the productions 
which abound in any particular district of the ancient world, Ave must 
advance several degrees nearer to the line than in the other hemisphere, as 
it requires such an increase of heat to counterbalance the natural frigidity 
of the soil and climate [3y]. At the Cape of Good Hope, several of the 
plants and fruits peculiar to the countries within the tropics are cultivated 
with success ; whereas, at St. Augustine in Florida, and Charles Town in 
South Carolina, though considerably nearer the line, they cannot be brought 
to thrive with equal certainty [39], But, if allowance be made for this 
diversity in the degree of heat, the soil of America is naturally as rich 
and fertile as in any part of the earth. As the country was thinly inhabited, 
and by a people of little industry, who had none of the domestic animals 
which civilized nations rear in such vast numbers, the earth was not ex- 
hausted by their consumption. The vegetable productions, to which the 
fertility of the soil gave birth, often remained untouched, and, being suffered 
to corrupt on its surface, returned with increase into its bosom. J As treeg 
and plants derive a great part of their nourishment from air and water ; if 
they were not destroyed by man and other animals, they would render to 
the earth more, perhaps, than they take from it, and feed rather than impoverish 
it. Thus the unoccupied soil of America may have gone on enriching 
for many ages. The vast number as well as enormous size of the trees in 
America, indicate the extraordinary vigour of the soil in its native state. 
When the Europeans first began to cultivate the New World, they were 
astonished at the luxuriant power of vegetation in its vii-gin mould ; and in 
several places the ingenuity of the planter is still employed in diminishing 
and wasting its superfluous fertility, in order to bring it down to a state fit 
for profitable culture§ [40]. 

Havmg thus surveyed the state of the New World at the time of its 
discover}', and considered the peculiar features and qualities which dis- 
tinguish and characterize it, the next inquiry that merits attention is, How 
was America peopled ? By what course did mankind migrate from the one 
continent to the other ? And in what quarter is it most probable that a 
communication was opened between them ? 

We know, with infallible certainty, that all the human race spring from 

* Bouguer Voy. au Perou, 17. Chanvalon Voyaae A la Martinlqvie, p. 9fi. Warren's Descript. 
Surinam. Osborii's Collect, ii. 924. Leltres Edif. .xxiv, p. 339. Cliarlev. Hist, do la Nouv. France, 
Hi. IS.'). t Vnyajie de Ulloa, i. 363. Voyage de Condamino, 17'). Butfoii llial. Nat. xvi- 134. 

Voyage dii Dr^ Marchais, iii. 320. J Bufton, Hist. Natur. i.242. Kalm, i. l.'il. ^ Chnilcvoix, 
Hift an Nouv. Fran. iii. 405. Voyage du Dta Marchais, iii. 229. Lery ap. de Bry. part iii. p. 174. 

Vol. I.— 17 



130 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

the same source, and that the descendants of one man, under the protection, 
as well as in obedience to the command of Heaven, muitiplied and 
replenished the earth. But neither the annals nor the traditions of nations 
reach [jack to those remote ages, in which they tO(jk possession of the 
different countries where they are now settled. We cannot trace the 
branches of this lirst family, or point out with certainty the time and 
manner in which they divided and spread over the face of the globe 
Even among the most enlightened people, the period of authentic history 
is extremely short ; and ever}' thing prior to that is fabulous or obscure. 
It is not surprising, then, that the unlettered uihabitants of America, who 
have no solicitude about futurity, and little curiosity concerning what is 
passed, should be altogether unacquainted with their own original. The 
people on the two opposite coasts of America, who occupy those 
countries in America which approach nearest to the ancient continent are 
so remarkably rude, that it is altogether vain to search among them lor 
such information as might discover the place from whence they came, or 
the ancestor of whom they are descended.* Whatever light hrs been 
thrown on this sulyect is derived not from the natives of America, but 
from the inquisitive genius of their conquerors. 

When the people of Europe unexpectedly discovered a New Woild, 
removed at a vast distance from every part ot the ancient continent which 
was then known, and filled with inhabitants whose appearance and manners 
diflered remarkably from the rest of the human species, the question con- 
cerning their original became naturally an object of curiosity and atten- 
tion. The theories and speculations of ingenious men with respect to 
this subject, would fill many volumes; but are often so wild and chi- 
merical, that I should otHer an insult to thv, understanding of my readers, if 
I attempted either minutely to enumerate or to refute them. Some have 
presumptuously imagined, that the people of America were not the offspring 
of the same common parent with the rest of mankind, but that they formed 
a separate race of men, distinguishable by peculiar features in the consti- 
tution of their bodies, as well as in the characteristic qualities of their 
minds. Others contend, that they are descended from some remnant of 
the antediluvian inhabitants of the earth, who survived the deluge which 
swept away the greatest part of the human species in the days of Noah ; 
and preposterously suppose rude, uncivilized tribes, scattered over an un- 
cultivated continent, to be the most ancient race of people on the earth. 
There is hardly any nation from the north to the south pole, to which some 
antiquary, in the extravagance of conjecture, has not ascribed the honour 
of peopling America. The Jews, the Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the 
Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Scythians, in ancient times, are supposed to 
have settled in this western world. The Chinese, the Swedes, thvi Nor- 
wegians, the Welsh, the Spaniards, are said to have sent colonies thither 
in later ages, at different periods and o.i various occasions. Zealous advo- 
cates stand forth to support the respective claims of those people ; and 
though they rest upon no better tbundation than the casual resemblance of 
some customs, or the supposed affinity between a lew words in their dif- 
ferent languages, much erudition and more zeal have been employed, to 
little purpose, in defence of the opposite systems. Those regions of conjec- 
ture and controversy belong not to the historian. His is a more limited 
piovince, confined by what is established by certain or highly probable 
evidence. Beyond this I shall not venture, in offering a few observations 
which may contribute to throw some light upon this curious and much 
agitated question 

1. There are authors who have endeavoured by mere conjecture 
to account for the peopling of America. Some have supppsed that it was 

• Vinegas's Hist, of California, i. 60. 



A xM E R I C A. 131 

ongmally united to the ancient continent, and disjoined from it by tiie 
shock of an eartliquake, or the irruption of a dehjge. Others have ima- 
gined, that some vessel being forced from its course by the violence of a 
-westerly wind, might be driven by accident towards the American coast, 
and have given a beginning to population in that desolate continent.* 
But with respect to all those systems, it is in vain either to reason or inquire, 
because it is impossible to come to any decision. Such events as they 
suppose are barely possible, and may have happened. That they ever did 
happen, we have no evidence, either from the clear testimony of history, 
or from the obscure intimations of tradition. 

2. Nothmg can be more irivolous or uncertain than the attempts to dis- 
cover the original of the Americans merely by tracing the resemblance 
between their manners and those of any particular people in the ancient 
continent. It' we suppose two tribes, though placed in the most remote 
regions of the globe, (olive in a climate nearly of the same temperature, 
to be in the same state of society, and to resemble each other in the 
degree of their improvement, they must feel the same wants, and exert 
the same endeavours to supply them. The same objects will allure, the 
same passions will animate them, and the same ideas and sentiments Avill 
arise in their minds. The character and occupations of the hunter in Ame- 
rica must be little different from those of an Asiatic who depends for sub- 
sistence on tlie chase. A tribe of savages on the banks of the Danube must 
nearly resemble one upon the plains washed by the Mississippi. Instead 
then of presuming from this similarity, that there is any affinity between 
them, we should only conclude that the disposition and manners of men are 
formed by their situation, and arise from the state of society in which they 
live. The moment that begins to vary, the character of a people must 
change. In proportion as it advances in improvement, their manners refine, 
their powers and talents are called forth. In every part of the earth, the 
progress of man halh been nearly the same ; and we can trace him in his 
career from the rude simplicity of savage lite, until he attains the industry, 
the arts, and the elegance of polished society. There is nothing wonder- 
ful, then, in the simililude between the Americans and the barbarous 
nations of our continent. Had Lafitau, Garcia, and many other authors 
attended to this, they would not have perplexed a subject, which they 
pretend to illustrate, by their fruitless endeavours to establish an affinity 
between various races of people, in the old and new continents, upon no 
other evidence tlian such a resemblance in their manners as necessarily 
arises from the similarity of their condition. There are, it is true, among 
every people, some customs which, as they do not flow from any natural 
want or desire peculiar to their situation, may be denominated usages of 
arbitrary institution. If between two nations settled in remote parts of the 
earth, a perfect agreement witli respect to any of these should be discovered, 
one might be led to suspect that they were connec'ed by some affinity. 
If, for example, a nation were found in America that consecrated the 
seventh day to religious worship and rest, we might justly suppose that it 
had derived its knowledge of this usage, which is of arbitrary institution, 
from the Jews. But, if it were discovered that another nation celebrated 
the first appearance of ever}' new moon with extraordinary demonstrations 
of joy, we should not be entitled to conclude that the observation of this 
monthly festival was borrowed from the Jews, but ought to consider it merely 
as the expression of that joy which is natural to man on the return of the 
planet which guides and cheers him in the night. The instances of customs, 
nierely arbitrary, common to the inhabitants of both hemispheres, are, 
indeed, so few and so equivocal, that no theoiy concerning the population of 
the New World ought to be founded upon them. 

* Parson's Remains of Japhot, p. 240. Ancinnt L niverx. Hist. vol. xx. p. 164i P. Feyjoo Tca» 
tro Criiico, torn. t. p. 304, ate. Acosta Hist. Moral. Novi Orbia, lib. i. 16. c. 19. 



132 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

3. The theories which have been formed with respect to the orig^inal of 
the Americans, from observation of their relis^ious rites and practices, are 
no less ianciful and destitute of solid foundation. When the religious 
opinioiis of any people are neither the result of rational inquiiy, nor derived 
from the instructions of revelation, they must needs be wild and extravagant. 
Barbarous nations are incapable of the former, and have not been blessed 
with the advantages arising i'rom the latter. Still, however, the human 
mind, even where its operations appear most wild and capricious, holds a 
course so regular, that in every age and country the dominion of particular 
passions will be attended with similar effects. The savage of Europe or 
America, when filled with superstitious dread of invisible beings, or with 
inquisitive solicitude to penetrate into the events of futurity, trembles alike 
with fear, or glows with impatience. He has recourse to rites and practices 
of the same kind, in order to avert the vengeance wiiich he supposes to be 
impending over him, or to divine the secret which is the object of his 
curiosity. Accordingly, the ritual of superstition in one continent seems, 
in many particulars, to be a transcript of that established in the other, and 
both authorize similar institutions, sometimes so frivolous as to excite pity, 
sometimes so bloody and barbarous as to create horror. But without 
supposing any consanguinity between such distant nations, or imagining 
that theii- religious ceremonies were conveyed by tradition from the one to the 
other, we may ascribe this uniformity, which in many instances seems very 
amazing, to the natural operation ol superstition and enthusiasm upon the 
weakness of the human mind. 

4. We may lay it down as a certain principle in this inquiry, that 
America was not peopled by any nation of the ancient continent which had 
made considerable progress in civilization. The inhabitants of the New 
World were in a state of society so extremely rude as to be unacquainted 
with those arts which are the first essays of human ingenuity in its advance 
towards improvement. Even the most cultivated nations of America were 
strangers to many of those simple inventions which were almost coeval with 
society in other parts of the world, and were known in the earliest periods 
of civil life with which we have any acquaintance. From this it is 
manifest, that the tribes which originally migrated to America, came ofif 
from nations which must have been no less barbarous than their posterity, 
at the time when they were first discovered by the Europeans. For, 
although the elegant or refined arts may decline or perish, amidst the violent 
shocks of those revolutions and disasters to which nations are exposed, the 
necessary arts of life, when once they have been introduced among any 
people, are never lost. None of the vicissitudes in human afifairs affect 
these, and they continue to be practised as long as the race of men exists. 
It ever the use of iron had been known to the savages of America, or to 
their progenitors ; if ever they had employed a plough, a loom, or a forge, 
the utility of those inventions would have preserved them, and it is impos- 
sible that they should have been abandoned or forgotten. We may conclude, 
then, that the Americans sprung from some people, who were themselves 
in such an early and unimproved stage of society, as to be unacquainted 
with all those necessary arts, which continued to be unknown among their 
posterity when first visited by the S])aniards. 

5. It appears no less evident that America was not peopled by any 
colony froni the more southern nations of the ancient continent. None of 
the nide tribes settled in that part of our hemisphere can be supposed to 
have visited a country so remote. They possessed neither enterprise, nor 
ingenuity, nor power that could prompt them to undertake, or enable them 
to perform such a distant voyage. That the more civilized nations in Asia 
or Africa are not the progenitors of the Americans, is manifest not only from 
the observations which 1 have already made concerning their ignorance of 
the most simple and necessary arts, but from an additional circumstance. 



AMERICA. 133 

Whenever any people have experienced the advantages which men enjoy 
by their dominion over the inferior animals, they can neither subsist without 
the nourisliment whicli these afford, nor carry on any considerable operation 
independent of tlieir ministry and labour. Accordingly, the first care of 
the Spaniards, when they settled in America, was to stock it with all the 
domestic animals of Europe ; and if, prior to them, the Tyrians, the 
Carthaginians, the Chinese, or any other polished people, had taken 
possession of that continent, we should have found there the animals peculiar 
to those regions of the globe where they were originally seated. In all 
America, however, there is not one animal, tame or wild, which properly 
belongs to the warm or even the more temperate countries of the ancient 
continent. The camel, the dromedary, the horse, the cow, were as much 
unknown in America as the elephant or the lion. From which it is obvious, 
that the people who first settled in the western world did not issue from 
the countries where those animals abound, and where men, from having 
been long accustomed to their aid, would naturally consider it not only as 
beneficial, but as indispensably necessary to the improvement, and even the 
preservation of civil society. 

6. From considering tbe animals with which America is stored, we may 
conclude that the nearest point of contact between the old and new con- 
tinents is towards the northern extremity of both, and that there the 
communication was opened, and the intercourse carried on between them. 
All the extensive countries in America which lie within the tropics, or 
approach near to them, are filled with indigenous animals of various kinds, 
entirely different from those in the corresponding regions of the ancient 
continent. But the northern provinces of the New World abound with 
many of the wild animals which are common in such parts of our hemisphere 
as lie in a similar situation. The bear, the wolf, the fox, the hare, the 
deer, the roebuck, the elk, and several other species, frequent the forests of 
North America, no less than those in the north of Europe and Asia.* It 
seems to be evident, then, that the two continents approach each other in 
this quarter, and are either united, or so nearly adjacent that these animals 
might pass from the one to the other. 

7. The actual vicinity of the two continents is so clearly established by 
modern discoveries, that the chief difficulty with respect to the peopling 
of America is removed. While those immense regions which stretch 
eastward trom the river Oby to the sea of Kamchatka were unknown or 
imperfectly explored, the north-east extremities of our hemisphere were 
supposed to be so tar distant from any part of the New World, that it was 
not easy to conceive how any communication should have been carried on 
between them. But the Russians, having subjected the western part of 
Siberia to their empire, gradually extended their knowledge of that vast 
country, by advancing towards the east into unknown provinces. These 
were discovered by hunters in their excursions after game, or by soldiers 
employed in levying the taxes ; and the court of Moscow estimated the 
importance of those countries, only by the small addition which they made to 
its revenue. At length Peter the Great ascended the Russian throne. His 
enlightened, comprehensive mind, intent upon every circumstance that could 
aggrandize his etnpire, or render his reign illustrious, discerned consequences 
ot those discoveries which had escaped the observation of his ignorant 
predecessors. He perceived that in proportion as the regions ot' Asii 
extended towards the east, they must approach nearer to America ; that tho 
communication between the two continents, which had long been searched 
for in vain, would probably be found in this quarter ; and that by opening 
it, some part of the wealth and commerce of the western world might be 
made to flow into his dominions by a new channel. Such an object suited 

• Buffon, Hilt Nat. U. p. 97, &e. 



134 HISTORY OF LBookIV 

a genius that delighted in grand schemes. Peter drew up instructions with 
his own hand for prosecuting this design, and gave orders for carr}'ing it 
into execution.* 

His successors adopted his ideas and pursued his plan. The officers 
■whom the Russian court employed in this service had to struggle with so 
many difficulties, that their progress was extremely slow. Lncouraged 
by some faint traditions among the people of Siberia, concerning a successful 
voyage in the year one thousand six liundred and forty-eight, round the 
north-east promontory of Asia, they attempted to follow the same course. 
Vessels were fitted out, with this view, at different times, from the rivers 
Lena and Kolyma ; but in a frozen ocean, which nature seems not to have 
destined for navigation, they were exposed to many disasters, without being 
able to accomplish their purpose. No vessel fitted out by the Russian 
court ever doubled this formidable Cape [41] ; we are indebted for what 
is known of those extreme regions of Asia, to the discoveries made in 
excursions by land. In all those provinces an opinion prevails, that there 
are countries of great extent and fertility which lie at no considerable 
distance trom their own coasts. These the Russians imagined to be part 
of America ; and several circumstances concurred not only in confirming 
them, in this belief, but in persuading them that some portion of that con- 
tinent could not be very remote. Trees of various kinds unknown in those 
naked regions of Asia, are driven upon the coast by an easterly wind. By 
the same wind, floating ice is brought thither in a few days ; flights of birds 
arrive annually from the same quarter ; and a tradition obtains among the 
inhabitants, of an intercourse ibrmerly carried on with some countries 
situated to the east. 

After weighing all these particulars, and comparing the position of the 
countries in Asia which had been discovered, with such parts in the north- 
west of America as were already known, the l^ussian court ibrmed a 
plan, which would have hardly occurred to a nation less accustomed to 
engage in arduous undertakings, and to contend with gieat difficulties. 
Orders were issued to build two vessels at the small village of Ochotz, 
situated on the sea of Kamchatka, to sail on a voyage of discovery. Though 
that dreary uncultivated region furnished nothing that could be of use in 
constructing them, but some larch trees : though not only the iron, the 
cordage, the sails, and a'l the numerous articles requisite for their equipment, 
but the provisions ibr victualling them were to be carried through the 
immense deserts of Siberia, do^vn rivers of difficult navigation, and along 
roads almost impassable, the mandate of the sovereign, and the perseverance 
of the people, at last surmounted every obstacle. Two vessels Mere 
finished, and, under the command of the Captains Behring and Tschirikow, 
sailed from Kamchatka, in quest of the New World in a quarter where it 
had never been approached. They shaped their course towards the east ; 
and though a storm soon separated the vessels, which never rejoined, and 
many disasters befell them, the expectations from the voyage were not 
altogether frustrated. Each of the commanders discovered land, which to 
them appeared to be part of the American continent ; and, according to 
their observation, it seems to be situated within a few degrees of the 
north-west coast of California. Each set some of his people f<shore : but 
in one place the inhabitants fled as the Russians approached ; in another, 
they carried oft' those who landed, and destroyed their boats. The violence 
of the weather, and the distress of their crews, obliged both captains to 
quit this inhospitable coast. In their return they touched at several islands 
which stretch in a chain from east to west between the country which they 
had discovered and the coast of Asia. They had some intercourse with 
the natives, who seemed to them to resemble the North Americans. They 

* Muller, Voyages ct D^ouvertes par lea Kusaes, torn. 1. p. 4, 5, 141. 



AMERICA. 135 

pifesented to the Russiins the calumet, or pipe of peace, which is a, symbol 
of friendship universal atnong the people of North America, and a usage of 
arbitrary institution peculiar to them. 

Though the islands of this New Archipelago have been frequented since 
that time by the Russian hunters, the court of St. Pelersburgh, durmg a 
period of more than forty years, seems to have relinquished every thought 
of prosecuting discoveries in that quarter. But in tlie year one thousand 
seven hundred and sixty-eight it was unexpectedly resumed. The 
sovereign who had been lately stsaled on the throne of Peter the Great, 
possessed the genius and talents of her illustrious predecessor. During the 
operations of the most arduous and extensive war in which the Russian 
empire was ever engaged, she formed schemes and executed undertakings, 
to which more liniited abilities would have been incapable of attending 
but amidst the leisure of pacific times. A new voyage of discovery I'rom 
the eastern extremity of Asia was planned, and Captain Krenitzm and 
Lieutenant Levashetf were appointed to command the two vessels fitted out 
for that purpose. In their voyage outward they held nearly the same course 
with the former navigators, they touched at the same islands, observed 
their situation and productions more carefully, and discovered several new 
islands with which Behring and TschirikoAv had not I'allen in. Though 
they did not proceed so tar to the east as to revisit the country which 
Behring and Tschirikow supposed to be part of the American continent, 
yet, by returning in a course considerably to the north of theirs, they cor- 
rected some capital mistakes into which their predecessors had lallen, and 
have contributed to facilitate the progress of future navigators in those 
seas [42]. 

Thus the possibility of a communication between the continents in tlils 
quarter rests no longer upon mere conjecture, but is established by undoubted 
evidence.* Some tri!)e, or some families of wandering Tartars, from the 
restless spirit peculiar to their race, might migrate to the nearest islands, 
and, rude as their knowledge of navigation was, might, by passing from one 
to the other, reach at length the coast of America, and give a beginning to 
population in that continent. The distance between the Marian or Ladrone 
islands and the nearest land in Asia, is greater than that between the part of 
America which the Russians discovered, and the coast of Kamchatka ; and 
yet the inhabitants of those islands are maniliestly of Asiatic extract. If", 
notwithstanding their remote situation, we admit that the Marian islands 
were peopled from our continent, distance alone is no reason why we should 
hesitate about admitting that the Americans may derive their original from 
the same source. It is probable that t"ufure navigators in those seas, by 
steering further to the north, may find that the continent of America ap- 
proaches still nearer to Asia. According to the information of the barbarous 
people who inhabit the country about the north-east promontory of Asia, 
there lies, ofT the coast, a small island, to which they sail in less than a day. 
From that they can descry a large continent which, according to their 
description, is covered with forests, and possessed by people whose language 
they do not understand.! By them they are supplied with the skins of 
martens, an animal unknown in the northern parts of Siberia, and which is 
never found but in countries abounding with trees. If we could rely on 
this account, we might conclude that the American continent is separated 
from ours only by a narrow strait, and all the dilficulties with respect to the 
communication between then> would vanish. What could he offered only 
as a conjecture, when this Histoiy was first published, is now known to be 
certain. The near approach of the two continents fo each other has been 
discovered and traced in a voyage undertaken upon principles so pure and 
so liberal, and conducted with so much professional skill, as reflect lustre 

• Muller'i Voyages, torn, i, p, 208, &c, 257, 270. t Ibid. torn. i. p, 160. 



136 HISTORYOF [Book IV. 

upon the reio;nof the soverei2:nby ■whom it was planned, and do honour to 
the officers intrusted with the execution of it [4t}]. 

It is likewise evident from recent discoveries, that an intercourse between 
our continent and America mi2,ht be carried on with no less facility from 
the north-west extremities of turope. As early as the ninth centurj' [A. D. 
830], the Norwegians discovered Greenland, and planted colonies there. 
The communication with that country, after a long interruption, was renewed 
in the last century. Some Lutheran and Moravian missionaries, prompted 
by zeal for propagating the Christian faith, have ventured to settle in this 
frozen and uncultivated region.* To them we are indebted for much 
curious information with respect to its nature and inhabitants. We learn 
that the north-west coast of Greenland is separated from America by a very 
narrow strait ; that, at the bottom of the bay into which this strait conducts, 
it is highly probable that they are united ;t that the inhabitants of the two 
countries have some intercourse with one another; that the Esquimaux of 
America perliectly resemble the Greenlanders in their aspect, dress, and 
mode of living; that some sailors who had acquired the knowledge of a 
(ew words in the Greenlandish language, reported that these were under- 
stood by the Esquimaux; that, at "length [A. D. 1764], a Moravian mis- 
sionary, Avell acquainted with the language of Greenland, having visited 
the country of the Esquimaux, found, to his astonishment, that they spoke 
the same language with the Greenlanders; that they were in every respect 
the same people, and he was accordingly received and entertained by 
them as a triend and a brother.^ 

By these decisive facts, not only the consanguinity of the Esquimaux and 
Greenlanders is established, but the possibility of peopling America from 
the north of Europe is demonstrated. If the Nor\\egians, in a barbarous 
age, when science had not begun to dawn in the north of Europe, possessed 
such naval skill as to open a communication with Greenland, their ancestors^ 
as much addicted to roving by sea, as the Tartars are to wandering by 
land, might, at some more remote period, accomplish the same voyage, 
and settle a colony there, whose descendants might, in progress of time, 
migrate into America. But if, instead of venturing to sail directly from 
their own coast to Greenland, we suppose that the Norwegians held a more 
cautious course, and advanced from Shetland to the Feroe islands, and from 
them to Iceland, in all which they had planted colonies ; their progress 
may have been so gradual, that this navigation cannot be considered as 
either longer or more hazardous than those voyages which that hardy and 
enterprising race of men is known to have performed in everj- age. 

8. Though it be possible that America may have received its first inhabit- 
ants from our continent, either by the north-west of Europe or the north- 
east of Asia, there seems to be good reason fur supposing that the progenitors 
of all the American nations trom Cape Horn to the southern confines of 
Labrador, migrated from the latter rather than the former. The Esquimaux 
are the only people in America, who in their aspect or character bear any 
resemblance to the northern Europeans. They are manifestly a race of 
men distinct from all the nations of the American continent, in language, 
in disposition, and in habits of life. Their original, then, niay warrantably 
be traced up to that source which I have pointed out. But among all the 
other inhabitants of America, there is such a striking similitude in the form 
of their bodies and the qualities of their minds, that, notwithstanding the 
diversities occasioned by the influences of climate, or unequal progress in 
improvement, we Tnust pronounce them to be descended from one source. 
There rnay be a variety in the shades, but we can every where trace the 
same original colour. Each tribe has something peculiar which distinguishes 

• Crantz' Hist, of Grccnl. i. 242. iM4. Picvct, Hist. G6n. des Voyages, torn. xv. 152, note (fi6), 
t £ggedc, p. 2, 3. t Ctaatz' Uut. of Greeul. p. 2t>l, 362, 



AMERICA. 137 

it, but in all of thpm we discern certain features common to the whole race. 
It IS remarkable, that in every peculiarity, whether in their persons or 
dispositions, which characterize the Americans, they have some resemblance 
to the rude tribes scattered over the noith-east of Asia, but almost none to 
the nations settled in the northern extremities of Europe. We may, there- 
fore, re'>,i- them to the former origin, and conclude that their Asiatic 
progenitors, having settled in those parts of America where the Russians 
have discovered the proximity of the two continents, spread gradually oyer 
its various regions. This account of the progress of population m America 
coincides with the traditions of the Mexicans concerning their own origin, 
which, imperfect as they are, were preserved with more accuracy, and 
merit greater credit, than those of any people in the New World. Ac- 
cording to them, their ancestors came from a remote country situated to the 
north-west of Mexico. The Mexicans point out their various stations as 
they advanced from this into the interior provinces, and it is precisely the 
same route which they must have held it they had been emigrants from 
Asia. The Mexicans, in desciibing the appearance of their progenitors, 
their manners and habits of life at that period, exactly delineate those of 
the rude Tartais from whom I suppose them to have sprung.* 

Thus have I finished a Disquisition which has been deemed of so much 
importance that it would have been improper to omit it in writing the his- 
tory of America. I have ventured to inquire, but without presuming to 
decide. Satisfied with offering conjectures, 1 pretend not to establish any 
system. When an investigation is, from its nature, so intricate and obscure, 
that it is impossible to arrive at conclusions which are certain, there maj 
be some merit in pointing out such as are probable.! 

The condition and character of the American nations, at the time when 
they became knoAvn to the Europeans, deserve more attentive considera- 
tion than the inquiry concerning their original. The latter is merely an 
object of curiosity ; the former is one of the most important as well as 
instructive researches which can occupy the philosopher or historian. In 
order to complete the history of the human mind, and attain to a perfect 
knowledge of its nature and operations, we must contemplate man m all 
those various situations wherein he has been placed. We must follow him 
in his progress through the different stages of society, as he gradually ad- 
vances from the infant state of civil life towards its maturity and decline. 
We must observe, at each period, how the faculties of his understanding 
unfold ; we must attend to the efforts of his active powers, watch the va- 
rious movements of desire and affection, as they rise in his breast, and 
mark whither they tend, and with what ardour they are exerted. The 
philosophers and historians of ancient Greece and Rome, our guides in 
this a? well as every other disquisition, had only a limited view of this 
subifect, as they had hardly any opportunity of surveying man in hjs rudest 
and most earfy state. In all those regions of the earth with which they 
were well acquainted, civil society had made considerable advances, and 
nations had finished a good part of their career before they began to ob- 
serve them. The Scythians and Germans, the rudest people of whom 
any ancient author has transmitted to us an authentic account, possessed 
flocks and herds, had acquired property of various kinds, and, when com- 
pared with mankind in their primitive state, may be reckoned to have 
attained to a great degree of civilization. 

But the discovery of the New World enlarged the sphere of contem- 
plation, and presented nations to our view, in stages of their progress, 
much less advanced than those wherein they have been obser\'cd in our 
continent. In America, man appears under the rudest form in which we 

* Acosta, Hist. Nat. et Mor. lib. vii. c 2, &c. Garcia, Origen do los Indios, lib. v. c. 3. Tor- 
quemada Monar Ind. lib. i. c. 2. ice. Boturiiii Renaduci Idea de una Hist, de la Amcr. SeptentEp 
sect. xvii. p. 127. t M^moiien iwc la LouUianc, par Duraout, tore. 1. p. Ud. 

Vol. I.— 18 8 



I 



138 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

can conceive him to subsist. We behold communities just beginning to 
unite, and may examine the sentiments and actions oi human beings in 
the infancy of social life, while they teel but imperfectly the force of its 
ties, and have scarcely relinquished[ their native liberty. That state of 
jrimeval simplicity, which was known in our continent only by the fanci- 
"ul description of poets, really existed in the other. The greater part of 
its inhabitants Avere strangers to industry and labour, ignorant of arts, im- 
perfectly acquainted with the nature of property, and enjoying almost 
without restriction or control the blessings which Howed spontaneously 
from the bounty of nature. 1 here were only two nations in this vast 
continent which had emerged from this rude state, and had made any 
considerable progress in acquiring ^he ideas, and adopting the institutions, 
which belong to polished societies Their government and manners will 
fall naturally under our review in relating the discovery and conquest of 
the Mexican and Peruvian empires •, and we shall have there an oppor- 
tunity of contemplating the Americans in the slate of highest improve- 
ment to which they ever attained. 

At present, our attention and researches shall be turned to the small in- 
dependent- tribes which occupied every other part of America. Amon"' 
these, though with some diversity in their character, their manners, and 
institutions, the state of society was nearly similar, and so extremely rude, 
that the denomination of savage may be applied to them all. In a gene- 
ral history of America, it would be highly improper to describe the con- 
dition of each petty community, or to investigate every minute circum- 
stance which contributes to form the character of its members. Such an 
inquiry would lead to details of immeasurable and tiresome extent. The 
qualities belonging to the people of all the different tribes have such a 
near resemblance, that they may be painted with the same features. 
Where any circumstances seem to constitute a diversity in their charac- 
ter and manners worthy of attention, it will be sufficient to point these 
out as they occur, and to inquire into the cause of such peculiarities. 

It is extremely difficult to procure satisfying and authentic information 
concerning nations while they remain uncivilized. To discover their true 
character under this rude form, and to select the features by which they 
are distinguished, requires an observer possessed of no less impartiality 
than discernment. For, in every stage of society, the faculties, the sen- 
timents, and desires of men are so accommodated to their own state, that 
they become standards of excellence to themselves, they affix the idea of 
perfection and happiness to those attainments which resemble their own, 
and, wherever the objects and enjoyments to which they have been ac 
customed are wanting, confidently pronounce a peo])]e to be barbarous 
and miserable. Hence the mutual contempt with which the members of 
communities, unequal in their degrees of improvement, regard each other. 
Polished nations, conscious of the advantages which they derive from their 
knowledge and arts, are apt to view rude nations with peculiar scorn, and, 
in the pride of superiority, will hardly allow either their occupations, their 
feelings, or their pleasures, to be worthy of men. It has seldom been the 
lot of communities, in their early and unpolished state, to fall under the ob- 
servation of persons endowed with force of mind superior to vulgar preju- 
dices, and capable of contemplating man, under whatever aspect he appears, 
with a candid and discerning eye. 

The Spaniards, who first visited America, and who had opportunity ol 
beholding its various tribes while entire and unsubdued, and before any 
change had been made in their ideas or manners by intercourse with a race 
of men much advanced beyond them in improvement, were far from pos- 
sessing the qualities requisite for observing the striking spectacle presented 
to their view. Neither the age in which they lived, nor the nation to which 
they belonged, had made such progress in true science, as inspires enlarged 



AMERICA. 139 

and liberal sentiments. The conquerors of the New World were mostly 
illiterate adventurers, destitute of all the ideas which should have directed 
them in contemplating: objects so extremely different from those Avith which 
they were acquainted. Surrounded continually with danger or struggling 
with hardships, they had little leisure, and less capacity, for any speculative 
inquiiy. Eager to take possession of a country of such extent and opu- 
lence, and hajspy in finding it occupied by inhabitants so incapable to de- 
fend it, they hastily pronounced then) to be a wretched order of men, form- 
ed merely for servitude ; and were more employed in computing the profits 
of their labour, than in inquiring into the operations of their minds, or the 
reasons of their customs and institutions. The persons who penetrated at 
subsequent periods into the interior provinces, to which the knowledge and 
devastations of the first conquerors did not reach, were generally of a simi 
lar character ; brave and enterprising in a high degree, but so uninformed 
as to be little qualified either for observing or describing what they beheld. 

Not only the incapacity but the prejudices of the Spaniards rendered 
their accounts of the people of America extremely defective. Soon after 
they planted colonies in their new conquests, a dinerence in opinion arose 
with respect to the treatment of the natives. One party, solicitous to ren 
der their servitude perpetual, represented them as a brutish, obstinate race, 
incapable either of acquiring religious knowledge, or of being trained to 
the functions of social life. The other, full of pious concern for their con- 
version, contended that, though rude and ignorant, they were gentle, affec- 
tionate, docile, and by proper instructions and regulations might be formed 
gradually into good Christians and useful citizens. This controversy, as I 
nave already related, was carried on with all the warmth which is natural, 
when attention to interest on the one hand, and religious zeal on the other, 
animate the disputants. Most of the laity espoused the former opinion ; 
all the ecclesiastics were advocates for the latter; and we shal-1 uniformly 
find that, accordingly as an author belonged to either of these parties, he 
is apt to magnify the virtues or aggravate the defects of the Americans 
far beyond truth. Those repugnant accounts increase the difficulty of 
attaining a perfect knowledge of their character, and render it necessary 
to peruse all the descriptions of them by Spanish writers with distrust, 
and to receive their information with some grains of allowance. 

Almost two centuries elapsed after the discovery of America, before 
the manners of its inhabitants attracted, in any considerable degree, the 
attention of philosophers. At length they discovered that the contemplation 
of the condition and characterof the Americans, in their original state, tend- 
ed to complete our knowledge of the human species ; might enable us to 
fill up a considerable chasm in the history of its progress ; and lead to spe- 
culations no less curious than important. They entered upon this new 
field of study Avith great ardour ; but, instead of throwing light upon the 
subject, they have contributed in some degree to involve it in ad(iitional 
obscurity. Too impatient to inquire, they hastened to decide ; and began 
to erect systems, when they should have been searching for facts on which 
to establish their foundations. Struck with the appearance of degene- 
racy in the human species throughout the New World, and astonished at 
beholding a vast continent occupied by a naked, feeble, and ignorant race 
of men, some authors, of great name, have maintained that this part of 
the globe had but lately emerged from the sea, and become fit for the, 
residence of man; that every thing in it bore marks of a recent ori":in9il ; 
and that its inhabitants, lately called into existence, and still at the begin- 
ning of their career, were unworthy to be compared with the people ot 
a more ancient and improved continent.* Others have imagined, that, 
under the influence of an unkindly climate, which checks and enervate* 

* M. de Buffon Hist. Nat. iii. 464, Ace. iz. 103. 114. 



no HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

the principle of life, man never attained in America the perfection which 
belongs to his nature, but remained an animal of an inferior order, defec- 
tive in the vigour of his bodily frame, and destitute of sensibility, as well 
as of force, in the operations of his mind.* In opposition to both these, 
other philosophers have supposed that man arrives at his highest dignity 
and excellence long before he reaches a state of refinement ; and, in the 
rude simplicity of savage life, displa;^s an elevation of sentiment, an in- 
dependence of mind, and a warmth of attachment, for which it is vain to 
search among the members of polished societies.! They seem to consi- 
der that as the most perfect state of man which is the least civilized. 
They describe the manners of the rude Americans with such rapture, as 
if they proposed them for models to the rest of the species. These con- 
tradictory theories have been proposed with equal confidence, and un- 
common powers of genius and eloquence have been exerted, in order to 
clothe them with an appearance of truth. 

As all those circumstances concur in rendering an inquiry into the state 
of the rude nations in America intricate and obscure, it is necessary to carry 
it on with caution. When guided in our researches by the intelligent 
observations of the few philosophers who have visited this part of the 
globe, we may venture to decide. When obliged to have recourse to the 
superficial remarks of vulgar travellers, of sailors, traders, buccaneers, and 
missionaries, we must often pause, and, comparing detached facts, endeavour 
to discover what they wanted sagacity to observe. Without indulging 
conjecture, or betraying a propensity to either system, we must study with 
equal care to avoid the extremes of extravagant admiration, or of supercilious 
contempt for those manners which we describe. 

In order to conduct this inquiry with greater accuracy, it should be 
rendered as simple as possible. Man existed as an individual before he 
became the member of a community ; and the qualities which belong to 
him under his former capacity should be known, before we proceed to 
examine those which arise from the latter relation. This is peculiarly 
necessary in investigating the manners of rude nations. Their political 
union is so incomplete, their civil institutions and regulations so few, so 
simple, and of such slender authority, that men in this state ought to be 
viewed rather as independent agents, than as members of a regular society. 
The character of a savage results almost entirely from his sentiments or 
feelings as an individual, and is but little influenced by his imperfect 
subjection to government and order. I shall conduct my researches 
concerning the manners of the Americans in this natural order, proceeding 
gradually from what is simple to what is more complicated. 

I shall consider, I. The bodily constitution of the Americans in those 
regions now under review. II. The qualities of their minds. III. Their 
domestic state. IV. Their political state and institutions. V. Their 
system of war, and public security. VI. The arts with which they were 
acquainted. Vll. Their religious ideas and institutions. VIII. Such 
singular detached customs as are not reducible to any of the former heads. 
IX. I shall conclude with a general review and estimate of their virtues 
and defects. 

I. The bodily constitution of the Americans. — The human body is less 
affected by climate than that of any other animal. Some animals are 
confined to a particular region of the globe, and cannot exist beyond it ; 
others, though they may be brought to bear the imuries of a climate 
foreign to them, cease to multiply when carried out of that district which 
nature destined to be their mansion. Even such as seem capable of being 
naturalized in various climates feel the effect of every remove from their 
proper station, and gradually dwindle and degenerate from the vigour and 

* >L de P. Recbercbes Fblloe. sur les Am^ric. patninu t M. Rousseau, 



AMERICA. 141 

perfection peculiar to their species. Man is the only living creature 
whose frame is at once so hardy and so flexible, that he can spread over 
the whole earth, become the inhabitant of every region, and thrive and 
multiply under eveiy climate. Subject, however, to the general law of 
Nature, the human body is not entirely exempt from the operation of 
climate ; and when exposed to the extremes either of heat or cold, its 
size or vigour diminishes. 

The first appearance of the inhabitants of the New World_ filled the 
discoverers with such astonishment that they were apt to imagine them a 
race of men different from those of the other hemisphere. Their com- 
plexion is of a reddish brown, nearly resembling the colour of copper.* 
The hair of their heads is always black, long, coarse, and uncurled. They 
have no beard, and every part of their body is perfectly smooth. Their 
persons are of a full size, extremely straight, and well proportioned [44]. 
Their features are regular, though often distorted by absurd endeavours 
to improve the beauty of their natural form, or to render their aspect more 
dreadful to their enemies. In the islands, where four-footed animals were 
both few and small, and the earth yielded her productions almost spon- 
taneously, the constitution of the natives, neither braced by the active 
exercises of the chase, nor invigorated by the labour of cultivation, was 
extremely feeble and languid. On the continent, where the forests abound 
with game of various kinds, and the chief occupation of many tribes was 
to pursue it, the human frame acquired greater firmness. Still, however, 
the Americans were more remarkable lor agility than strength. They 
resembled beasts of prey, rather than animals formed for labour [45]. 
They were not only averse to toil, but incapable of it ; and when roused 
by force from their native indolence, and compelled to work, they sunk 
nnder tasks which the people of the other continent would have performed 
with ease.t This feebleness of constitution was universal among the 
inhabitants of those regions in America which we are surveying, and may 
be considered as characteristic of the species there.| 

The beardless countenance and smooth skin of the American seems to 
indicate a defect of vigour, occasioned by some vice in his frame. He is 
destitute of one sign of manhood and of strength. This peculiarily, by 
which the inhabitants of the New World are distinguished from the 
people of all other nations, cannot be attributed, as some travellers have 
supposed, to their mode of subsistence. § For though the food of many 
Americans be extremely insipid, as they are altogether unacquainted with 
the use of salt, rude tribes in other parts of the earth have subsisted on 
aliments equally simple, without this mark of degradation, or any apparent 
symptom of a diminution in their vigour. 

As the external form of the Americans leads us to suspect that there is 
some natural debility in their trame, the smallness of their appetite for 
food has been mentioned by many authors as a confirmation ot this sus- 
picion. The quantity of food which men consume varies according to the 
temperature of the climate in which they live, the degree of activity 
which they exert, and the natural vigour of their constitutions. Under 
the enervating heat of the torrid zone, and when men pass their days in 
indolence and ease, they require less nourishment than the active inhabitants 
of temperate or cold countries. But neither the warmth of their climate, 
nor their extreme lazmess, will account for the uncommon defect of 
appetite among the Americans. The Spaniards were astonished with 
observing this, not only in the islands, but in several parts of the continent. 
The constitutional temperance of the natives far exceeded, in their opinion, 

* Oviedo Somario p. 4(1. D. Life of Columbus, c. 24. f Oviedo Som. p. 51. C; Voy, 

de Correal, ii. 13fl. Wafer's Description, n. l.')l. t B. Las Casas Brev. Relac. p. 4. Torquem. 

Moiiar. i. 580. Oviedo Somario, p. 41. Histor. lib. iii. c. H. ticrrera, dec. i. lib. xi. c. 5. Simon, 
p. 41. $ Charlev. Hist. de. Nouv. Fc. iii. 310. 



142 HISTORY OF [Book IV, 

the abstinence of the most mortified hermits * while, on the other hand, 
the appetite of the Spaniards appeared to the Americans insatiably 
voracious ; and they affirmed, that one Spaniard devoured more food in a 
day than was sufficient for ten Americans.! 

A proof of some feebleness in their frame, still more striking, is the 
insensibility of the Americans to the charms of beauty, and the power of 
love. That passion which was destined to perpetuate life, to be the bond of 
social union, and the source of tenderness and joy, is the most ardent in 
the human breast. Though the perils and hardships of the savage state, 
though excessive fatigue on some occasions, and the difficulty at all times 
ot procuring subsistence, may seem to be adverse to this passion, and to 
have a tendency to abate its vigour, yet the rudest nations in every other 
part of the globe seem to feel its influence more powerfully than the 
mhabitants ot the New World. The negro glows with all the warmth of 
desire natural to his climate ; and the most uncultivated Asiatics discover 
that sensibility, which, from their situation on the globe, we should expect 
them to have felt. But the Americans are, in an amazing degree, strangers 
to the force of this first instinct of nature. In every part of the New 
World the natives treat their women with coldness and indifference. 
They are neither the objects of that tender attachment which takes place 
in civilized society, nor of that ardent desire conspicuous among rude 
nations. Even in climates where this passion usually acquires its greatest 
vigour, the savage of America views his temale with disdain, as an animal 
of a less noble species. He is at no pains to win her favour by the 
assiduity of courtship, and still less solicitous to preserve it by indulgence 
and gentleness.| Missionai'ies themselves, notwithstanding the austerity 
of monastic ideas, cannot refrain from expressing their astonishment at the 
dispassionate coldness of the American young men in their intercourse 
with the other sex.§ Nor is this reserve to be ascribed to any opinion 
which they entertain with respect to the merit of temale chastity. That 
is an idea too refined for a savage, and suggested by a delicacy of sentiment 
and affection to which he is a stranger. 

But in inquiries concerning either the bodily or mental qualifies of 
particular races of men, there is not a more common or more seducing 
error, than that of ascribing to a single cause, those characteristic 
peculiarities which are the effect of the combined operation of many 
causes. The climate and soil of America differ in so many respects from 
those of the other hemisphere, and this difference is so obvious and striking, 
that philosophers of great eminence have laid hold on this as sufficient to 
account for what is peculiar in the constitution of its inhabitants. They 
rest on physical causes alone, and consider the feeble frame and languid 
desire of the Americans, as consequences of the temperament of that 
portion of the globe which they occupy. But the influences of political 
and moral causes ought not to have been overlooked. These operate with 
no less effect than that on which many philosophers rest as a full explanation 
of the singular appearances which have been mentioned. Wherever the 
state of society is such as to create many wants and desires, which cannot 
be satisfied without regular exertions of industry, the body accustomed to 
labour becomes robust and patient of fatigue. In a more simple state, 
where the demands of men are so few and so moderate that they may be 
gratified, almost without any effort, by the spontaneous productions of 
nature, the powers of the body are not called forth, nor can they attain their 
proper strength. The natives of Chili and of North America, the two 

* Ramusio, iii. 304. F. 306. A. Simon Conquista, &c. p. 39. Hakluyt, iii. 468. ."SOB. t Herrcra, 
dec. 1. lib. ii. c. 16. J Hennepin Mtr-urs des Sauvages, 32, &.C. Roctiefurt Hist, dps Isles 

Antilles, p. 4(51. Voyage de (."orreal, ii. 141. Ramusio, iii. 309. F. Lozano Descr. del Oran Chaco, 
71. Falkner's Descr. of Patapon, p. 125. Letlcredi P. Calaneo ap. Muralori 11 Christian. Felice, 
i. 305. « Chanvalon, p. 51. Lettr. Edif. lorn. xiiv. 318. Tertre, ii. 377. Vx-negas, j, 81. 

Ribas Hist, de los Triuinf. p. II. 



AMERICA. 143 

temperate regions in the New World, who live hj hunting, may be deemed 
an active and vigorous race, when compared with the inhabitants of the 
isles, or of those parts of the continent where hardly any labour is requisite 
to procure subsistence. The exertions of a hunter are not, however, so 
regular, or so continued, as thos6 of persons employed in the culture of 
the earth, or in the various arts of civilized life ; and though his agilitv 
may be greater than theirs, his strength is on the whole inferior,, If 
another direction were given to the active powers of man in the New 
World, and his force augmented by exercise, he might acquire a degree 
of vigour which he does not in his present state possess. The truth o! 
this is confirmed by experience. A\herever the Americans have been 
gradually accustomed to hard labour, their constitutions become robust, 
and they have been found capable of performing such tasks, as seemed 
not only to exceed the powers of such a feeble frame as has been deemed 
peculiar to their coQntry, but to equal any effort of the natives either of 
Africa or of Europe [46], 

The same reasoning will apply to what has been observed concernins: 
their slender demand for food. As a proof that this should be ascribecl 
as much to their extreme indolence, and often total want of occupation, as 
to any thing peculiar in the physical stnjcture of their bodies, it has been 
observed, that in those districts where the people of America are obliged 
to exert any unusual effort of activity, in order to procure subsistence, or 
wherever they are employed in severe labour, their appetite is not inferior 
to that of other men, and in some places, it has struck observers as remark 
ably voracious.* 

The operation of political and moral causes is still more conspicuous in 
modit'ying the degree of attachment between the sexes. In a state of high 
civilization, this passion, inflamed by restraint, refined by delicacy, and 
cherished by fashion, occupies and engrosses the heart. It is no longer a 
simple instinct of nature ; sentiment heightens the ardour of desire, and 
the most tender emotions of which our frame is susceptible soothe and 
agitate the soul. This description, however, applies only to those, who, 
by their situation, are exempted from the cares and labours of life. Among 
persons of inferior order, who are doomed by their condition to incessant 
toil, the dominion of this passion is less violent ; their solicitude to procure 
subsistence, and to provide for the first demand of nature, leaves little 
le-isure for attending to its second call. But if the nature of the intercourse 
between the sexes varies so much in persons of different rank in polished 
societies, the condition of man while he remains uncivilized must occasion 
a variation still more apparent. We may well suppose, that amidsf the 
hardships, the dangers, and the simplicity of domestic life, where subsist- 
ence is always precarious and ollen scanty, where men are almost con- 
tinually engaged in the pursuit of their enemies, or in guarding against their 
attacks, and where neither dress nor reserve are employed as arts of 
female allurement, that the attention of the Americans to their women 
v.'ould be extremely feeble, Avithout imputing this solely to any physical 
delect or degradation in their frame. 

It is accordingly observed, that in those countries of America where, 
from the iertility of the soil, the mildness of the climate, or some further 
advances which the natives have made in hnprovement, the means of 
subsistence are more abundant, and the hard; aips of savage life are less 
severely felt, the animal passion of the sexes becomes more ardent. 
Striking examples of this occur among some tribes seated on the banks of 
great rivers well stored with food, among others who are masters of 
hunting grounds abounding so much with game, that they have a regular 
and plentiful supply of nourishment with little labour. The superior degree 

* Gumilla, u. 12. 7U. 247. Lafitau, i. 513. Ovolle Church, it. 81. Muratori, i. 295. 



144 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

of security and affluence which those tribes enjoy is followed by their 
natural effects. The passions implanted in the human frame by the hand 
of nature acquire additional Ibrce ; new tastes and desires are Ibi med ; the 
women, as they are more valued and admired, become more attpnli\e to 
dress and ornament ; the men beginning; to t'eel how much of their oun 
happiness depends upon them, no longer disdain the arts of winning; their 
favour and affection. The intercourse of the sexes becomes very different 
from that which takes place among their ruder countr^'men ; and as hardly 
any restraint is imposed on the gratification of desire, either by religion or 
laws or decency, the dissolution of their manners is excessive.* 

Notwithstanding the feeble make of the Americans, hardly any of them 
are deformed, or mutilated, or defective in any of their senses. All 
travellers have been struck with this circumstance, and have celebrated 
the Uniterm symmetry and perfection of their external figure. Some 
authors search for the cause of this appearance in their physical condition. 
As the parents are not exhausted or over fatigued with hard labour, they 
suppose that their children are born vigorous and sound. They imagine 
that, in the liberty of savage life, the human body, naked and unconhned 
from its earliest age, preserves its natural form ; and that all its limbs and 
members acquire a juster proportion than when lettered with artificial 
restraints, which stint its growth and distort its shape. f Something, without 
doubt, may be ascribed to the operation of these causes; but the true 
reasons of this apparent advantage, which is common to all savage nations, 
lie deeper, and are closely interwoven with the nature and genius of that 
state. The infancy of man is so long and so helpless, that it is extremely 
difficult to rear children among rude nations. Their means of subsistence 
are not only scanty, but precarious. Such as live by hunting must range 
over extensive countries, and shil't often from place to place. The care of 
children, as well as every other laborious task, is devolved upon the women. 
The distresses and hardships of the savage life, which are often such as 
can hardly be supported by persons in full vigour, must be iatal to those 
of more tender age. Afraid of undertaking a task so laborious, and of such 
long duration, as that of rearing their offspring, the women, in some parts of 
America, procure frequent abortions by the use of certain herbs, and extin- 
guish the first sparks of that life which they are unable to cherish.]; Sen- 
sible that only stout and well Ibrmed children have force of constitution to 
struggle through such a hard infancy, other nations abandon and destroy 
such of their progeny as appear I'eeble or defective, as unworthy of attention.§ 
Even when they endeavour to rear all their children without distinction, so 
great a proportion of the whole number perishes under the rigorous treat- 
ment which must be their lot in the savage stale, that few of those who 
laboured under any original frailty attain the age of manhood. || Thus, 
in polished societies, where the means of subsistence are secured with 
certainty, and acquired with ease ; where the talents of the mind are 
often of more importance than the powers of the body ; children are pre- 
served notwithstanding their defects or deformity, and grow up to be useful 
citizens. In rude nations, such persons are either cut off as soon as they 
are boin, or, becoming a burden to themselves and to the community, 
cannot long piotract their lives. But in those provinces of the New 
World, where, by the establishment of the Europeans, more regular pro- 
vision has been made lor the subsistence of its inhabitants, and they are 
restrained from laying violent hands on their children, the Americans are 
so far from being eminent for any superior perfection in their form, that 
one should ratlier suspect some peculiar imbecility in the race, from the 

* B'lPt. 3?9. Charlev. iii. 423. Dumont. M^m. sut Louisiane, i. 155. t Pi»o, p. & 

t Ellis's Voyage to f I udson's Bay, 198. Hcrrera, dec. 7. lib. U. c. 4. ^ Gumilla Hist-il. 3^. 

Techo'8 Hist, of Faraguay, &.c. Churchill's Collect, vj. 108. || Creuiii. Hist. Canad, p. 57. 



AMERICA. 145 

extraordinajy number of individuals who are deformed, dwarfish, mutilated, 
blind, or deaf.* 

How feeble soever the constitution of the Americans may be, it is re- 
markable that there is less variety in the human form throughout the New 
World than in the ancient continent. When Columbus and the other 
discoverers first visited the dirt'erent countries of America which lie within 
the torrid zone, they naturally expected to find people of the sam^ 
complexion with those in the corresponding regions of the other hemi- 
sphere. To their amazement, however, they discovered that America 
contained no negroes :t and the cause of this singular appearance became 
as much the object of curiosity as the fact itself was of wonder. In what 
part or membrane of the body that humour resides which tinges the 
complexion of the negro with a deep black, it is the business of anatomists 
to inquire and describe. The powerful operation of heat appears mani- 
festly to be the cause which produces this striking variety in the human 
species. Ail Europe, a great part of Asia, and the temperate countries of 
Africa, are inhabited by men of a white complexion. All the torrid zone 
in Africa, some of the warmer regions adjacent to it, and several countries 
in Asia, are filled with people of a deep black colour. If we survey the 
nations of our continent, making our progress from cold and temperate 
countries towards those parts wiiich are exposed to the influence of vehe- 
ment and unremitting heat, we shall find that the extreme whiteness of 
their skin soon begins to diminish ; that its colour deepens gradually as we 
advance ; and, after passing through all the successive gradations of shade, 
terminates in a unitbrm unvarying black. But in America, where the 
agency of heat is checked and abated by various causes, \vhich I have 
already explained, the climate seems to be destitute of that force which 
produces such wonderful effects on the human frame. The colour of the 
natives of the torrid zone in America is hardly of a deeper hue than that 
of the people in the more temperate parts of their continent. Accurate 
observers, who had an opportunity of viewing the Americans in veiy 
different climates, and in provinces far removed from each other, have 
been struck with the amazing similarity of their fisrure and aspect [47]. 

But though the hand of nature has deviated solittle from one standard 
in fashioning the human form in America, the creation of fancy hath been 
various and extravagant. The same fables that were current in the ancient 
continent, have been revived with respect to the New World, and America 
too has been peopled with human beings of monstrous and fantastic 
appearance. The inhabitants of certain provinces were described to be 
pigmies of three feet high ; those of others to be giant? of an enormous 
size. Some travellers published accounts of people with only one eye ; 
others pretended to have discovered men without heads, whose eves "and 
mouths were planted in their breasts. The variety of Nature in ber pro- 
ductions is indeed so great, that it is presumptuous to set bounds to her 
fertility, and to reject indiscriminately every relation that does not perfectly 
accord with our own limited observation and experience. But the other 
extreme, of yielding a hasty assent on the slighest evidence to whatever 
has the appearance of being strange and mar^•ellous, is still more unbe- 
coming a philosophical inquirer ; as, in every period, men are more apt to 
be betrayed into error by their weakness in believing too much, than by 
their arrogance in believing too little. In proportion as science extends, 
and nature is examined with a discerning eye, the wonders which amused 
ages of Ignorance disappear. The tales of credulous travellers concemir.g 
America are forgotten ; the monsters which they describe have been 
searched for in vain ; and those provinces where they pretend to have 

• Voy. de Ulloa, i. 332. T P- Martyr, dec. p. 71. 

Vol. I.— 19 



146 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

found inhabitants of singular forms, are now known to be possessed by a 
people nowise different iVoin the other Americans. 

Though those relations may, without discussion, be rejected as fabulous, 
there are other accounts of varieties in the human species in some parts of 
the New World, which rest upon better evidence, and merit more attentive 
examination. This variety has been particularly observed in three dilferent 
districts. The first of these is situated in the isthmus of Darien, near the 
centre of America. Lionel Wafer, a traveller possessed of more curiosity 
and intelligence than we should have expected to find in an associate of 
Buccaneers, discovered there a race of men few in number, but of a 
singular make. They are of low stature, according to his description, of 
a feeble frame, incapable of enduring fatigue. Their colour is a dead 
milk white ; not resembling that of fair people among the Europeans, but 
without any tincture of a blush or sanguine complexion. Their skin is 
covered with a fine hairy down of a chalky white ; the hair of their heads, 
their eyebrows, and eye-lashes, are of the same liue. Their eyes are of 
a singular form, and so weak that tiiey can hardly bear llie light of the 
sun ; but they see clearly by moonlight, and are most active and gay in 
the night.* No race similar to this has been discovered in any other part 
of America. Cortes, indeed, found some persons exactly resembling the 
white people of Darien among the rare and monstrous animals which 
Montezuma had collected.! But as the power of the Mexican empire 
extended to the provinces bordering on the isthmus of Darien, they were 
probably brought thence. Singular as the appearance of those people may 
be, they cannot be considered as constituting a distinct species. Among 
the negroes of Africa, as well as the natives of the Indian islands, nature 
sometimes produces a small number of individuals, with all the characteristic 
features and qualities of the white people of Darien. The tbrmer are 
called Albinos by the Portuguese, the latter Kackerlakes by the Dutch. In 
Darien the parents of those IVhites are of the same colour with the other 
natives ot the country ; and this observation applies equally to the anomalous 
progeny of the Negroes and Indiai.s. The same mother who produces 
some children of a colour that does not belong to the race, brings forth the 
rest with a complexion pecuhar to her country.! One conclusion may then 
be formed with respect to the people described by AVafer, the Albinos and 
the Kackerlakes; they are a degenerated breed, not a separate class of 
men ; and from some disease or defect of their parents, the peculiar coloin* 
anddebility which mark their degradation are transmitted to them. As a 
decisive proof of this, it has been observed, that neither the white people 
of Darien, nor the Albinos of Africa, propagate their race : their children 
are of the colour and temperament peculiar to the natives of their respective 
countries§ [48]. 

The second district that is occupied by inhabitants differing in appear- 
ance from the other people of America, is situated in a high northern 
latitude, extending from the coast of Labrador towards the pole, as far as 
the country is habitable. The people scattered over those dreary regions 
are known to the Europeans by the name of Esquimaux. They them- 
selves, with that idea of their own superiority, which consoles the rudest 
and most wretched nations, assume the name of Keralit or Men. They 
are of a middle size, and robust, with heads of a disproportioned bulk, 
and feet as remarkably small. Their compleiion though swarthy, by being 
continually exposed to the rigour of a cold climate, inclines to the European 
white rather than to the copper colour of America, and the men have 
beards which are sometimes bushy and long.ll From these marks of 

• Wafer's Descript. of Isth. ap. Dampier, iii. p. 346. t Cortps ap. Raiims. iii. p. 241. E. 

X Margrav. Hi«l. Rur. Nat. Braa. lib. viii. c. 4. ^ Wafer, p. 348. Demauet Hi^t. de rAfriqun, 

li. 2S4. Rccberch. Philr*. stir lea Auaer. ii. 1, &c. II EUis Vny. to Huds. Bay, p. 131. 139. IJe 

U Potberis, tom. 1. p. Ti. Wales Jouw. of a Vcy. to ChurcliiU Rix-er, Phil. Ttane. vol U 109. 



AMERICA. i-it 

tlistinction, as well as from one still less equivocal, the affinity of their 
language to that of the Greenlanders, which I have already mentioned, 
we may conclude, with some degree ot conhdence, that the Esquimaux 
are a race different from the rest of the Americans. 

We cannot decide with equal certainty concerning the inhabitants of the 
third district, situated at the southern extremity oi America. These are 
the famous Paiagoiiians, who, during two centuries and a half, have 
afforded a subject of controversy to the learned, and an object of wonder 
to the vulgar. They are supposed to be one of the wandering tribes 
which occupy the vast but least known region of America, which extends 
from the river de la Plata to the Straits of Magellan. Their proper 
station is in that part of the interior country which lies on the banks of the 
river Negro ; but, in the hunting season, they often roam as far as the straits 
wuich separate Tierra del Fuego from the main land. The first accounts 
of this people were brought to Europe by the companions of Magellan,* 
who described them as a gigantic race, above eight feet high, and of 
strength in proportion to their enormous size. Among several tribes of 
animals, a disparity in bulk as considerable may be observed. Some 
large breeds of horses and dogs exceed the more diminutive races in 
stature and strength, as far as the Patasionian is supposed to rise above the 
usual standard of the human body. l3ut animals attain the highest per- 
fection of their species only in mild climates, or where they find the most 
nutritive food in greatest abundance. It is not then in the uncultivated 
■waste of the Magellanic regions, and among a tribe of improvident savages, 
that we should expect to find man possessing the highest honours of his 
race, and distinguished by a superiority of size and vigour, far beyond 
what he has reached in any other part of the earth. The most explicit 
and unexceptionable evidence is requisite, in order to. establish a fact 
repugnant to those general principles and laws, which seem to affect ttie 
human frame in every other instance, and to decide with respect to its 
nature and qualities. Such evidence has not hitherto been produced. 
Though several persons, to whose testimony great respect is due, have 
visited, this part of America since the time ot Magellan, and have had 
interviews with the natives; though some have affirmed, that such as they 
saw were of gigantic stature, and others have formed the same conclusion 
from measuring their footsteps, or from viewing the skeletons of their dead ; 
yet their accounts vary from each other in so many essential points, and are 
mingled with so many circumstances manifestly false or fabulous, as detract 
much from their credit. On the other hand, some navigators, and those 
among the most eminent of their order for discernment and accuracy, have 
asserted that the natives of Patagonia, with whom they had intercourse, 
though stout and well made, are not of such extraordinary size as to be 
distinguished from the rest of the human species [49]. The existence of 
this gigantic race of men seems, then, to be one ot those points in natural 
history, with respect to which a cautious inquirer will hesitate, and will 
choose to suspend his assent until more cornplete evidence shall decide 
whether he ought to admit a fact, seemingly inconsistent with Avhat reason 
and experience have discovered concerning the structure and condition of 
man, in all the various situations in which he has been observed. 

In order to form a complete idea witli respect to the constitution of the 
mhabitants of this and the other hemisphere, we should attend not only to 
the make and vigour of their bodies, but consider what degree of health 
they enjoy, and to what period of longevity they usually arrive. In the 
simplicity of the savage state, when man is not oppressed with labour, or 
enervated by luxury, or disquieted with care, we are apt to imagine that 
this life will flow on almost untroubled by disease or sufiering, until his 

* Falkaer's Dsscrlptlon of Pamgonia, p. 102. 



148 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

days be terminated in extreme old age by the gradual decays of nature 
We find, accordingly, among the Americans, as well as among other rude 
people, persons whose decrepit and shrivelled form seems to indicate an 
extraordinary length of life. But as most of them are unacquainted with 
the art of numbering, and all of them as forgetful of what is past, as they 
are improvident of what is to come, it is impossible to ascertain their age 
with any degree of precision.* It is evident that the period of their 
longevity must vary considerably, according to the diversity of climates, 
and their different modes of subsistence. They seem, however, to be 
every where exempt from many of the distempers which afflict polished 
nations. Nnne of the maladies, which are the immediate offspring of 
luxury, ever visited them ; and they have no names in their languages by 
■which to distinguish this numerous train of adventitious evils. 

But whatever be the situation in which man is placed, he is born to 
suffer ; and his diseases in the savage state, though fewer in number, are, 
like those of the animals whom he nearly resembles in his mode of lite, 
more violent and more fatal. If luxury engenders and nourislies distempers 
of one species, the rigour and distresses of savage life bring on those of 
another. As men in this state are wonderfully improvident, and their 
means of subsistence precarious, they often pass from extreme want to 
exuberant plenty, according to the vicissitudes of fortune in the chase, or 
in consequence of the various degrees of abundance with which the earth 
affords to them its productions in different seasons. Their inconsiderate 
gluttony in the one situation, and their severe abstinence in the other, are 
equally pernicious. For though the human constitution may be accustomed 
by habit, like that of animals of prey, to tolerate long famine, and then to 
gorge voraciously, it is not a little affected by such sudden and violent 
transitions. The strength and vigour of savages are at some seasons 
impaired by what they suffer from a scarcity of food ; at others they are 
afflicted with disorders arising from indigestion and a superfluity of gross 
aliment. These are so common, that they may be considered as the 
unavoidable consequence of their m.ode of subsisting, and cut off considerable 
numbers in the prime of life. They are likewise extremely subject to 
consumptions, to pleuritic, asthmatic, and paralytic disorders,! brought on 
by the immoderate hardships and fatigue which they endure in hunting 
and in war ; or owing to the inclemency of the seasons to which they are 
continually exposed. In the savage state, hardships and fatigue violently 
assault the constitution. In polished societies, intemperance undermines 
it. It is not easy to determine which of them operates with most fatal 
effect, or tends most to abridge human life. The influence of the former is 
certainly most extensive. 1 he pernicious consequences of luxury reach 
only a few members in any community ; the distresses of savage life are felt 
by all. As far as I can judge, after very minute inquiry, the general period 
of human life is shorter among savages than in well regulated and industri- 
ous societies. 

One dreadful malady, the severest scourge with which, in this life, 
offended Heaven chastens the indulgence of criminal desire, seems to have 
been peculiar to the Americans. By communicating it to their conquerors, 
they have not only amply avenged their own wrongs, but, by adding this 
calamity to those which formerly imbittered human life, they have, perhaps, 
more than counterbalanced all the benefits which Europe has deri\ed from 
the discovery of the New World. This distemper, from the country in 
•which it first raged, or from the people by whom it was rupposed to have 
been spread over Europe, has been sometimes called the iNeapolitan, and 
sometimes the French disease. At its first appearance, the infection was 

• Ulloa Notic. Americ. 333. Bancroft Nat. Hist, of G 'liana, 334. t Charley. N. Fr. Ui. 364. 
Lafitau, u. 360. De la PoUurie, u. 37. 



AMERICA. ' 146 

so malignant, its symptoms so violent, its operation so rapid and fatal, as to 
baffle all the efforts of medical skill. Astonishment and terror accompanied 
this unknown affliction in its progress, and men began to dread the extinction 
of the human race by such a cruel visitation. Experience, and the 
ingenuity of physicians, gradually discovered remedies of such virtue as to 
cure or to mitigate the evil. During the course of two centuries and a 
half, its virulence seems to have abated considerably. At length, in the 
same manner with the leprosy, which raged in Enrope for some centuries, 
it may waste its force and disappear; and in some happier age, this 
western infection, like that from the east, may be known only by descrip- 
tion [50]. 

11. After considering what appears to be peculiar in the bodily constitution 
of t';e Americans, our attention is naturally turned towards the powers 
and qualities of their minds. As the individual advances from the igno- 
rance and imbecility of the infant state to vigour and maturity of under- 
standing, something similar to this may be observed in the progress of the 
species. With respect to it, too, there is a period of infancy, during which 
several powers of the mind are not unfolded, and all are feeble and defective 
in their operation. In the early ages of society, while the condition of 
man is simple and rude, this reason is but little exercised, and his desires 
move within a very narrow sphere. Hence arise two remarkable charac- 
teristics of the human mind in this state. Its intellectual powers are 
extremely limited ; its emotions and efforts are few and languid. Both 
these distinctions are conspicuous among the rudest and most unimproved 
of the American tribes, and constitute a striking part of their description. 

What, among polished nations, is called speculative reasoning or research, 
is altogether unknown in the rude state of society, and never becomes the 
occupation or amusement of the human faculties, until man be so far 
improved as to have secured, with certainty, the means of subsistence, as 
well as the possession of leisure and tranquillity. The thoughts and 
attention of a savage are confined within the small circle of objects imme- 
diately conducive to his preservation or enjoyment. Every thing beyond 
that escapes his observation, or is perfectly indifferent to him. Like a 
mere animal, what is before his eyes interests and atl'ects him ; what is out 
of sight, or at a distance, makes little impression.* There are several 
people in America whose limited understandings seem not to be capable of 
forming an arrangement for futurity ; neither their solicitude nor their 
foresight extends so far. They follow blindly the impulse of the appetite 
which they feel, but are entirely regardless of distant consequences, and 
even of those removed in the least degree from immediate apprehension. 
While they highly prize such things as serve for present use, or minister 
to present enjoyment, they set no value upon those which are not the 
object of some unmediate want.j When, on the approach of the evening, 
a Caribbee feels himself disposed to goto rest, no consideration will tempt 
him to sell his hammock. But, in the morning, when he is sallying out to 
the business or pastime of the day, he will part with it for the slightest toy 
that catches his fancy. J At the close of winter, while the impression of 
what he has suffered from the rigour of the climate is fresh in the nu"nd of 
the North American, he sets himself with vigour to prepare materials for 
erecting a comfortable hut to protect him against the inclemency of the 
succeeding season ; but, as soon as the weather becomes mild, he foig;ets 
what is past, abandons his work, and never thinks of it more until the return 
of cold compels him, when too late, to resume it.§ 

11 in concerns the most interesting, and seemingly the most simple, the 

• Ullo Noticias Ampric. 222. t Venegas Hist, of Calif, i. 66. Supp. Church. Coll. v. 693. 

Borde Descr. dee Caraibes, p. 16. Ellis Voy. 194, i Labat Voyogcs, li. 114, 115. Tertie, ii. 

3S5. ^ Adair'Bllist. of Amer. Indians, 417 



150 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

reason of man, while rude and destitute of culture, differs so little from the 
thoughtless levity of children, or the improvident instinct of animals, its 
exertions in other directions cannot be very considerable. The objects 
towards which reason turns, and the disquisitions in which it engages, 
must depend upon the state in which man is placed, and are suggested 
by his necessities and desires. Disquisitions, which appear the most ne- 
cessary and important to men in one state of society, never occur to those in 
another. Among civilized nations, arithmetic, or the art of numbering, is 
deemed an essential and elementary science : and in our continent, the 
invention and use of it reaches back to a period so remote as is beyond the 
knowledge of history. But among savages, who have no property to 
estimate, no hoarded treasures to count, no variety of objects or multiplicity 
of ideas to enumerate, arithmetic is a superfluous and useless art. Ac- 
cordingly, among some tribes in America it seems to be quite unknown. 
There are many who cannot reckon further than three ; and have no 
denomination to distinguish any number above it.* Several can proceed as 
far as ten, others to twenty. When they would convey an idea of any 
number beyond these, they point to the hair of their head, intimating that 
it is equal to them, or with wonder declare it to be so great that it cannot 
be reckoned.! Not only the Americans, but all nations while extremely- 
rude, seem to be unacquainted with the art of computation.;}: As soon, 
however, as they acquire such acquaintance or connexion with a variety of 
objects, that there is frequent occasion to combine or divide them, their 
knowledge of numbers increases, so that the state of this art among any 
people may be considered as one standard by which to estimate the degree 
of their improvement. The Iroquoise,in North Am.erica, as they are much 
more civilized than the rude inhabitants of Biazil, Paraguay, or Guiana, 
have likewise made greater advances in this respect ; though even their 
arithmetic does not extend beyond a thousand, as in their petty transactions 
they have no occasion for any higher number.§ The Cherokee, a less 
considerable nation on the same continent, can reckon only as far as a 
hundred, and to that extent have names for the several numbers ; the 
smaller tribes in their neighbourhood can rise no higher than tenjl [51]. 

In other respects, the exercise of the understanding among rude nations 
is still more limited. The first ideas of every human being must be such 
as he receives by the senses. But in the mind of man, while in the savage 
state, there seem to be hardly any ideas but what enter by this avenue. 
The objects around him are presented to his eye. Such as may be sub- 
servient to his use, or can gratify any of his appetites, attract his notice; 
he views the rest without curiosity or attention. Satisfied with considering 
them under that simple mode in which they appear to him, as separate and 
detached, he neither combines them so as to form general classes, nor con- 
templates their qualities apart from the subject in which they inhere, nor 
])estovvs a thought upon the operations of his own mind concerning them. 
Thus he is unacquainted with all the ideas which have been denominated 
universal, or abstract, or of reflection. The range of his understanding 
must, of course, be very confined, and his reasoning powers be emplo3'ed 
merely on what is sensible. This is so remarkably the case with the ruder 
nations of America, that their languages (as we shall afterAvards find) have 
not a word to express any thing but what is material or corporeal. Time, 
space, S7ihstance, and a thousand terms, which represent abstract and 
universal ideas, are altogether unknown to them. II A naked savage, 
cowering over the fire in his miserable cabin, or stretched under a few 

* Condam. p. C7. Ptadiiis ap. de Brj'. i^- I2«. Lprv, ibM. 251. Biet. 3r,2. Lettr, Fdif. 23. 
314. t DiMnniii Louis, i. 187. Herrera, (inc. 1. lib. iii. c. ."». liiet. 30r.. Horde, 6. J Tliis i« 

the case with the Greei:!andets, Crantz, i. 225, and \\\\h KatnchatkndalfS, M. l'Abb4 Chappe, iii. 
J7. ^ Charlev. Nouv. Franc, iii. 402. || .\dair's Hist, of Araer. Indians, 77. ir Cojidam. 
p. 54. 



AMERICA. 151 

branches which afford him a temporary shelter, has as little inclination as 
capacity for useless speculation. His thoughts extend not beyond what 
relates to animal life ; and when they are not directed towards some of 
its concerns, his mind is totally inactive. In situations where no extraor- 
dinary effort either of ingenuity or labour is requisite, in order to satisfy 
the simple demands of nature, the powers of the mind are so seldom 
roused to any exertion, that the rational faculties continue almost dormanf 
and unexercised. The numerous tribes scattered over the rich plains of 
South America, the inhabitants of some of the islands, and of several 
fertile regions on the continent, come under this description. Their vacant 
countenance, their staring unexpressive eye, their listless inattention, and 
total ignorance of subjects which seemed to be the first which should 
occupy the thoughts of rational beings, made such impression upon the 
Spaniards, Avhen they first beheld those rude people, that they considered 
them as animals of an inferior order, and could not believe that they 
belonged to the human species.* It required the authority of a papal 
bull to counteract this opinion, and to convince them that the Americans 
were capable of the functions and entitled to the privileges of humanity.! 
Since that time, persons more enlightened and impartial than the discoverers 
or conquerors of America, have had an opportunity of contemplating the 
most savage of its inhabitants, and they have been astonished and humbled 
with observing how nearly man in this condition approaches to the brute 
creation. But in severer climates, where subsistence cannot be procured 
with the same ease, where men must unite more closely, and act with 
greater concert, necessity calls forth their talents and sharpens their inven- 
tion, so that the intellectual powers are more exercised and improved. 
The North American tribes, and the nativesof Chili, who inhabit the tem- 
perate regions in the two great districts of America, are people of cultivated 
and enlarged understandings, when viewed in comparison with some of 
those seated in the islands, or on the banks of the Maragnon and Orinoco. 
Their occupations are more various, their system of policy, as well as of 
war, more complex, their arts more numerous. But even among them, 
the intellectual powers are extremely limited in their operations, and, 
unless when turned directly to those objects which interest a savage, are 
held in no estimation. Both the North Americans and Chilese, when not 
engaged in some of the fiinctions belonging to a Avarrior or hunter, loiter 
away their time in thoughtless indolence, unacquainted with any other 
subject worthy of their attention, or capable of occupying their m.inds.t 
If even among them reason is so much circumscribed in its exertions, ana 
never arrives, in its highest attainments, at the knowledge of those general 
principles and maxims which serve as the foundation of science, we may 
conclude that the intellectual powers of man in the savage state are destitute 
of their proper object, and cannot acquire any considerable degree of vigour 
and enlargement. 

From the same causes, the active efforts of the mind are few, and on 
mo';t occasions languid. If we examine into the motives which rouse 
men to activity in civilized life, and prompt them to persevere in fa- 
tiguing exertions of their ingenuity or strength, we shall find that they arise 
chietly from acquired wants and api:>etites. These are numerous and im- 
portunate ; they keep the mind in perpetual agitation, and, in order to 
f ratify them, invention nmst be always on the stretch, and industry- must 
e incessandy employed. But the desires of simple nature are few, and 
where a favourable climate yields almost spontaneously what suffices to 
gratify ihem, they scarcely stir the soul, or excite any violent emotion. 
Hence the people of several tribes in America waste their life in a listless 
indolence. To be free from occupation, seems to be all the enjoyment 

• Harrera, de«. 3. lib. ii. c. 15 t Torquem. Mon InJ Ui. 193. t Lafitau, U. S. 



132 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

towards which they aspire. They will continue whole days stretched 
out in their hammocks, or seated on the earth in perfect idleness, without 
changing their posture, or raising their eyes from the ground, or uttering 
a single word.* 

Such is their aversion to labour that neither the hope of future good 
nor the apprehension of future evil can surmount it. They appear equally 
indift'erent to both, discovering little solicitude, and taking no precautions 
to avoid the one or to secure the other. The cravings of hunger may 
rouse them ; but as they devour, with little distinction, whatever will ap- 
pease its instinctive demands, the exertions which these occasion are of 
short duration. Destitute of ardour, as well as variety of desire, they 
feel not the force of those powerful springs which ^ive vigour to the 
movements of the mind, and urge the patient hand ot industry to perse- 
vere in its efl'orts. Man, in some parts of America, appears in a form so 
rude that we can discover no effects of his activity, and the principle ol 
understanding, which should direct it, seems hardly to be unfolded. 
Like the other animals, he has no fixed residence ; he has erected no ha- 
bitation to shelter him from the inclemency of the weather ; he has taken 
no measures for securing certain subsistence ; he neither sows nor reaps ; 
but roams about as led in search of the plants and fruits which the earth 
brings forth fn succession ; and in quest of the game which he kills in the 
forest, or of the fish which he catches in the rivers. 

This description, however, applies only to some tribes. Man cannot 
continue long in this state of feeble ana uninlbrmed infancy. He was 
made for industry and action, and the powers of his nature, as well as ths 
necessity of his condition, urge him to fulfil his destiny. Accordingly, 
among most of the American nations, especially those seated in rigorous 
climates, some efforts are employed, and some previous precautions are 
taken, for securing subsistence. The career of regular industry is begun, 
and the laborious arm has made the first essays of its power. Still, how- 
ever, the improvident and slothtbl genius of the savage state predomi- 
nates. Even among those more improved tribes, labour is deemed igno- 
minious and degrading. It is only to work of a certain kind that a man 
will deign to put his hand. The greater part is devolved entirely upon 
the women. One-half of the community remains inactive, while the 
other is oppressed with the multitude and variety of its occupations. 
Thus their industry is partial, and the foresight which regulates it is no 
less limited. A remarkable instance of this occurs in the chief arrange- 
ment with respect to their manner of living. They depend for their sub- 
sistence, during one part of the year, on fishing ; during another, on hunt- 
ing; during a third, on the produce of their agriculture. Though expe- 
rience has taught them to foresee the return of those various seasons, and 
to make some provision for the respective exigencies of each, they either 
want sagacity to proportion this provision to their consumption, or are so 
incapable of any command over their appetites, that, from their inconsi- 
derate waste, they often feel the calamities of famine as severely as the 
rudest of the savage tribes. What they suffer one year does not augment 
their industry, or render them more provident to prevent similar distresses.! 
This inconsiderate thoughtlessness about futurity, the effect of ignorance 
and the cause of sloth, accompanies and characterizes man in every stage 
of savage life ;J and, by a capricious singularity in his operations, he is 
then least solicitous about supplying his wants, when the means of satis- 
fying them are most precarious, and procured with the greatest diffi- 
culty [52]. 

III. After viewing the bodily constitution of the Americans, and con- 

• Bouguer Vov. au P^rou, 102. Borde, 15 f Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 333. Lettr. Edif. 23. 998. 
Descript. of N. France, Oaborn's Collect, ii. 580. De la PoUierie, ii. 63. t Bancroft's Nat. Hirt. 
of Guiana, 326. 333. 



AMERICA. 153 

templating the powers of their minds, we are led, in the natural order of 
inquiry, to consider them as united together in society. Hitherto our re- 
searches have been confined to the operations of understanding respecting 
themselves as individuals; now thej will extend to the degree of their 
sensibility and aflection towards then- species. 

The domestic state is the first and most simple form of human associa- 
tion. The union of the sexes among different animals is of longer or 
shorter duration in proportion to the ease or difficulty of rearing their off- 
spring. Among those tribes where the season of infancy is short, and the 
young soon acquire vigour or agility, no permanent union is formed. Na- 
ture commits the care of training up the offspring to the mother alone, and 
her tenderness, without any other assistance, is equal to the task. But 
where the state of infancy is long and helpless, and the joint assiduity of 
tyoth parents is requisite in tending their feeble progeny, there a more mti- 
mate connexion takes place, and continues until the purpose of nature be 
accomplished, and the new race grow up to full maturity. As the infancy 
of man is more feeble and helpless than that of any other animal, and he 
is dependent during a much longer period on the care and foresight of his 
parents, the union between husband and wife came early to be considered 
not only as a solemn but as a permanent contract. A general state of pro- 
miscuous intercourse between the sexes never existed but in the imagi- 
nation of poets. In the infancy of society, when men, destitute of arts 
and industry, lead a hard precarious life, the rearing of their progeny de- 
mands the attention and efforts of both parents ; and if their union had 
not been formed and continued with this view, the race could not have 
been preserved. Accordingly in America, even among the rudest tribes, 
a regular union between husband and wife was universal, and the rights 
of marriage were understood and recognised. In those districts where 
subsistence was scanty, and the difficuRy cf maintaining a family wa! 
great, the man confined himself to one wife. In warmer and more fertile 
provinces, the facility of procuring food concurred with the influence ol 
climate in inducing the inhabitants to increase the number of their wives.'" 
In some countries the marriage-union subsisted during life ; in others, the 
impatience of the Americans under restraint of any species, together with 
their natural levity and caprice, prompted them to dissolve it on very 
slight pretexts, and often without assigning any cause. t 

But in whatever light the Americans considered the obligation of this 
contract, either as perpetual or only as temporary, the condition of women 
was equally humiliating and miserable. Whether man has been improved 
by the progress of arts and civilization in society, is a question which, in 
ihe wantonness of disputation, has been agitated among philosophers. 
That women are indebted to the refinements of polished manners, for a 
happy change in their state, is a point which can admit of no doubt. Tc 
despise and to degrade the female sex is a characteristic of the savage state 
in every part of the globe. Man, proud of excelling in strength and i» 
courage, the chief marks of pre-eminence among rude people, treats woman, 
as an inferior, with disdain. The Americans, perhaps from that coldness 
and insensibility which has been considered as peculiar to their constitution, 
add neglect and harslmess to contempt. The most intelligent travellers 
jjave been struck with this inattention of the Americans to their women. 
It is not, as I have already observed, by a studied display of tenderness 
and attachment that the American endeavours to gain the heart of the 
woman whom he wishes to marry. Marriage itself, instead of being a 
union of affection and interests between equals, becomes among them the 
unnatural conjunction of a master with his slave. It is the observation of 

♦ Lettr. Edif. 23. 318. Lafitau McEurf, i. 554. Lcry ap. dc Bry, iii. 234. Journal de Grillet et 
Bechamel, p. 88. t Lafitau, i. 580. JouielJourn. Histor. 345. Lozano Desc. del Gran Chaw, 
70. Hennepin Mneurs dee Sauvagrs, p. 30. 33. 



Hennepin a: 

Vol. 1.— : 



20 



154 HISTORY OF .. [BookIV 

an author whose opinions are deservedly of great weight, that wherever 
wives are purchased their condition is extremely depressed.* They 
become the property and the slaves of those who buy them. In whatever 
part of the globe this custom prevails, the observation holds. In countries 
where refinement has made some progress, women when purchased are 
excluded from society, shut up in sequestered apartments, and kept under 
the vigilant guard of their masters. In ruder nations they are degraded 
to the meanest functions. Among many people of America the marriage 
contract is properly a purchase. The man buys his wife of her parents. 
Though unacquainted with the use of money, or with such commercial 
transactions as take place in more improved society, he knows how to give 
an equivalent for any object which he desires to possess. In some places, 
the suitor devotes his service for a certain time to the parents ot the maid 
whom he courts ; in others he hunts for them occasionally, or assists in 
cultivating their fields and forming their canoes ; in others, he offers presents 
of such things as are deemed most valuable on account of their usefulness 
or rarity. t In return for these he receives his wife ; and this circumstance, 
addsd to the low estimation of women among savages, leads him to con- 
sider her as a female servant whom he has purchased, and whom he lias 
a tide to treat as an inferior. In all unpolishsd nations, it is true, the 
functions in domestic economy which fail naturally to the share of women 
are so many, that they are subjected to hard labour, and must bear more 
than their lull portion of the common burden. But in America their con- 
dition is so peculiarly grievous, and their depression so complete, that 
servitude is a name too mild to describe their wretched state. A wife 
among most tribes is no better than a beast of burden, destined to every 
oifice of labour and tatigue. While the men loiter out the day in sloth, or 
spend it in amusement, the women are condemned to incessant toil. 
Tasks are imposed upon them without pity, and services are received 
without complacence or gratitude. J Every circumstance reminds women 
of this mortit'ying inferiority. They must approach their lords with rever- 
ence ; they must regard them as more exalted beings, and are not permitted 
to eat in their presence. § There are districts in America where this domi- 
nion is so grievous, and so sensibly felt, that some women, in a wild emo- 
tion of maternal tenderness, have destroyed their female children in their 
intancy, in order to deliver thsm from that intolerable bondage to which 
they knew they were doomed.!! Thus the first institution of social life is 
perverted. That state of domestic union towards which nature leads the 
human species, in order to soften the heart to gentleness and humanity, is 
rendered so unequal as to establish a cruel distinction between the sexes, 
which forms the one to be harsh and unfeeling, and humbles the other to 
servility and subjection. 

It is owing, perhaps, in some measure, to this state of depression, that 
women in rude nations are far from being prolific. IT The vigour of their 
constitution is exhausted by excessive fatigue, and the wants and distresses 
of savage life are so numerous as to force them to take various precautions 
inorderto prevent too rapid an increase of their progeny. Among wandering 
tribes, or such as depend chiefiy upon hunting for subsistence, the mother 
cannot attempt to rear a second child until the first has attained siich a 
degree of vigour as to be in some measure independent of her care 
From this motive, it is the universal practice of the American women to 
suckle their children during several years ;** and, as they seldom marry 
early, the period of their lertility is over before they can finish the long 

♦ Sketches of TTist. of Man, I. 184. f Lafitan Mneurs, tc. i. 560, &c. Charlev. iii. 285, Sec. 
TIcrr'T.i, dwc. 4. lib. iv. c 7. Duruont, ii. 15'3. J Tcrtre, ii. 382. Borde Relat. des McEurs des 
Caraihw, p. 21. Biel. 357. Condaiuiiie, p 110. Ferniin. i. 79. ^ Gumilla, i. 153. Barrere, 
J64. Labat, Voy. ii. 7ft. Clianvalon, 51. Tertre, Ii. 300. || Gumilla, ii. 233. 238. Herrera, 
dec. 7. lib. ix. c. iv. M Latitau, i. 590. Charlevoix, iii. 30^ ♦• fierrera, dec. 6. lib. i. c. t 



A M E R I C A. 165 

but necessary attendance upon two or three children.* Among' some of 
the least pohshed tribes, whose in(histry and foresight do not extend so far 
as to make any regular provision for their own subsistence, it is a maxim 
not to burden themselves with rearing more than two children ;t and no 
such numerous families as are frequent in civilized societies are^ to be 
found among men in the savage state.]; When twins are born, one of them 
commonly is abandoned, because the mother is not equal to the task of rearing 
both§ [5o], When a mother dies while she is nursing a child, all hope of 
preserving its life fails, and it is buried together with her in the same grave. || 
As the parents are frequently exposed to want by their own improvident 
indolence, (he ditficulty of sustaining their children becomes so great that 
it is not uncommon to abandon or destroy them.1i Thus their experience 
of the difficulty of training up an infant to maturity, amidst the hardsh'-ps of 
savage life, often stifles the voice of nature among the Americans, and 
suppresses the strong emotions of parental tenderness. 

But though necessity compels the inhabitants of America thus to set 
bounds to the increase of their families, they are not deficient in afTection 
and attachment to their offspring. They i'eel the power of this instinct in 
its full force, and as long as their progeny continue feeble and helpless, no 
people exceed them in tenderness and care.*''' But in rude nations the 
dependence of children upon their parents is of shorter continuance than 
in polished societies. When men must be trained to the various functions of 
civillifeby previous discipline and education, when the knowledge of abstruse 
sciences must be taught, and dexterity in intricate arts must be acquired, 
before a young man is prepared to begin his career of action, the attentive feel- 
ings of a parent are not confined lo the years of infancy, but extend to what is 
more remote, the establishment of his child in the world. Even then his 
solicitude does not terminate. His protection may still be requisite, and 
his wisdom and experience still prove useful guides. Thus a permanent 
connection is formed ; parental tenderness is exercised, and filial respect 
returned, throughout the whole course of life. But in the simplicity of the 
savage state the affection of parents, like the instinctive fondness of animals, 
ceases almost entirely as soon as their offspring attain maturity. Little in- 
struction fits them for that mode of life to -ivhich they are destined. The 
parents, as if their duty were accomplished, when they have conducted 
their children through the helpless years of infancy, leave them afterwards 
at entire liberty. Even in their tender age, they seldom advise or admonish, 
they never chide or chastise them. They suffer them to be absolute masters 
of their own actions. ft In an American hut, a father, a mother, and their 
posterity, live together like persons assembled by accident, without seeming 
to feel the obligation of the duties mutually arising from this coiinection.JJ 
As filial love is not cherished by the continuance of attention or good offices, 
the recollection of benefits received in early infancy is too faint to excite it. 
Conscious of their own liberty, and impatient of restraint, the youth of 
America are accustomed to act as if they were totally independent. Their 
parents are not objects of greater regard than other persons. They treat 
them always with neglect, and often with such harshness and insolence as 
to fill those who have been witnesses of theirconduct with horror.S^ Thus 
the ideas which seem to be natural to man in his savage state, as they result 
necessarily from his circumstances and condition in that period of his progress, 

* Charlev. iii. 303. Piimont, M^m. snr T/iiiisiane, ii. 2T0. Deny's Hist. Naliir. de r.'\ni^rique, 
&c. ii. 3C5. Charlev. Ilisi. de Parag. ii. 422. t Terlio'3 Account of Paraguay, &c. Chur'-.h. 
Collect, vi. 108. Lolt. F.dif. xxxiv. 200. Lozaiinnescr. (13. J Maccleur's Journal, C3. $ l.ctt. 
Edif. X.200. II Oharlfiv. iii 31)3. LMt. Kditf. .x 200. P Melch. IlernaMdcz Mnnior de Che- 
ri(|iii. Colbert. Collect. Ori-r. Pap. i. 11 Venega'n Hist. ofCaliforn. i. 82. ** Gumilla, i.211. 
Bii't. 390. tt (."h.irlev. iii. 272. Biet. 390. Guinilla, i. 213. LatitHU, i. P02. Creu.xii Hist. 

Canad. p. 71. Fernandez, Retac. Hist, de los Chequit. 33. JJ Cliarlev. Hisl. N. Fr. iii 273. 

^^ Gumilla, i. 212. Tertro, ii. 376. Charlev. Hist, de N. France, iii. 300. Cliarlev. Hist, de 
Parag. i. 11.5. Lozano Descript. del Gran. Chaco, p. 68. 100, 101. Fernand. Relac. Histot. de lo« 
Chequit. 426. 



156 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

affect the two capital relations in domestic life. They render the union 
between husband and wife unequal. They shorten the duration and weaken 
the force of the connection between parents and children. 

IV. From the domestic state of the Americans, the transition to the con- 
sideration of their civil government and political institutions is natural. In 
every inquiry concerning the operations of men when united together in 
society, the first object of attention should be their mode of subsistence. 
Accordingly as that varies, their laws and policy must be different. The 
Dstitution suited to the ideas and exigencies of tribes which subsist chiefly 
Jy fishing or hunting, and which have as yet acquired but an imperfect con- 
ception of any species of property, will be much more simple than those 
which must take place when the earth is cultivated with regular industry ; 
and a right of property, not only in its productions, but in the soil itself, is 
completely ascertained. 

All the people of America, now under review, belong to the former 
class. But though they may all be comprehended under the general de- 
nomination of savage, the advances which they had made in the art of pro- 
curing to themselves a certain and plentiful subsistence were very unequal. 
On the extensive plains of South America man appears in one of the rudest 
states in which he has been ever observed, or perhaps can exist. Several 
tribes depend entirely upon the bounty of nature for subsistence. They 
discover no solicitude, they employ little foresight, tliey scarcely exert 
any industry to secure what is necessary for their support. The Topuyers, 
of Brazil, the Guaxeros, of Tierra Firme, the Caigvas, the Moxos, and 
several other people of Paraguay, are unacquainted with eveiy species of 
cultivation. They neither sow nor plant. Lven the culture of the manioc, 
of which cassada bread is made, is an art too intricate for their ingenuity, 
or too fatiguing to their indolence. The roots which the earth produces 
spontaneously ; the fruits, the berries, and the seeds which they gather in 
the woods ; together with lizards and other reptiles, which multipl}' ama- 
zingly with the heat of the climate in a fat soil moistened by frequent 
rains, supply them with food during some part of the year.* At other 
times they subsist by fishing ; and nature seems to have indulged the lazi- 
ness of the South American tribes by the liberality with which she minis- 
ters in this way to their wants. The vast rivers of that region in America 
abound with an infinite variety of the most delicate fish. The lakes and 
marshes formed by the annual overflowing of the waters are filled with all 
the different species, where they remain shut up, as in natural reservoirs, 
for the use of the inhabitants. They swarm in such shoals, that in some 
places they are catched without art or industiy [54]. In others, the na- 
tives have discovered a method of infecting the water with the juice of 
certain plants, by which the fish are so intoxicated that they float on the 
surface and are taken with the hand [55]. Some tribes have ingenuity 
enough to preserve them without salt, by drying or smoking them upon 
hurdles over a slow fire.j The prolific quality of the rivers in South 
America induces many of the natives to resort to their banks, and to de- 
pend almost entirely for nourishment on what their waters supply with 
such profusion, j In this part of the globe hunting seems not to have been 
the first employment of men, or the first eft'oit ot their invention and la- 
bour to obtain food. They were fishers before they became hunters ; 
and as the occupations of the former do not call for equal exertions of ac- 
tivity or talents with those of the latter, people in that state appear to 
possess neither the same degree of enterprise nor of ingenuity. The 

* Nieuhofl'. Hist, of Brazil. Clmrcli. Coll. ii. 134. Simon Conquista de Ticira Firmd, p. 166. 
Teclio, Account of Paraguay, &c. Church, vi. 76. Lettr. EUif. 2:1384.10. 190. Lozano, De- 
scrip, del. (Jran Chaco, p. 81. Kibas Histor. de los Triuiiifos, &c. p. 7. t Coiidam. 159. Gu- 
milla, ii. 37. Lettr. Edif. 14. 199. 23. 328. Acugna, Belat. de la Riv. des Amas. 138. J Bar- 
ren:, Rt'lat. de Fr. Equin. p. 155. 



A xM E JU C A. 157 

petty nations adjacent to the Maragnon and Orinoco are manifestly the 
most inactive and least intelligent of all the Americans. 

None but tribes contiguous to great rivers can sustain themselves in this 
manner. The greater part of the American nations, dispersed over the 
forests with which their country is covered, do not procure subsistence 
with thf same facility. For although these forests, especially in the 
southern continent of America, are stored plentifully with game,* consi- 
derable efforts of activity and ingenuit}'^ are requisite in pursuit of it. 
Necessity incited the natives to the one, and taught them the other. 
Hunting became their principal occupation ; and as it called forth strenu- 
ous exertions of courage, of force, and of invention, it was deemed no 
less honourable than necessary. This occupation was peculiar to the men. 
They were trained to it from their earliest youth. A bold and dexterous 
nunter ranked next in fame to the distinguished warrior, and an alliance 
with the former is often courted in preference to one with the latter.t 
Hardly any device, which the ingenuity of man has discovered for en- 
snaring or destroying wild animals, was unknown to the Americans. 
While engaged in this favourite exercise, they shake off the indolence 
peculiar to their nature, the latent powers and vigour of their minds are 
roused, and they become active, persevering, and indefatigable. Their 
sagacity in finding their prey and their address in killing it are equal. 
Their rea-son and their senses being constantly directed towards this one 
object, the former displays such fertility of invention and the latter acquire 
such a degree of acuteness as appear almost incredible. They discern 
the footsteps of a wild beast, which escape every other eye, and can follow 
them with certainty through the pathless forest. If they attack their game 
openly,, their arrow seldom errs from the mark :| if they endeavour to 
circumvent it by art, it is almost impossible to avoid their toils. Among 
several tribes, their young men were not permitted to marry until they 
had given such proofs of their skill in hunting as put it beyond doubt that 
they were capable of providing for a family. Their ingenuity, always on 
the stretch, and sharpened by emulation as well as necessity, has struck 
out many inventions which greatly facilitate success in the chase. The 
most singular of these is the discoveiy of a poison, in which they dip the 
arrows employed in hunting. The slightest wound with those envenomed 
shafts is mortal. If they only pierce the skin, the blood fixes and congeals 
in a moment, and the strongest animal falls motionless to the ground. 
Nor does this poison, notwithstanding its violence and subtlety, infect the 
flesh of the animal which it kills. 1 hat may be eaten with perfect safety, 
and retain its native relish and qualities. All the nations situated upon the 
banksof the Maragnon and Orinoco are acquainted with this composition, the 
chief ingredient in which is the juice extracted from the root of the airare, 
a species of withe. § In other parts of America they employ the juice of" 
the manchenille for the same purpose, and it operates with no less fatal 
activity. To people possessed of those secrets the bow is a more destruc- 
tive weapon than the musket, and, in their skilful hands, does great exe- 
cution among the birds and beasts which abound in the forests oi America. 

But the life of a hunter gradually leads man to a state more advanced. 
The chase, even where prey is abundant, and the dexterity of the hunter 
much improved, affords but an uncertain maintenance, and at some seasons 
Jt myst be suspended altogether. If a savage trusts to his bow alone for 
food, he and his family will be often reduced to extreme distress [56]. 
Hardly any region of the earth furnishes man spontaneously with what his 
wants require. In the mildest climates, and most fertile soils, his own 

* P. Martyr, Decad. p. 324. Gumilla, ii. 4, &c. Acugna, 1. 156. f Charlev. Histoire de la 
N. France, iii, 115. t Kiel. Voy. de France Equin. 357. Davies's DiPcov. of the River of 
Amaz. Purchas, iv. p. 1287. ft Gumilla, ii. 1, &.C. Condani. 308. Recherch. Pliilos. ii 339 
Bancroft's Nat Hiat. of Guiana, 2el, &c. 



158 II I STORY OF [Book IV. 

industry and foresifcht must be exerted in some degree to secure a regjular 
supply of food. Their experience of this surmounts the abhorrence of 
labour nat>iral to savage nations, and compels them to have recourse to 
culture, as subsidiary to hunting-. In particular situations, some small 
tribes may subsist I)y fishing, inaependent of any production of the earth 
raised by "their own industiy. But throughout all America, Ave scarcely 
meet with any nation of hunters which does not practise some species of 
cultivation. 

The agriculture of the Americans, however, is neither extensive nor 
laborious. As game and fish are their principal food, all they aim at by 
cultivation is to supply any occasional defect of these. In the southern 
continent of America, the natives confined their industry to rearing a few 
plants, which, in a rich soil and warm climate, were easily trained to ma- 
turity. The chief of these is maize, well known in Europe by the name 
of Turkey or Indian wheat, a grain extremely prolific, of simple culture, 
agreeable to the taste, and affording a strong hearty nourishment. The 
second is the manioc, which grows to the size of a large shrub or small 
tree, and produces roots somewhat resembling parsnips. After carefully 
squeezing out the juice, these roots are grated down to a fine powder, and 
formed into thin cakes called casmda bread, which, though insipid to the 
taste, proves no contemptible food.* As the juice of the manioc is a 
deadly poison, some authors have celebrated the ingenuity of the Ameri- 
cans in converting a noxious plant into wholesome nourishment. But it 
should rather be considered as one of the desperate expedients for pro- 
curing subsistence, to which necessity reduces rude nations ; or, j^erhaps, 
men were led to the use of it by a progress in which there is nothing 
marvellous. One species of manioc is altogether free of any poisonous 
quality, and may be eaten without any preparation but that ol roasting it 
in the embers. This, it is probable, was hist used by the Americans as 
food ; and, necessity having gradually taught them the art of separating 
its pernicious juice from the other species, they have by experience found 
it to be more prolific as well as more nourishingt [57]. The third is the 
plantain, which, though it rises to the height of a tree, is of such quick 
growth, that in less than a year it reAvards the industry of the cultivator 
with its fruit. This, when roasted, supplies the place of bread, and is 
both palatable and nourishing [58]. The fourth is ihe pntatoe, whose cul- 
ture and qualities are too avcII krjown to need any description. The fifth 
is pimento, a small tree yielding a strong aromatic spice. The Americans, 
who, like other inhabitants of warm climates, delight in Avhatever is hot 
and of poignant flavour, deem this seasoning a necessary of life, and 
mingle it copiously with every kind of food they take. J 

Such are the various productions, which were the chief object of cul- 
ture among the hunting tribes on the continent of America ; and Avith a 
moderate exertion of active and provident industry these might have 
yielded a full supply to the wants of a numerous people. But men, 
accustomed to the free and vagrant life of hunters, are incapable of regu- 
lar application to labour, and consider agriculture as a secondary and 
inferior occupation. Accordingly, the provision for subsistence, arising 
from cultivation, Avas so limited and scanty among the Americans, that, 
upon any accidental failure of their usual success in hunting, they Avere 
often reduced to extreme distress. 

In the islands, the mode of subsisting was considerably different. None 
of the large animals which abound on the continent Avere known there. 
Only four species of quadrupeds, besides a kind of small dumb dog, 

* Sloane Hist, of Jnm. Tntrod. \i. ]8. Lahat, i. n04. Arnsta, Hist. Ind. Occid. Natur. lib. iv. c. 
17. Ulloa, i. 62. AiiLilet, Jlom. sur le Ma^'nioc. Ili.st. dus Plantes, torn. ii. p. 65, &;c. t Martvr, 
Decad. .TOl. Labat, i. 4]1. Giumlla. iii. 1<)2. Macliuciia Milic. Iiidiajia, 164. t Giuiiilla, iii. 
171. Acosta, lib. iv. c. 20. 



AMERICA. 159 

existed in the islands, the biggest of ^vhich did not exceed the size of a 
rabbit.* To hunt such a diminutive prey was an occupation which 
required no effort either of activity or courage. The cl)ief eniploynieni 
of a hunter in the islts was to kill birds, which on the continent are deemed 
ignoble game, and left chieily to the pursuit of boys.t This want of 
animals, as well as their peculiar situation, led the islanders to depend 
principally upon fishing for their subsistence. J Their rivers, and the sea 
with which they are surrounded, supplied them with this species of food. 
At some particular seasons, turtle, crabs, and other shellfish abounded in 
such numbers that the natives could support themselves with a facility in 
which their indolence delighted. § At other times, they ate lizards and 
various reptiles of odious forms.|| To fishing the inhabitants of the islands 
added some degree of agriculture. Maize [59], manioc, and other plants 
were cultivated in the same manner as on the continent. But all the fruits 
of their industry, together with what their soil and climate produced spon- 
taneously, afforded tliem but a scanty maintenance. Though their demands 
for food were very sparing, they hardly raised what was sufficient for their 
own consumption. If a lew Spaniards settled in any district, such a small 
addition of supernumerary mouths soon exhausted their scanty stores, and 
brought on a laniine. 

Two circumstances, common to all the savage nations of America, con- 
curred with those which 1 have already mentioned, not only in rendering 
their agriculture imperfect, but in circumscribing their power in all their 
operations. They had no tame animals ; and they were unacquainted with 
the useful metnls. 

In other parts of the globe, man, in his rudest state, appears as lord of 
the creation, giving law to various tribes of animals, which he has lamed 
and reduced to subjection. The Tartar follows his prey on the horse 
which he has reared ; or tends his numerous herds, which turnish liim both 
with food and clothing : the Arab has rendered the camel docil , and avails 
himself of its persevering strength : the Laplander has formed the reindeer 
to be subservient to his will ; and even the people of Kamchatka have 
trained their dogs to labour. This command over the inferior creatures is 
one of the noblest prerogatives of man, and among the greatest efforts of 
his wisdom and power. Without this his dominion is incomplete. He is 
a monarch who has no subjects, a master without servants, and must per- 
form every operation by the strength of his own arm. Such was the con- 
dition of ail the rude nations in America. Their reason was so little 
improved, or their union so incomplete, that they seem not to have been 
conscious of ihe supejiority of their nature, and suffered all the animal 
creation to retain its liberty, without establishing their own authority over 
any one species. Most of the animals, indeed, which have been rendered 
domestic in our continent, do not exist in the New World ; but those 
peculiar to it are neither so fierce nor so formidable as to have exempted 
them from servitude. There are some animals of the same species on 
both continents. But the rein-deer, which hns been tamed and broken to 
tlie yoke in the one hemisphere, runs wild in the other. The bison of 
America is manifestly of the same species with the horned cattle of the 
other hemisphere. U The latter, even among the rudest nations in our con- 
tinent, have been rendered domestic ; and, in consequence of his dominion 
over them, man can accomplish works of labour with greater facility, 
and has made a great addition to his n)eans of subsistence. The inhabit- 
ants of many regions of the New World, where the bison abounds, might 
have derived the same advantages from it. It is not of a nature so 
indocile, but that it might have been trained to be as subservient to man 

* Ovicdo, lib. xii. in proem. t Ribas Hist, dc los Triumph, p. 13. De la Potlierie, ii. 33. 

iii. 20. i Oviedo, lib. liii. c. 1. Goiiiara, Hist. Gciicr. c. 28. ^ Goniara, ilist. ticuei. 

c 9 Labat, ii. 221, &.& |] Ovicdo, lib. xiii c 3 M BufTon. ortic. Bison 



160 H I S T O R Y O F [Book IV. 

as our cattle* But a savage, in that uncultivated state wherein the 
Americans were discovered, is the enemy of the other animals, not their 
superior. He wastes and destroys, but knows not how to multiply or to 
govern them.t 

This, perhaps, is the most notable distinction between the inhabitants of 
the Ancient and New Worlds, and a high pre-eminence of civilized men 
above such as continue rude. The greatest operations of man in changing 
and improving the face of nature, as well as his most considerable efforts 
In cultivating the earth, are accomplished by means of the aid which he 
receives from the animals that he has tamed, and employs in labour. It is 
by their strength that he subdues the stubborn soil, and converts the desert 
or marsh into a fruitful field. But man, in his civilized state, is so 
acv;ustomed to the service of the domestic animals, that he seldom 
reflects upon the vast benefits which he derives from it. If we were 
to suppose him, even when most improved, to be deprived of their useful 
ministry, his empire over nature must in some measure cease, and he would 
remain a feeble animal, at a loss how to subsist, and incapable of attempt- 
ing such arduous undertakings as their assistance enables him to execute 
with ease. 

It is a doubtful point, whether the dominion of man over the animal 
creation, or his acquiring the useful metals, has contributed most to extend 
his power. The era of this important discovery is unknown, and in our 
hemisphere very remote. It is only by tradition, or by digging up some 
rude instruments of our forefathers, that we learn that mankind were 
originally unacquainted with the use of metals, and endeavoured to supply 
the want of them by employing flints, shells, bones, and other hard sub- 
stances, for the same purposes which metals serve among polished nations. 
Nature completes the formation of some metals. Gold, silver, and copper, 
are found in their perfect state in the clefts of rocks, in the sides of 
mountains, r\T the channels of rivers. These were accordingly the metals 
first known, and first applied to use. But iron, the most serviceable of all, 
and to which man is most indebted, is never discovered in its perfect form ; 
its gross and stubborn ore must feel twice the force of fire, and go through 
two laborious processes, before it becomes fit for use. Man was long 
acquainted with the other metals betbre he acquired the art of fabricating 
iron, or attained such ingenuity as to perfect an invention, to which he is 
indebted for those instruments wherewith he subdues the earth, and com- 
mands all its inhabitants. But in this, as well as in many other respects, 
the inferiority of the Americans was conspicuous. All the savage tribes, 
scattered over the continent and islands, were totally unacquainted with 
the metals which their soil produces in great abundance, if we except 
some trifling quantity of gold, which they picked up in the torrents that 
descended from their mountains, and forined into ornaments. Their devices 
to supply this want of the serviceable metals were extremely nide and 
awkward. The most simple operation was to them an uncferfaking of 
immense difficulty and labour. To fell a tree with no other instruments 
than hatchets of stone, was employment for a month. J To form a canoe 
into shape, and to hollow it, consumed years ; and it frequently began to 
rot before they were able to finish it.§ Their operations in agriculture 
were equally slow and defective. In a country covered with woods of 
the hardest timber, the clearing of a small field destined for culture 
required the united efforts of a tribe, and was a work of much time and 
great toil. This was the business of the men, and their indolence was 
satisfied with performing it in a veiy slovenly manner. The labour of 
cultivation was left to the women, who, after digging, or rather stirring the 

* Nouv. D^couverte par Hennepin, p. 192. K.'ilm, i. 207. t Buffon Hist. Nat. \x. 85. HisL 
PhiloB. et Polit. des Etahlissem des Europ. dans les deiu Indes, vi. 364 J Gumilla, iii. 196. 

$ Borde Relat. de« Caraibea, p. 72. 



AMERICA. 161 

field, with wooden mattocks, and stakes hardened in the fire, sowed or 
planted it ; but they were more indebted for the increase to the fertility of 
the soil than to their own rude industry.* 

Agricultuze, even when the strength of man is seconded by that of the 
animals which he has subjected to the yoke, and his power augmented by the 
use of the various insti'uments with which the discovery of metals has fur- 
nished him, is still a work of great labour ; and it is with the sweat of his brow 
that he renders the earth fertile. It is not wonderful, then, that people 
destitute of both these advantages should have made so little progress in 
cultivation, that they must be considered as depending for subsistence on 
fishing and hunting, rather than on the fruits of their own labour. 

From this description of the mode of subsisting among the rude American 
tribes, the form and genius of their political institutions may be deduced, 
.•^nd we are enabled to trace various circumstances of distinction between 
them and more civilized nations. 

1. They were divided mto small independent communities. While 
hunting is the chief source of subsistence, a vast extent of territory is 
requisite for supporting a small number of people. In proportion as men 
multiply and unite, the wild animals en which they depend for food 
diminish, or fly at a greater distance from the haunts of their enemy. The 
increase of a society in this state is limited by its own nature, and the 
members of it must either disperse, like the game which they pursue, or 
fall upon some better method of ]5rocuring food than by hunting. ' Beasts 
of prey are by nature solitary and unsocial, they go not forth to the chase 
in herds, but delight in those recesses of the forest where they can roam 
and destroy undisturbed. A nation of hunters resembles them both in 
occupation and in genius. They cannot form into large communities, be- 
cause it would be impossible to find subsistence ; and they must drive to 
a distance every rival who may encroach on those domains, which they 
consider as their own. This was the state of all the American tribes ; the 
numbers in each were inconsiderable, though scattered over countries of 
great extent ; they Avere tar removed from one another, and engaged in 
perpetual hostilities or rivalship-t In America, the word nation is not of 
the same import as in other parts of the globe. It is applied to small 
societies, not exceeding, perhaps, two or three hundred persons, but occu 
pj'ing provinces, greater than some kingdoms in Europe. The country of 
Guiana, though of larger extent than the kingdom of France, and divided 
among a greater number of nations, did not contain above twenty-five 
thousand inhabitants. J In the provinces which border on the Orinoco, one 
may travel several hundred miles in different directions, without finding a 
single hut, or observing the footsteps of a human creature. § In North 
America, where the climate is more rigorous, and the soil less fertile, the 
desolation is still greater. There, journeys of some hundred leagues have 
been made through uninhabited plains and forests!! [60]. As long as 
hunting continues to be the chief employment of man, to which he trusts 
for subsistence, he can hardly be said to have occupied the earth [61]. 

2. Nations which depend upon hunting are in a great measure strangers 
to the idea of pioperty. As the animals on which the hunter feeds are not 
bred under his inspection, nor nourished by his care, he can claim no right 
to them while they run wild in the forest. Where game is so plentiful 
that it maybe catched with litlle trouble, men never dream of appropriating' 
what is ol small value, or of easy acquisition. V/here it is so rare, that the 
labour or danger of the chase requires the united efforts of a tribe, or village, 
what is killed is a common stock belonging equally to all, who, by their 

• Gumilla, iii. 166, fcc. Lettr. Edif. xii. 10. f Lozano Descrip. del Gran Chaco, 59. 62. 

Fernandez ilelac Hist, de los Cliequit. 162. J Voyages de Marchais, iv. 353. $ Gumilla, 

ii. 101. II M. Fabry, quoted by Buffon, iii. 448. Lafitau, U. 179. Bossu, Xiavela tbrougb 

Louisiana, t. 111. 

Vol. I.— 21 » 



162 HISTORY OF LBookIV. 

skill or their courage, have contributed to the success of the excursion. 
The forest or hunliiig-grounds are deemed the property of the tribe, from 
which it has a title to exclude everj' rival nation. But no individual arro- 
gates a right to any district of these in preference to his fellow-citizens. 
They belong alike to all ; and thither, as to a general and undivided store, 
all repair in quest of sustenance. The same principles by which they 
regulate their chief occupation extend to that which is suborainate. Even 
agriculture has not introduced among them a complete idea of property. 
As the men hunt, the women labour together, and after they have shared the 
toils of the seed time, they enjoy the harvest in common.* Among some 
tribes, the increase of their cultivated lands is deposited in a public gra- 
nary, and divided among them at stated times, according to their wantsj [62]. 
Among others, though they lay up separate stores, tl)ey do not acquire 
such an exclusive right of property, that they can enjoy superfluity while 
those around them suffer want.J Thus the distinctions arising from the 
inequality of possessions are unknown. The terms rich or poor enter not 
into their language ; and being strangers to property, they are unacquainted 
•with what is the great object of laws and policy, as well as the chief motive 
which induced mankind to establish the various arrangements of regular 
governmcnl.§ 

3. People in this state retain a high sense of equality and independence. 
Wherever the idea of property is not established, there can be no distinc- 
tion among men but what arises from personal qualities. These can be 
conspicuous oniy on such occasions as call them forth into exertion. In times 
of danger, or in affairs of intricacy, the wisdom and experience of age are 
consulted, and prescribe the measures which ought to be pursued. When 
a tribe of savages takes the field against the enemies of their country, the 
warrior of most approved courage leads the youth to the combat. || If they 
go forth in a body to the chase, the most expert and adventurous hunter is 
foreinost, and directs their motions. But during seasons of tranquillity and 
inaction, when there is no occasion to display those talents, all pre-eminence 
ceases. Every circumstance indicates that all the members of the commu- 
nity are on a level. They are clothed in (he samp simple garb. They feed 
c'.i the same plain fare. Their houses and furniture are exactly similar. 
No distinction can arise from the inequality of possessions. Whatever forms 
dependence on one part, or constitutes superiority on the other, is unknown. 
All are freemen, all feel themselves to be such, and assert with firmness the 
rights vyhich belong to that condition. IT This sentiment of independence 
is imprinted so deeply in their nature that no change of condition can era- 
dicate it, an^" bend their minds to servitude. Accustomed to be absolute 
masters of thei. own conduct, they disdain to execute the orders of another ; 
and having neve/ known control, they will not submit to correction. [68] 
Many of the Amei. ans, when they found that they were treated as slaves 
by the Spaniards, dieu of grief; many destroyed themselves in despair.** 

4. Among people in this state, government can assume little authority, 
and the sense of civil subordination nmst remain very imperfect. While 
the idea of property is unknown, or incompletely conceived ; while the 
spontaneous productions of the earth, as well as the fruits of industry, are 
considered as belonging to the public stock, there can hardly be any such 
subject of difference or discussion among the members of the same commu- 
nity, as will require the hand of authority to interpose in order to adjust it. 
Where the right of separate and exclusive possession is not introduced, the 

♦ Dr. Furgnson's Essay, 125. t Gumilla, i. 265. Brickell, Hist, of N. Carol. 327. { Deny's 
Hist. Natur. li. 392, -,93. (S P. Martyr, Decad. p. 45. Veneg. Hist, of Californ. i 66. Lery, 
Navif. in Brazil, c. 17. 1| Acosta Hist. lib. vi. c. 10. Stadius Hist. Brazil, lib. li. c. 13. De 

Bry, lii. p. 110. Biet, 361. ir Labat, vi. 124. Brickell. Hist, ol" Carol. 310. ** Oviedo, 
lib. ill. c 6. p. 97. VegaConquiet. de la Florida,!. 30. ii. 416. Labat, U; 138. Benzo. Hirt. Nov. 
Orb. lib". Iv. c. 25. 



AMERICA. 163 

great object of law and jurisdiction does not exist.' When the members of 
alribeare called Into the field, eilher to invade the territories of their ene- 
mies, or to repel their at'acks ; when tliey are engaged together in the 
toil and dangers oi' the chase, they then perceive that they are part of a 
political body. They are conscious of their own connexion with the com- 
panions in conjunction with whom they act ; and they ibilow and reverence 
such as excel in conduct and valour. But durii;g the intervaLs between such 
common eflbrts they seem scarcely to feel the ties of political union* [fc4j. 
No visible ibrm of government is established. The names of magis- 
trate and subject are not in use. Every one seems to erjoy his natural 
independence almost entire. If a scheme of public utility be proposed, 
the members of the community are lelt at lil)erty to choose whether they 
will or will not assist in carrying it into execution. No statute imposes 
any service as a duty, no compulsory laws oblige them to perform it. All 
their resolutions are voluntary, and How from the impulse of their own 
minds.t The first step towards establishing a public jurisdiction has not 
been taken in those rude societies. 1 he right of revenge is left in private 
hands.| If violence is committed, or blood is shed, the community does 
not assume the power either of inflicting or of moderating the punishment. 
It belongs to the family and friends of the p-^rson injured or slain to avenge 
the wrong, or to accept of the reparation otiered by the aggressor. If the 
elders interpose, it is to advise, not to decide, and it is seldom their counsels 
are listened to ; for, as it is deemed pusillanimous to suffer an offender to 
escape with impunity, resentment is implacable and everlasting. § The 
object of government among savages is rather foreign than domestic. 
They do not aim at maintaining inteiior order and police by public regula- 
tions, or the exertions of any permanent authority, but labour to preserve 
such union among the members of tlieir tribe, tbat they may watch the 
motions of their enemies, and act against them with concert and vigour. 

Such was the form of political order established among the greater part 
of the American nations. In this state were almost all tlie tribes spread 
over the provinces extending eastward of the Mississippi, from the mouth 
of the St. Lawrence to the confines of Florida. In a similar condition were 
the people of Brazil, the inhabitants of Chili, several tribes in Paragua 
and Guiana, and in the countries which stretch from the mouth ol' the 
Orinoco to the peninsula of Yucatan. Among such an infinite number of 
petty associations, there maybe peculiarities which constitute a distinction, 
and mark the various degrees of their civilization and in)provement. But 
an attempt to trace and enumerate these would be vain, as they have not 
been observed by persons capable of discerning the minute and delicate 
circinnstances which serve to discriminate nations resembling one another 
in their general character and features. The description which 1 have 
given of the political institutions that took place among those rude tribes 
in America, concerning which we have received most complete informa- 
tion, will apply, with little variation, to every people, both in its northern 
and southern division, who have advanced no furtlior in civilization than to 
add some slender degree of agriculture to fishing and hunting. 

Imperfect as those institutions may appear, several tribes w^ere not so 
far advanced in their political progress. Among all those petty nations 
which trusted for subsistence entirely to fishing and hunting without any 
species of cultivation, the union was so incomplete, and their sense of 
mutual- dependence so feeble, that hardly any appearance of government 
01 order can be discerned in their proceedings. I'heir wants are few, their 
objects of pursuit simple, they form into separate tribes, and act together, from 

• Lozano Desrr. del Gran. Chaco, 93. Melendez TefnrosVerdaderos, li. 23. t Chnrlev. HisL 
N. France, iii. 2fi« 2 ;8. } Herrera, dfic. 8. lib. iv. c. 8. ^ Charlev. Hist. N. France, iil. 271, 
372. Lafiu i. 48G. (;afisini, Hist, de Nucvo Rcyuo ilc Granada, 22G. 



164 n 1 b T O K Y OF [booK IV. 

instinct, habit, or conveniency, rather than from any fonnal concert and 
association. To this class belong the Californians, several of the small 
nations in the extensive country of Paragua, some of the people on the 
banks of the Orinoco, and on the river St. Magdalene, in the new kingdom 
of Granada.* 

But tiiough among these last mentioned tribes there was hardly any 
shadoAv of regular government, and even among those which I first 
described its authority is slender and confined within narrow bounds, there 
were, however, some places in America where government was carried far 
beyond the degree of perfection which seems natural to rude nations. In 
surveying the political operations of man, either in his savage or civilized 
state, we discover singular and eccentric institutions, which start as it 
were from their station, and tly off so wide, that we labour in vain to 
orin^ them within the general laws of any system, or to account for them 
by those principles which influence other communities in a similar situa- 
tion. Some instances of this occur among those people of America whom 
I have included under the common denomination of savage. These are 
so curious and important that I shall descnoe them, and attempt to explain 
their origin. 

In the New World, as well as in other parts of the globe, cold or 
temperate countries appear to be the favourite seat of freedom and 
independence. Theie the mind, like the body, is firm and vigorous. 
There men, conscious of their own dignity, and capable of the greatest 
efforts in asserting it, aspire to independence, and their stubborn spirits 
Stoop with reluctance to the yoke oi^ servitude. In warmer climates, by 
whose influence the whole frame is so much enervated that present pleasure 
is the supreme felicity, and mere repose is enjoyment, men acquiesce, 
almost without a struggle, in the dominion of a superior. Accordingly, 
if we proceed from north to south along the continent of America, we shall 
find the power of those vested Avith authority gradually increasing, and 
the spirit of the people becoming more tame and passive. In Florida, the 
authority of the sachems, caziques, or chiefs, was not only permanent, but 
hereditary. They were distinguished by peculiar ornaments, they enjoyed 
prerogatives of various kinds, and were treated by their subjects with that 
reverence which people accustomed to subjection pay to a master.! 

Among the Natchez, a powerful tribe now extinct, formerly situated on 
the banks of the Mississippi, a difference of rank took place, with which 
the northern tribes were altogether unacquainted. Some families were 
reputed noble, and enjoyed hereditarj' dignity. The body of the people 
was considered as vile, and formed only for subjection. This distinction 
was marked by appellations which intimated the high elevation of the 
one state, and the ignominious depression of the other. The former were 
called Respectable ; the latter, the Stinkards. The great Chief, in whom 
the supreme authority was vested, is reputed to be a being of superior 
nature, the brother of the sun, the sole object of their worship. They 
approach this great Chief with religious veneration, and honour him as the 
representative of their deity. His v/ill is a laAV, to which all submit with 
implicit obedience. The lives of his subjects are so absolutely at his dis- 
posal, that if any one has incurred his displeasure, the offender comes with 
profound humility and offei-s him his head. Nor does the dominion of the 
Chiefs end with their lives ; their principal officers, their favourite wives, 
together with many domestics of inferior rank, are sacrificed at their tombs, 
that they may be attended in the next world by the same persons who 
served (hem in this ; and such is the reverence in which they are held, 

• Venegas, i. 68. Lettr . Edif. 11. 176. Techo Hist, of Parac. ChurchUl, vi. 78. Htat. Gen. iea 
Voyages, xrv. 74. t Cardenas v Cano Ensayo Chronol. A la Hist, do Florida, p. 46. Le Moyne 
de MoTg»iwT.*)cmee Florid®, ap. de'Brj', p. 1 ■!, &e. Chailev. Hi«rt. N. Ftance, lii 467, 466. 



A Al E R I C A. 166 

tbat those victims welcome death with exultation, deeming it a recompense 
of their fidelity and a mark ot' distinction to be selected to accompany 
their deceased master.* Thus a perfect despotism, with its full train of 
superstition, arrogance, and cruelty, is established among the Natchez, and, 
by a singular fatality, that people has tasted of the worst calamities incident 
to polished nations, though they themselves are not far advanced beyond 
the tribes around them in civility and improvem.ent. InHispaniola, Cuba, 
and the larger islands, their caziques or chiefs possessed extensive power. 
The dignity was transmitted by hereditary right from father to son. Its 
honours and prerogatives were considerable. Their subjects paid great 
respect to the caziques, and executed their orders without hesitation or 
reserve.! They were distinguished by peculiar ornaments, and in order 
to preserve or augment the veneration of the people, they had the address 
to call in the aid of superstition to uphold their authority. They delivered 
their mandates as the oracles of heaven, and pretended to possess the 
power of regulating the seasons, and of dispensing rain or sunshine, ac- 
cording as their subjects stood in need of them. 

In some parts of the southern continent, the power of the caziques seems 
to have been as extensive as in the isles. In Bogota, which is now a pro- 
vince of the new kingdom of Granada, there was settled a nation more 
considerable in number, and more improved in the various arts of life, than 
any in America, except the Mexicans and Peruvians. The people of 
Bogota subsisted chiefly by agriculture. The idea of property was 
introduced among them, and its righis, secured by laAvs, handed down by 
tradition, and observed with great care.;{; They lived in towns which may 
be termed large when compared with those in other parts of America. 
They were clothed in a decent manner, and their hou?es may be termed 
commodious when compared with those of the small tribes around them. 
The effects of this uncommon civilization were conspicuous. Government 
had assumed a regular Ibrm. A jurisdiction was established, which took 
cognizance of dififerent crimes, and punished them with rigour. A distinction 
of ranks was known ; their chief, to whom the Spaniards gave the title of 
monarch, and who merited that name on account of his splendom' as well as 
power, reigned with absolute authority. He was attended by officers of 
various conditions ; he never appeared in public without a numerous 
retinue ; he was carried in a sort of palanquin with much pomp, and har- 
bingers went before him to sweep the road and strew it with flowers. This 
uncommon pomp was supported by presents or taxes received from his 
subjects, to whom their prince was such an object of veneration that 
none of them presumed to look him directly in the face, or ever approached 
him but with an averted countenance. § There were other tribes on the 
same continent, among which, though far less advanced than the people 
of Bogota in their progress towards refinement, the freedom and inde 
pendence natural to man in his savage state was much abridged, and their 
caziques had assumed extensive authority. 

It is not easy to point out the circumstances, or to discover the causes 
which contributed to introduce and establish among each of those people a 
form of government so different from that of the tribes around them, and 
so repugnant to the genius of rude nations. If the persons who had an 
opportunity of observing them in their original state had been more atten- 
tive and more discerning, we might have received information from their 
conquerors sufficient to guide us in this inquiry. If the transactions of 
people unacquainted with the use of letters vvere not involved in impene- 
trable obscurity, we might have derived some information from this 

* Dumont Memoir. Hist, aur Loiiisianc, i, 1T5. Cliarl^v. Hist. N. France, iii. 419, &c. Lettr. 
Ertif. 2tj. lOG. 111. t Herrera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 16. lib. iii. c. 44. p. 88. Life of Columbus, ch. 32. 
t Piedrahita Hist, dc las Conquist. del Reyno de Granada, p. 46. ^ Herrera, dec. 6. lib. i. c. 2. 

lib. V. 0. 56. Piedrahiu, e. 5. p. 35, Ac. Gomara, Hisu c. 78: 



186 HISTORY OF [Book IV*. 

domestic source. But as nothing satisfactory can be gathered either from 
the accounts of the Spaniards, or from their own traditions, we must have 
recourse to conjectures in order to explain the irregular appearances in the 
political stale of the people whom I have mentioned. As all those tribes 
Vvhich had lost their native liberty and independence Avere seated in the 
torrid zone, or in countries approaching to it, the climate may be supposed 
to have had some influence in forming their minds to that servitude which 
seems to be the destiny of man in those regions of the globe. But thouglj 
the influence of climate, more powerful than that of any other natural 
cause, is not to be overlooked, that alone cannot be admitted as a solution 
of the point in question. The operations of men are so complex that we 
must not attribute the form which they assume to the force of a single 
principle or cause. Although despotism be confined in America to the 
torrid zone, and to the warm regions bordering nprm it, 1 have already 
observed that these countries contain various tribes, some of which possess 
a high degree of tVecJom, and others are altogether unacquainted with the 
restraints of government. The indolence and timidity peculiar to the 
inhabitants of the islands, render them so incapable of the sentiments or 
efforts necessary tor maintaining independence, that there is no occasion to 
search for any other cause of their tame submission to the will of a supe- 
rior. The subjection of the Natchez, and of the people of Bogota, seems 
to have been the consequence of a ditference in their state from that of the 
other Americans. They were settled nations, residing constantly in one 
place. Hunting was not the chief occupation of the former, and the latter 
seem hardly to have trusted to it for any part of their subsistence. Both 
had made such progress in agriculture and arts that the idea of property 
was introduced in some degree in the one communit}', and fully established 
in the other. Among people in this state, avarice and ambition have 
acquired objects, and have begun to exert their power ; views of interest 
allure the selfish ; the desire of pre-eminence excites the enterprising ; 
dominion is courted by both ; and passions unknown to man in his savage 
state prompt the interested and ambitious to encroach on the rights of their 
fellow-citizens. Motives, with which rude nations are equally unac- 
quainted, induce the people to submit tamely to the usurped authority of 
their superiors. But even among nations in this state, the spirit of subjects 
could not have been rendered so obsequious, or the power of rulers so 
unbounded, without the intervention of superstition. By its fatal influence 
the human mind, in every stage of its progress, is depressed, and its native 
vigour and independence subdued. Whoever can acquire the direction 
of this formidable engine, is secure of dominion over his species. Unfor- 
tunately for the people whose institutions are the subject of inquiry, this 
power was in the hands of their chiefs. The caziques of the isles could 
put what responses they pleased into the mouths of their Cemis or gods; 
and it was by their interposition, and in their name, that they imposed any 
tribute or burden on their people.* The same power and prerogative was 
exercised by the great chief of the Natchez, as the principal minister as 
■well as the representative of- the Sun, their deity. The respect which 
the people of Bogota paid to their monarchs was likewise inspired by 
religion, and the heir apparent of the kingdom was educated in the inner 
most recess of their principal temple, under such austere discipline, and 
with such peculiar rites, as tended to fill his subjects with high sentiments 
concerning the sanctity of his character and the dignity of his station."! 
Tnus superstition, wliich in the rudest period of society, is either altogefhei 
unknown, or wastes its force in ciiildish unmeaning practices, had acquired 
such an ascendant over those people of America, who had made some little 
progress towards refinement, that it became the chief instrument of bending 

* Herrera, dec 1. lib. Ui. c. 3. t Piedtahita, p. S7 



AMERICA. 167 

their minds to an untimely servitude, and subjected them, in the beginnina: 
of their political career, to a despotism hardly less rigorous than that which 
awaits nations in the last stage of their corruption and decline. 

V. After examining the political institutions of the rude nations in 
America, the next object of attention is iheir art of war, or their provision 
for public security and defence. The small tribes dispersed over Ainerica 
are not only independent and unconnected, but engaged in perpetual 
hostilities with one another.* Though mostly strangers to the idea of 
separate property, vested in any individual, the rudest of the American 
nations are well acquainted with the rights of each community io its own 
domains. This right they hold to be perfect and exclusive, entitling the 
possessor to oppose the encroachment of neighbouring tribes. As it is of 
the utmost consequence to prevent them from destroying or disturbing the 
game in their hunting grounds, they guard this national property with a 
jealous attention. But as their territories are extensive, and the boundaries 
of them not exactly ascertained, innumerable subjects of dispute arise, 
which seldom terminate without bloodshed. Even in this simple and 
primitive state of society, interest is a source of discord, and often prompts 
savage tribes to take arms in order to repel or punish such as encroach on 
the lorests or plains to which they trust for subsistence. 

But interest is not either the most frequent or the most powerful motive 
of the incessant hostilities among rude nations. These must be imputed to 
the passion of revenge, which rages with such violence in the breast of 
savaq,es, that eagerness to gratify it may be considered as the distinguishing 
characteristic of men in their uncivilized state. Circumstances of powerful 
influence, both in the interior government of rude tribes, and in their 
external operations against foreign enemies, concur in cherishing and adding 
strength to a passion fatal to the general tranquillity. When the right of 
redressing his own wrongs is left in the hands of every individual, injuries 
are felt with exquisite sensibility, and vengeance exercised with unrelenting 
rancour. No time can obliterate the memory of an offence, and it is seldom 
that it can be expiated but by the blood of the offender. In carrying on 
their public wars, savage nations are infli;enced by the same ideas, and 
animated with the same spirit, as in prosecuting private vengeance. In 
small communities, every man is touched with the injury or affront offered 
to the body of which he is a member, as if it were a personal attack upon 
his own honour or safety. The desire of revenge is communicated from 
breast to breast, and soon kindles into rage. As feeble societies can take 
the field only in small parties, each warrior is conscious of the importance 
of his own arm, and feels that to it is committed a considerable portion of 
the public vengeance. War, which between extensive kingdoms is carried 
on with little animosity, is prosecuted by small tribes with all the rancour 
of a private quarrel. The resentment of nations is as implacable as that 
of individuals. It may be dissembled or suppressed, but is never extin- 
guished ; and often, when least expected or dreaded, it buisis out with 
redoubled fury.t VVhen polished nations have obtained the glory of victory, 
or have acqun-ed an addition of territory, they may terminate a war with 
honour. But savages are not salisiied until they extirpate the community 
which is the object of their h.itred. They fight, not to conquer, but to 
destroy. If they engage in hostilities, it is with a resolution never to see 
ihe face of the enemy in peace, but to prosecute the quarrel with immortal 
enmity .| The desire of vengeance is the first and almost the only principle 
which a savage instils into the minds of his children.§ This grows up 

* Ribiis Hist, de los T.iiimph. p. 9. f Bouclier Hist. Nat. de N. France, p. 93. CharlRV. 

Hist, de N. Fiance, iii. Sl.'j. 251. Lery ap. dc Bry, iii. 204. Creu.x. Hist. Canad. p. 72. Lozano 
Descr. del Gran Chaco, 25. Ilennep. Jile»iirs des Sauv. '10. i Chnrlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 251. 

Colden. i. 108. ii. 12S. Barrere, p. 170. 173. ^ Cliarlev. HJsU W. Fr. iii. 326. Lery ap. do 

Bry, iii. 230. Lozano Hist, de Parage i. 144. 



168 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

with him as he advances in life ; and as his attention is directed to few 
objects, it requires a degree of force unknown amon? men whose passions 
are dissipated and weakened by the variety of their occupations and 
pursuits. The desire of vengeance, which takes possession of the heart of 
savages, resembles the instinctive rage of an anim.al rather than the passion 
of a man. It turns, with undiscerning fury, even against inanimate objects. 
[f hurt accidentally by a stone, they often seize it in a transport of anger, 
and endeavour to wreak their vengeance upon it.* If struck Avith an 
arrow in a battle, they will tear it from the wound, break and bite it with 
their teeth, and dash it on the ground.f With respect to their enemies 
the rage of vengeance knows no bounds. When under the dominion of 
this passion, man becomes the most cruel of all animals. He neither pities, 
nor forgives, nor spares. 

The force of this passion is so well understood by the Americans them- 
selves, that they always apply to it in order to excite their people to take 
arms. If tlie elders of any tribe attempt to rouse their youth from sloth, if 
a chief wishes to allure a band of warriors to follow him in invading an 
enemy's country, the most persuasive topics of their martial eloquence are 
drawn from revenge. " The bones of our countrymen," say they, " lie 
uncovered ; their bloody bed has not been washed clean. Their spirits cry 
against us ; they must be appeased. Let us go and devour the people by 
whom they were slain. Sit no longer inactive upon your mats ; lift the 
hatchet, console the spirits of the dead, and tell them that they shall be 
avenged."! 

Animated with such exhortations, the youth snatch their arms in a trans- 
port of fury, raise the song of war, and burn with impatience to imbrue 
their hands in the blood of their enemies. Private chiefs often assemble 
small parties and invade a hostile tribe without consulting the rulers of the 
community. A single warrior, prompted by caprice or revenge, will take 
the field alone, and march several hundred miles to surprise and cut off a 
straggling enemy [65], The exploits of a noted warrior, in such solitary 
excursions, often form the chief part in the history of an American cam- 
paign [66] ; and their elders connive at such irregulnr sallies, as they tend 
to cherish a martial spirit, and accustom their people to enterprise and 
danger.§ But when a war is national, and undertaken by public authority, 
the deliberations are formal and slow. The elders assemble, they deliver 
their opinions in solemn speeches, they weigh with maturity the nature of 
tlu^ enterprise, and balance its beneficial or disadvantageous consequences 
with no inconsiderable portion of political discernment or sagacity. Their 
priests and soothsayers are consulted, and sometimes they ask the advice 
even of their women. !| If the determination be for war, they prepare for 
it with much ceremony. A leader offers to conduct the expedition, and is 
accepted. But no man is constrained to follow him ; the resolution of the 
community to commence hostilities imposes no obligation upon any membc*": 
to take part in the war. Each individual is still master of his own conduct, 
and his engagement in tbe service is perfectly voluntary. II 

The maxims by which they regulate their military operations, though 
extremely different from those which take place among more civilized ana 
populous nations, are well suited to their own political state, and the nature 
of the country in which they act. They never take the field in numerous 
bodies, as it would require a greater effort of foresight and industry than is 
usual among savages, to provide for their subsistence during a march of 
some hundred miles through dreary forests, or during a long voyage upon 
their lakes and rivers. Their armies are not encumbered with baggage or 

♦ Lery ap. de Bry, iii. 190 t 'bid. iii. 208. Herrera, dec. I. lib. vl. c. 8. t Charlev. 

Hist. N. Fr. iii. 216, 217. Lery ap. de Bry, iii. 204, <S Bossu, i. 140. Lery ap. de Bry, 215, 

Hennepin MoeursdesSauv. 41. Lnfitau, ii. 169. || Charlev, Hist. N. Fr. 215.268. B let. 367, 

Vi80. Tl CUarlev. HUt. N. Fr. 217, 218, 



AMERICA. 169 

militanr stores. Each warrior, besides his arms, carries a mat and a small 
bag of pounded maize, and with these is completely equipped for any 
?ervice. While at a distance from the enemy's frontier, they disperse 
through the woods, and support themselves with the game which they kill, 
or the fish which they catch. As they approach nearer to the territories of 
the nation which they intend to attack, they collect their troops, and 
advance with greater caution. Even in their hottest and most active wars 
they proceed wholly by stratagem and ambuscade. They place not their 
glory in attacking their enemies with open force. To surprise and destroy 
is the greatest merit of a commander, and the highest pride of his followers. 
War and hunting are their only occupations, and they conduct both with 
the same spirit and the same arts. They follow the track of their enemies 
through the forest. They endeavour to discover their haunts, they lurk in 
some thicket near to these, and, with the patience of a sportsman lying in 
wait for game, will continue in their station day after day until they can 
rush upon their prey when most secure, and least able to resist them. If 
they meet no straggling party of the enemy, they advance towards their 
villages, but with such solicitude to conceal their own approach, that they 
often creep on their hands and feet through the woods, and paint their skins 
of the same colour Avith the withered leaves, in order to avoid detection.* 
If so fortunate as to remain unobserved, they set on fire the enemies' huts 
in the dead of night, and massacre the inhabitants as they fly naked and 
defenceless from the flames. If they hope to effect a retreat without being 
pursued, they carry off" some prisoners, whom they reserve for a rnore 
dreadful fate. But if, notwithstanding all their address and precautions, 
they find that their motions are discov-ered, that the enemy has taken the 
alarm, and is prepared to oppose them, they usually deem it most prudent 
to retire. They regard it as extreme folly to meet an enemy who is on 
his guard, upon equal terms, or to give battle in an open field. The most 
distinguished success is a disgrace to a leader if it has been purchased 
with any considerable loss of his followers [6 ■?], and they never boast of a 
victory if stained with the blood of their own countrymen.! To fall in 
battle, instead of being reckoned an honourable death, is a misfortune 
which subjects the memory of a warrior to the imputation of rashness or 
imprudence^ [6R]. 

This system of war was universal in America ; and the small uncivilized 
tribes, dispersed through all its different regions and climates, display 
more craft than boldness in carrying on their hostilities. Struck with this 
conduct, so opposite to the ideas and maxims of Europeans, several 
authors contend that it flows from a feeble and dastardly spirit peculiar to 
the Americans, which is incapable of any generous or manly exertion. § 
But when we reflect that many of these tribes, on occasions which call 
for extraordinary efforts, not only defend themselves with obstinate resolu- 
tion, but attack their enemies with the most daring courage, and that they 
possess fortitude of mind superior to the sense of danger or the fear of 
death, we must ascribe their habitual caution to some other cause than 
constitutional timidity. || The number of men in each tribe is so small, 
the difficulty of rearing new members amidst the hardships and dangers 
of savage life is so great, that the life of a citizen is extremely precious, 
and the preservation of it becomes a capital object in their policy. Had 
the point of honour been the same among the feeble American tribes as 
among the powerful nations of Europe, had they been taught to court fame 
or victory in contempt of danger and death, they must have been ruined 
by maxims so ill adapted to their condition. But wherever tbeir com- 

* Charlev. Hist N. Fr. iii. 237, 238. Hennep. Moeurs des Sauv. p. 59 ( Charlev. HisU 

N. Fr. iii. 238. 307. Biet, 381. Lafitau Moeurs des Sauv. il. 348. J Charlev. iii. 376. 

* Recherches Philoa. sur Icb Amiric. i. 115. Voyage de March, iv. 410 ] Lafitau Moeurs deg 

Sauv. ii. 248, 249. Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 307. 
Vol. I.'— S« 



170 « HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

munities are more populous, so that they can act with considerable force, 
and can sustain the loss of several of their members without being sensibly 
weakened, the miiitaiy operations of tlie Americans more nearly resemoie 
those of other nations. The Brazilians, as well as the tribes situated upon 
the banks of the river De la Plata, often take the field in such numerous 
bodies as deserve the name of armies.* They defy their enemies to the 
combat, engage in regular battles, and maintain the conflict with that 
desperate ferocity which is natural to men who, having no idea of war 
but that of exterminating their enemies, never give or take quarter [69 1 
In the powerful empires of Mexico and Peru, great armies were assembled, 
frequent battles were fought, and the theory as well as practice of war 
were different from what took place in those petty societies which assume 
the name of nations. 

But though vigilance and attention are the qualities chiefly requisite 
where the object of war is to deceive and to surprise ; and though the 
Americans, when acting singly, display an amazing degree of address in 
concealing their own motions, and discovering those of an enemy, yet it 
is remarkable that, when they take the field in parties, they can seldom 
be brought to observe the precautions most essential to their own security. 
Such is the difficulty of accustoming savages to subordination, or to act in 
concert ; such is their impatience under restraint, and such their caprice 
and presumption, that it is rarely they can be brought to conform themselves 
to the counsels and directions of their leaders. They never station sen- 
tinels around the place where they rest at night, and after marching some 
hundred miles to surprise an enemy, are often surprised themselves, and 
cut off, while sunk in as profound sleep as if they were not within reach 
of danger.! 

If, notwithstanding this negligence and security, which often frustrate 
their most artful schemes, they catch the enemy unprepared, they rush 
upon them with the utmost ferocity, and tearing off the scalps of all those 
who fall victims to their rage [70], they carry home those strange trophies 
in triumph. These they preserve as monuments, not only of their own 
prowess, but of the vengeance which their arm has inflicted upon the 
people who were objects of public resentment.| They are still more 
solicitous to seize prisoners. During their retreat, if they hope to effect it 
unmolested, the prisoners are commonly exempt from any insult, and 
treated with some degree of humanity, though guarded with the most 
strict attention. 

But after this temporary suspension, the rage of the conquerors rekindles 
with new fury. As soon as they approach their own frontier, some of 
their number are despatched to inform their countrymen with respect to 
the success of the expedition. Then the prisoners begin to feel the 
wretchedness of their condition. The women of the village, together 
with the youth who have not attained to the age of bearing arms, assemble, 
and forming themselves into two lines, through which the prisoners nujst 
pass, beat and bruise them with sticks or stones in a cruel manner.§ After 
this first gratification of their rage against their enemies, follow lamenta- 
tions for the loss of such of their own countrymen as have fallen in the 
service, accompanied with words and actions which seeni to express the 
utmost anguish and grief. But in a moment, upon a signal given, their 
tears cease; they pass, with a sudden and unaccountable transition, from 
the depths of sorrow to the transports of joy ; and begin to celebrate their 
victory with all the wild exuhation of a barbarous triumph. IJ The fate 
of the prisoners remains still undecided. The old men deliberate con- 
cerning it. Some are destined to be tortured to death, in order to satiate 

* Fabri VerisiDeBcrip. Indite ap. de Brv, vii. p. -12. t Charlcv. N. Fr. iii. 036, 237. Lettr. 

Edit', xvii. 308. XX. 130. Lafit. Mmurs, 247. Lahoaian, ii. 176. I Lafitau Mffiurs, ii. 256. 

$ Ltlrontan, ii. 184. || Charlev. Hisu N. Fr. iii. 241. Lafitau Moeura, ii. 264. 



AMERICA. 171 

the revenge of the conquerors ; some to replace the members which the 
community has lost in that or former wars. They who are reserved for 
this milder fate, are led to the huts of those whose friends have been 
killed. The women meet them at the door, and if they receive them, 
their sufferings are at an end. They are adopted into the lamily, and, 
according to their phrase, are seated upon the mat of the deceased. They 
assume his name, they hold the same rank, and are treated thenceforward 
with ail the tenderness due to a father, a brother, a husband, or a friend. 
But, if either from caprice or an unrelenting desire of revenge, the women 
of any family refuse to accept of the prisoner who is offered to them, his 
•doo.m is fixed. No power can tlien save him from torture ard death. 

While their lot is in suspense, the prisoners themselves appear altogether 
unconcerned about what may befall them. They talk, they eat, they 
sleep, as if they were perfectly at ease, and no danger impending. ^^ hen 
the fatal sentence is intimated to them, they receive it vvith an unaltered 
countenance, raise their death song, and prepare to suffer like men. Their 
conquerors assemble as to a solemn festival, resolved to put the fortitude 
of the captive to the utmost proof. A scene ensues, the bare description 
of which is enough to chill the heart with horror, wherever men have been 
accustomed, by milder institutions, to respect their species, and to melt 
into tenderness at the sight of human sufferings. The prisoners are tied 
naked to a stake, but so as to be at liberty to move round it. All who 
are present, men, women, and children, rush upon them like furies. Every 
species of torture is applied that the rancour of revenge can invent. Some 
burn their limbs with redhot irons, some mangle their bodies with knives, 
others tear their flesh from their bones, pluck out their nails by the roots, 
and rend and twist their sinews. They vie with one another in refinements 
of torture. Nothing sets bounds to their rage but the dread of abridging 
the duration of their vengeance by hastening the death of the sufferers ; 
and such is their cruel ingenuity in tormenting, that, by avoiding indus- 
triously to hurt any vital part, they often prolong this scene of anguish for 
several days. In spite of all that they suffer, the victims continue to chant 
their death song with a firm voice, they boast of their own exploits, they 
insult their tormentors for their want of'^skill in avenging their friends and 
relations, they warn them of the vengeance which awaits them on account 
of what they are now doing, and excite their ferocity by the most pro- 
voking reproaches and threats. To display undaunted fortitude, in such 
dreadtul situations, is the noblest triumph of a warrior. To avoid the 
trial by a voluntary death, or to shrink under it, is deemed infamous and 
cowardly. If any one betray symptoms of timidity, his tormentors often 
despatch him at once with contempt, as unworthy of being treated like a 
man.* Animated with those ideas, they endure without a groan what it 
seems almost impossible that human nature should sustain. They appear 
to be not only insensible of pain, bn; to court it. " Forbear, said an 
aged chief of the Iroquois, when his insults had provoked one of his tor- 
mentors to wound him with a knife, " forbear these stabs of your knife, 
and rather let me die by fire, that those dogs, your allies, from beyond the 
sea, may learn by my example to suffer like men."t This magnanimity, 
of which there are frequent instances among the American warriors, 
mstead of exciting admiration, or calling forth sympathy, exasperates the 
fierce spirits of their torturers to fresh acts of cruelty.^; Weary, at length 
of contending with men whose constancy of mind they cannot vanquish, 
some chief, in a rage, puts a period to their sufferings, by despatching them 
with his dagger or club.§ 

* Da la Potherie, ii. 237. lii. 43. t Colden, Hist, of Five Nations, i 200. t Voyages rte 

Lahom, i. 236. ^ Charlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 243, &C.385. Lafitau MoEurs, ii. 265. CreuiiJ 

Hist. Catiad. p. 73 Hennep. Mffiius des Sauv. p. 64, tc. Lahont, i 233, &c. Tertre, ii. 405. 
De la Potherie, iL ffi, &a 



17J HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

This barbarous scene is often succeeded by one no less shocking. As 
it is invpossible to appease the fell spirit of revenge which rages in the 
heart oi a savage, this frequently prompts the Americans to devour those 
unhappy persons who have been the victims of their cruelty. In the an- 
cient world, tradition has preserved the memory of barbarous nations of 
cannibals, who fed on human flesh. But in every part of the New World 
there were people to whom this custom was familiar. It prevailed in the 
southern continent,* in several of the islands,! and in various districts of 
North America.| Even in those parts where circumstances with which 
we are unacquainted had in a great measure abolished this practice, it 
seems formerly to have been so well known that it is incorporated into the 
idiom of their language. Among the Iroquois, the phrase by which they 
express their resolution of making war against an enemy is, " Let us go 
and eat that nation." If they solicit the aid of a neighbouring tribe, they 
invite it " to eat broth made of the flesh of their enemies"§ [71]. Nor 
was the practice peculiar to rude unpolished tribes ; the principle from 
which they took rise is so deeply rooted in the minds of the Americans, 
that it subsisted in Mexico, one of the civilized empires in the New World, 
and relics of it may be discovered among the more mild inhabitants of 
Peru. It was not scarcity of food, as some authors imagine, and the 
importunate cravings of hunger, which forced the Americans to those 
horrid repasts on their fellow-creatures. Human flesh was never used as 
common food in any country, and the various relations concerning people 
who reckoned it among the stated means of subsistence, flow from the 
credulity and mistakes of travellers. The rancour of revenge first 
prompted men to this barbarous action.il The fiercest tribes devoured 
none but prisoners taken in war, or such as they regarded as enemies [72]. 
Women and children who were not the objects of enmity, if not cut ofl* 
in the fury of their first inroad into a hostile country, seldom suffered by 
the deliberate effects of their revenge. H 

The people of South America gratify their revenge in a manner some 
what different, but with no less unrelenting rancour. Their prisoners, 
after meeting at their first entrance with the same rough reception as 
among the North Americans,** are not only exempt from injury, but 
treated with the greatest kindness. They are feasted and caressed, and 
some beautitul young women are appointed to attend and solace them. 
It is not easy to account for this part of their conduct, unless we impute 
it to a refinement in cruelty. For, while tliey seem studious to attach the 
captives to life, by supplying them with every enjoyment that can render 
it agreeable, their doom is irrevocably fixed. On a day appointed the 
victcrious tribe assembles, the prisoner is brought forth with great solem- 
nity, he views the preparations for the sacrifice with as much indifference 
as if he himself were not the victim, and meetina; his fate with undaunt- 
ed firmness, is despatched with a single blow. Ihe moment he falls, the 
women seize the body and dress it for the feast. They besmear their 
children with the blood, in order to kindle in their bosoms a hatred of 
their enemies, which is never extinguished, and all join in feeding upon 
the flesh with amazing greediness and exultation.ft To devour the body 
of a slaughtered enemy they deem the most complete and exquisite grati 
fication of revenge. Wherever this practice prevails, captives never 
escape death, but they are not tortured with the same cruelty as among 
tribes which are less accustomed to such horrid feasts [73]. 

• Stadius ap; de Bry, iii. 123. Lery, ibid. 210. Biet, 384. Lettr. Edif. xxiii. 341. Piso, 8. 
Condam, 84. 97. Ribas, Hist, de los Tiiunipli. 473. t Life of Colnmb. 529. Mart. Dec. p. 18. 
Tertre, ii. 405. t Duniont. Mem. i. 254. Chailev. Hist. N. France, i. 250. ii 14. iii 21. De la 
Pollieric, iii. 50. $ Cliarlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 208, 209. Lettr. Edif. .x.\iii. p. 277. De la Polhe- 

rie, ii. 298. || Biet, 383. Blanco, Conversion dc Piritu, p. 28. Bancroft, Nat. Hist, of Guiana, 

g. 259, &c, IT Biet, 382. Bandini, Vita di Americo, 84. Tertre, 405 Fermin. Descrip. de 
urin. i. 54. ** Stadius ap. de Brv, iii. 40. 133, tt Stadius ap. de Bry, iii. 128, tc. Lery 
ap. de Brv, iii. 210. 



AMERICA. 173 

As the constancy of every American warrior may be put to such severe 
proof, the great object of military education and discipline in the New 
World is to form the mind to sustain it. When nations carry on war with 
open force, defy their enemies to the combat, and vanquish them by the 
superiority of their skill or courage, soldiers are trained to be active, 
vigorous, and enterprising. But in America, where the genius and maxims 
of war are extremely different, passive fortitude is the quality in highest 
estimation. Accordingly, it is early the study of the Americans to acquire 
sentiments and habits which will enable them to behave like men when 
their resolution shall be put to the proof. As the youth of other nations 
exercise themselves in feats of activity and force, those of America vie 
with one another in exhibitions of their patience under sufierings. They 
harden their nerves by those voluntary trials, and gradually accustom them- 
selves to endure the sharpest pain without complaining. A boy and girl 
will bind their naked aims together, and place a burning coal between 
them, in order to try who first discovers such impatience as to shake it oflf.* 
All the trials customary in America, when a youth is admitted into the 
class of warriors, or when a warrior is promoted to the dignity of captain 
or chief, are accommodated to this idea of manliness. They are not dis- 
plays of valour, but of patience ; they are not exhibitions ol their ability 
to offend, but of their capacity to suffer. Among the tribes on the banks 
of the Orinoco, if a warrior aspires to the rank of captain, his probation 
begins with a long fast, more rigid than any ever observed by the most 
abstemious hermit. At the close of this the chiefs assemble, each gives 
him three lashes with a large whip, applied so vigorously that his body is 
almost flayed, and if he betrays the least symptoms of impatience or even 
sensibility, he is disgraced lor ever, and rejected as unworthy of the 
honour to which he aspires. After some interval, the constancy oi the can- 
didate is proved by a more excruciating trial. He is laid in a hammoc 
with his hands bound fast, and an innumerable multitude of venomous ants, 
whose bite occasions exquisite pain, and produces a violent inflammation, 
are thrown upon him. The judges of his merit stand around the ham- 
moc, and, while these cruel insects fasten upon the most sensible parts 
of his body, a sigh, a groan, an involuntary motion, expressive of what he 
suffers, would exclude him for ever from the rank of captain. Even after 
this evidence of his fortitude, it is not deemed to be completely ascer- 
tained, but must stand another test more dreadful than any he has hitherto 
undergone. He is again suspended in his hammoc, and covered with 
lea\es of the palmetto. A fire of stinking herbs is kindled underneath, so 
as he may feel iis heat and be involved m its smoke. Though scorched 
and almost suffocated, he must continue to endure with the same patient 
insensibility. Many perish in this rude essay of their firmness and courage, 
but such as go through it with applause, receive the ensigns of their new 
dignity with much solemnity, and are ever after regarded as leaders of 
approved resolution, whose behaviour in the most trying situations will do 
honour to their country.! In North America the previous trial of a war- 
rior is neither so formal nor so severe. Though even there, before a youth 
is permitted to bear arms, his patience and fortitude are proved by blows, 
by fire, and by insults more intolerable to a haughty spirit than both.| 

The amazing steadiness with which the Americans endure the most 
exquisite torments, has induced some authors to suppose that, from the 
peculiar feebleness of their frame, their sensibility is not so acute as that 
of other people ; as women, and persons of a relaxed habit, are observed 
to be less affected with pain than robust men, whose nerves are more 
firmly braced. But the constitution of the Americans is not so different 

• Charlev. Hiat. N. Fr. iii. 307. t GumiUa, ii. 286, &c. Biet, 376, &c 1 Charlev. HUt. 
V. Fr. iii. 219 



174 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

in its texture from that of the rest of the human species, as to account for 
this diversity in their behaviour. It flows from a principle of honour, 
instilled early and cultivated with such care, as to inspire man in his rudest 
state with an heroic magnanimity, to which philosophy hath endeavoured 
in vain to form him, when more highly improved and polished. This 
invincible constancy he has been taught to consider as the chief distinction 
of a man, and the highest attainment of a warrior. The ideas which 
influence his conduct, and the passions which take possession of his heart, 
are few. They operate of course with more decisive effect than when the 
mind is crowded with a multiplicity of objects, or distracted by the varie'-' 
of its pursuits ; and when every motive that acts with any force in foninng- 
the sentiments of a savage, prompts him to suffer with dignity, he will bear 
what might seem to be impossible for human patience to sustain. But 
wherever the fortitude of the Americans is not roused to exertion by their 
ideas of honour, their feelings of pain are the same with those of the rest 
of mankind [74]. Nor is that patience under sufl'erings for which the 
Americans have been so justly celebrated, a universal attainment. The 
constancy of many of the victims is overcome by the agonies of torture. 
Their weakness and lamentations complete the triumph of their enemies, 
and reflect disgrace upon their own country.* 

The perpetual hostilities carried on among the American tribes are pro- 
ductive of ver}' fatal effects. Even in seasons of public tranquillity, their 
imjierfect industiy does not supply them with any superfluous store of 

{)rovisions ; but when the irruption of an enemy desolates their cultivated 
ands, or disturbs them in their hui. Jng excursions, such a calamity reduces 
a community, naturally unprovident and destitute of resources, to extreme 
want. All the people of the district that is invaded are frequently forced 
to take refuse in woods and mountains, which can afford them little sub- 
sistence, and where many of them perish. Notwithstanding their exces- 
sive caution in conducting their military operations, and the solicitude 
of every leader to preserve the lives of his followers, as the rude tribes in 
America seldom enjoy any interval of peace, the loss of men among them 
is considerable in proportion to the degree of population. Thus famine 
and the sword combine in thinning their numbers. All their communities 
we feeble, and nothing now remains of several nations which were once 
'.onsiderable, but the name.t 

Sensible of this continual decay, there are tribes which endeavour to 
ecruit their national force when exhausted, by adopting prisoners taken in 
var, and by this expedient prevent their total extinction. The practice, 
ijowever, is not universally received. Resentment operates more power- 
iilly among savages than considerations of policy. Far the greater part 
of their captives was anciently sacrificed to their vengeance, and it is only 
since their numbers began to decline fast, that they have generally adopted 
milder maxims. But such as they do naturalize renounce for ever their 
native tribe, and assume the manners as well as passions of the people by 
whom they are adopted^ so entirely, that they often join them in expedi- 
tions against their own countrymen. Such a sudden transition, and so 
repugnant to one of the most powerful instincts implanted by nature, would 
be deemed strange among many people ; but among the members of small 
communities, where national enmity is violent and deep rooted, it has the 
appearance of being still more unaccountable. It seems, however, to result 
naturally from the principles upon which war is carried on in America. 
When nations aim at exterminating their enemies, no exchange of prisoners 
can ever take place. From the moment one is made a prisoner, his country 
and his friends consider him as dead [75]. He has incurred indelible 

* Cliarlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 248. 385. De la Potheiie, iii. 48. f Charlev. Hist. N. Fr. 111. 808, 
203.429. Gumma, ii. 227, &c. | Charlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 245, &c. Lafit.ii.;^. 



AMERICA. 173 

(iisffrace by suffering' himself to be surprised or to be taken by an enemy; 
ana were he to return home, after such a stain upon his honour, his nearest 
relations would not receive or even acknowledge that they knew him.* 
Some tribes were still more rigid, and if a prisoner returned, the infamy 
which he had brought on his country was expiated, by putting him instantly 
to death. t As the unfortunate captive is thus an outcast from his own 
coundy, and tlie lies which bound him to it are irreparably broken, he 
feels less reluctance in forming a new connexion with people, who, as an 
evidence of their friendly sentiments, not only deliver him from a cruel 
death, but offer to admit him to all tlie rights of a fellow-citizen. The 
perfect similarity of manners among savage nations facilitates and com- 
pletes the union, and induces a captive to transfer not only his allegiance, 
but liis affection to the community into the bosom of which he is received. 

But though war be the chief occupation of men in their rude state, and 
to excel in it their highest distinction and pride, their inferiority isalvyays 
manifest when they engage in competition with polished nations. Destitute 
of that foresight which discerns and provides for remote events, strangers 
to the union and mutual confidence requisite in forming any extensive plan 
of operations, and incapable of the subordination no less requisite in car- 
ry\ng such plans into execution, savage nations may astonish a disciplined 
enemy by t'leir valour, but seldom prove formidable to him by their con- 
duct ; and whenever the contest is of long continuance, must yield to 
superior art [76]. The empires of Peru and Mexico, though their pro- 
gress in civilization, when measured by the European or Asiatic standards, 
was inconsideral)le, acquired such an ascendency over the rude tribes 
around them, that they suljjected most of them with great facilitj to their 
power. When the people of Europe overran the various provinces of 
America, this superiority was still more conspicuous. Neither the courage 
nor number of the natives could repel a handful of invaders. The aliena- 
tion and enmity, prevalent among barbarians, prevented them from uniting 
in any common scheme of defence, and while each tribe fought separately, 
all were subdued. 

VI. The arts of rude nations unacquainted with the use of metals, 
hardly merit any attention on their own account, but are worthy of some 
notice, as far as they serve to display the genius and manners of man in this 
stage of his progress. The first distress a savage must feel, will arise from 
the manner in which his body is affected by the heat, or cold, or moisture of 
the climate under which he lives ; and his first care will be to provide some 
covering for his own defence. In the warmer, and more mild climates of 
America, none of the rude tribes were clothed. To most of them nature 
had not even suggested any idea of impropriety in being altogether unco- 
vered. J As under a mild climate there was little need of any defence from 
the injuries of the air, and their extreme indolence shunned every species 
of labour to which it was not urged by absolute necessity, all the inhabitants 
of the isles, and a considerable part of the people on the continent, 
remained in this state of naked simplicity. Others were satisfied with 
some slight covering, such as decency required. But though naked, they 
were not unadorned. They dressed their hair in many different forms. 
They fastened bits of gold, or shells, or shining stones, in their ears, their 
noses, and checks. § They stained their skins with a great variety of 
figures; and they spent much time, and submitted to great pain, in orna- 
menting their persons in this fantastic manner. Vanity, however, which 
finds endless occupation for ingenuity and invention in nations where 
dress has become a complex and intricate art, is circumscribed within so 

• Lahont, ii. 185, IRR. t Heirera, dec. 3. lib iv. c. 16. p. 173. % Lery Navi^at. ap. de Bry, 
lii. p. 1G4. Life of Columbvis, c. 34, Venegas Hisu of Californ. p. 70. ^ Lery ap. «lb Bry, iiti 
9- mS. Lettr. Edift&ntes, zx. p. 227. 



176 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

narrow bounds, and confined to so few articles among naked savages, that 
they are not satisfied with those simple decorations, and have a wonderful 
propensity to alter the natural form of their bodies, in order to render it 
(as they imagine) more perfect and beautiful. This practice was univei-sal 
among the rudest of the American tribes- Their operations for that 
purpose begin as soon as an infant is born. By compressing the bones of 
the skull, while still soft and flexible, some flatten the crown of their heads ; 
some squeeze them into the shape of a cone ; others mould them as much 
as possible into a square figure ;* and they often endanger the lives of 
their posterity by their violent and absurd efforts to derange the plan of 
nature, or to improve upon her designs. But in all their attempts either 
to adorn or to new model their persons, it seems to have been less the 
object of the Americans to please, or to appear beautiful, than to give an 
air of dignity and terror to their aspect. Their attention to dress had 
more reference to war than to gallantry. The difference in rank and 
estimation between the two sexes was so great, as seems to have extin- 
guished, in some measure, their solicitude to appear mutually amiable. 
The man deemed it beneath him to adorn his person, for the sake of one 
on whom he was accustomed to look down as a slave. It was when the 
warrior had in view to enter the council of his nation, or to take the field 
against its enemies, that he assumed his choicest ornaments, and decked 
his person with the nicest care.f The decorations of the women were 
few and simple ; whatever was precious or splendid was reserved for the 
men. In several tribes the women were obliged to spend a considerable 
part of their tinie every day in adorning and painting their husbands, and 
could bestow little attention upon ornamenting themselves. Among a race 
of men so haughty as to despise, or so cold as to neglect them, the women 
naturally became careless and slovenly, and the love of finerj' and show, 
which had been deemed their favourite passion, was confined chiefly to the 
other sex. J _ To deck his person was the distinction of a warrior, as well 
as one of his most serious occupations [77]. In one part of their dress, 
which at first sight appears the most singular and capricious, the Americans 
have discovered considerable sagacity in providing against the chief incon- 
veniences of their climate, which is often sultry and moist to excess. All 
the different tribes, which remain unclothed, are accustomed to anoint and 
rub their bodies with the grease of animals, with viscous gums, and with 
oils of different kinds. By this they check that profuse perspiration, 
which in the torrid zone wastes the vigour of the frame, and abridges the 
period of human life. By this, too, they provide a defence against the 
extreme moisture during the rainy season [78]. They likewise, at certain 
seasons, temper paint of different colours with those unctuous substances, 
and bedaub themselves plentifully with that composition. Sheathed with 
this impenetrable varnish, their skins are not only protected from the pene- 
trating heat of the sun, but as all the innumerable tribes of insects have an 
antipathy to the smell or taste of that mixture, they are delivered from their 
teasing persecution, which amidst forests and marshes, especially in the 
warmer regions, would have been altogether intolerable in a state of perfect 
nakedness.^ 

The next object to dress that will engage the attention of a savage, is to 
prepare some habitation which may afford him shelter by day, and a retreat 
at night. Whatever is connected with his ideas of personal dignity, what- 
ever bears any reference to his military character, the savage warrior deems 
an object of importance. Whatever relates only to peaceable and inactive 

* Ovicdo Hist. lib. iii. c. 5. Ulloa, i. 329. Voyage de Labal, ii. 72. Charlevoix, iii. 323. 
Gumilla, i. 197, kc. Acugna Relai. de la Riv. des Amaz. ii. 83. Lawson's Voyage to Carolina, 
p. 33. t Wafer's Voyage, p. 142. Lery ap. dc Biy, iii. IG". Charlev. Hist. N. Fran. iii. 216. 

222. t Charlev. Hist, de la Nouv. France, iii. 278. .327. Lafitau, ii. 53. Kalm's Voyage, iiU 

273. I.ery ap. de Bry, iii. 169, 170. Purch. Pilgr. iv. 1287. Ribas Hist, de los Triumph, &c, 472 
§ Labat, ii. 73. GuiuUla, i. 100. 202. Bancroft Nat. Hiat. of Guiana, 81. 380. 



AMERICA. 177 

life, he views with indifference. Hence, though finically attentive to dress, 
he is little solicitous about the elegance or disposition of his habitation 
Savage nations, far from that state of improvement, in which the mode of 
Jiving is considered as a mark of distinction, and unacquainted with those 
wants, which require a variety of accommodation, regulate the construction 
of their houses according to their limited ideas of necessity. Some of the 
American tribes were so extremely rude, and had advanced so little beyond 
the primaeval simplicity of nature, that they had no houses at all. During 
the day, they take shelter from the scorching rays of the sun under thick 
trees; at night they form a shed with their branches and leaves [79]. In 
the rainy season they retire into coves, formed by the hand of Nature, or 
hollowed out by their own industry.* Others, who have no fixed abode, 
and roam through the forest in quest of game, sojourn in temporary huts, 
which they erect with little labour, and abandon without any concern. 
The inhabitants of those vast plains, which are deluged by the overflowing 
of rivers during the heavy rains that fall periodically between the tropics, 
raise houses upon piles fastened in the ground, or place them among the 
boughs of trees, and are thus safe amidst that wide extended inundation 
which surrounds them.t Such were the first essays of the rudest Ameri- 
cans towards providing themselves with habitations. But even among 
tribes which are more improved, and whose residence is become altogether 
fixed, the structure of their houses is extremely mean and simple. They 
are wretched huts, sometimes of an oblong and sometimes ot a circular 
form, intended merely for slielter, with no view to elegance, and little 
attention to conveniency. The doors are so low that it is necessary to 
bend or to creep on the hands and feet in order to enter them. They are 
without windows, and have a large hole in the middle of the roof, to convey 
out the smoke. To ibllow travellers in other minute circumstances of 
their descriptions, is not only beneath the dignity of history, but would 
be foreign to the object of my researches. One circumstance merits 
attention, as it is singular, and illustrates the character of the people. 
Some of their houses are so large as to contain accommodation for tour- 
score or a hundred persons. These are built for the reception of different 
families, which dwell together under the same roof [80], and often around 
a common fire, without separate apartments, or any kind of screen or parti- 
tion between the spaces which they respectively occupy. As soon as men 
have acquired distinct ideas of property; or when they are so much 
attached to their females, as to watch them with care and jealousy ; 
families of course divide and settle in separate houses, where they can 
secure and guard whatever they wish to preserve. This singular mode of 
habitation, among several people of America, may therefore be considered 
not only as the effect of their imperfect notions concerning property, but 
as a proof of inattention, and indifference towards their women. If they 
had not been accustomed to perfect equality, such an arrangement could 
not have taken place. If their sensibility had been apt to have taken 
alarm, they would not have trusted the virtue of their women amidst the 
temptations and opportunities of such a promiscuous intercourse. At the 
same time, the perpetual concord, which reigns in habitations where so 
many families are crowded together, is surprising, and affords a striking 
evidence that they must be people of either a very gentle, or of a very 
phlegmatic temper, who in such a situation, are unacquainted with animo- 
sity, brawling, and discord.| 
After making some provision for his dress and habitation, a savage 

* Lettres Edif, v. 273. Vonegiis Plist. of Califor.i. 7G. Lozano, Descrip. del Gran. Chaco, p. 
5.5. LcttresEdif. ii. )T6. Gumilia, i. H83, Uancroft, Nat. Hist, of Guiana, 277. t G>"in>""i I- 
225. Herrcra, dec. l.lib. Ix. c. 6. Oviedo Soniar. p. 53. C. t .lourn. de Grillet et Bectianid 

dans la Govane, p. 05. Lafitau Moeurs, ii. 4. Torqucm. Monarq. i, 247. Journal Hist, de Juula^ 
317. Lery' Hist. Brazil, ap. de Bry, iii. 238, Lozano Descr. del Gran, Chaco, 67, 

Vol. I.--^^' 



178 HISTORY OF t^JooKlV. 

will perceive the necessity of preparing- proper arms with which to 
assault or repel an enemy. This, accordingly, has early exercised the 
ingenuity and invention ol all rude nations. The first ofifensive weapons 
were doubtless such as chance presented, and the first efforts of art to 
improve upon these, were extremely awkward and simple. Clubs made 
of some heavy wood, stakes hardened in the fire, lances whose heads were 
armed with flint or the bones of some animal, are weapons known to the 
rudest nations. All these, however, are of use only in close encounter. 
But men wished to annoy their enemies while at a distance, and the bow 
and anow is the most early invention for this purpose. This weapon is in 
the hands of people whose advances in improvement are extremely incon- 
siderable, and is larailiar to the inhabitants of every quarter of the globe. 
It is remarkable, however, that some tribes in America were so destitute 
of art and ingenuity, that they had not attained to the discovery of this 
simple invention,* and seem to have been unacquainted with the use of any 
missile weapon. The sling, though in its construction not more complex 
than the bow, and amone many nations of equal antiquity, was little known 
to the people of North America,! or the islands, but appears to have been 
used by a few tribes in the southern continent| [81 J. The people, in some 
provinces of Chili, aJid those of Patagonia, towards the southern extremity 
of America, use a weapon peculiar to themselves. They fasten stones, 
about the size of a fist, to each end of a leather thong of eight feet in 
length, and swing these round their heads, throw them with such dexterity, 
that they seldom miss the object at which they aim.§ 

Among people who had hardly any occupation but war or hunting, the 
chief exertions of their invention [82], as well as industry, were naturalljr 
directed towards these objects. With respect to every thing else, their 
wants and desires were so limited, that their invention was not upon the 
stretch. As their food and habitations are perfectly simple, their domestic 
utensils are few and rude. Some of the southern tribes had discovered 
the art of forming vessels of earthen ware, and baking them in the sun, so 
as they could endure the fire. In North America, they hollowed a piece 
of hard wood in the form of a kettle, and filling it with water, brought it 
to boil, by putting red-hot stones into it [83]. These vessels they used in 
preparing part of their provisions ; and this may be considered as a step 
towards refinement and luxuiy ; for men in their rudest state were not 
acquainted with any method of dressing their victuals but by roasting them 
on the fire ; and among several tribes in America, this is the only species 
of cookery yet known.H But the masterpiece of art, aniong the savages 
of America, is the construction of tlie canoes. An Esquimaux, shut up in 
his boat of whalebone, covered with the skins of seals, can brave that 
stormy ocean on which the barrenness of his country compels him to depend 
for the chief part of his subsistence.!! The people of Canada venture upon 
their rivers and lakes in boats made of the bark of trees, and so light that 
two men can carry them, wherever shallows or cataracts obstruct the 
navigation [84]. In these frail vessels they undertake and accomplish 
long voyages.** The inhabitants of the isles and of the southern continent 
form their canoes by hollowing the trank of a large tree, with infinite labour ; 
and though in appearance they are extremely awkward and unwieldy, 
they paddle and steer them with such dexterity, that Europeans, well ac- 
quainted with all the improvements in the science of navigation, have been 
astonished at the rapidity of their motion, and the quickness of their evo- 
lutions. Their pirogues, or war boats, are so large as to carry forty or fifty 
men ; their canoes, employed in fishing and in short voyages are less capa- 

♦ Piedrahita Conq. del Nuevo Reyno, Ix. 12. t Nauf. de AIv. Nun. Cabeca dc Vaca, c. x. 

n 12. t Piedrah. p. 16. « Ovalle's Relation of Chili. Church. Collect. iU. ®. Falkner's 
Descript. of Patagon. p. 130. 1( Charlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 332. TT EUis Voy. 133. •* Lafijau 
Mceurs, &c. ii. 213, 



AMERICA. 179 

clous.* The form as well as materials of all these various kinds of vessels, 
is well adapted to the service for which they are destined ; and the more 
minutely they are examined, the mechanism of their structure, as well as 
neatness of their fabric, will appear the more surprising. 

But, in every attempt towards industry among the Americans, one 
striking quality in their character is conspicuous. They apply to work 
without ardour, carry it on with little activity, and, like children, are easily 
diverted from it. Even in operations which seem the most interesting, 
and \vhere the most powerful motives urge them to vigorous exertions, 
they labour with a languid listlessness. Their work advances under their 
baud with such slowness, that an eyewitness compares it to the impercep- 
tible progress of vegetation.! They will spend so many years in forming 
a canoe, that it often begins to rot with age before they finish it. They 
will suffer one part of a roof to decay and perish, before they complete 
the other.| The slightest manual operation consumes an amazing length 
of time, and what in polished nations would hardly be an effort of industry, 
is among savages an arduous undertaking. This slowness of the Ameri- 
cans in executing works of every kind may be imputed to various causes. 
Among savages, who do not depend for subsistence upon the efforts of 
regular industry, time is of so little importance that they set no value 
upon it ; and provided they can finish a design, they never regard how long 
they are employed about it. The tools which they employ are so awkward 
and defective that every work in which they engage must necessarily be 
tedious. The hand of the most industrious and skilful artist, were it fur- 
nished with no better instrument than a stone hatchet, a shell, qt the bone 
of some animal, would find it difficult to perfect the most simple work. It is 
by length of labour that he must endeavour to supplj^ his defect of power. 
But above all, the cold phlegmatic temper jjeculiar to the Americans, ren- 
ders their operations languid. It is almost impossible to rouse them from 
that habitual indolence to which they are sunk ; and unless when engaged 
in war or in hunting, they seem incapable of exerting any vigorous effort. 
Their ardour of application is not so great as to call forth that inventive 
spirit which suggests expedients for facilitating and abridging labour. 
They will return to a task day after day, but all their methods of executing 
it are tedious and operose [85]. Even since the Europeans have commu- 
nicated to them the knowledge of their instruments, and taught them to 
imitate their arts, the peculiar genius of the Americans is conspicuous in 
eveiy attempt they make. They may be patient and assiduous in labour, 
they can copy with a servile and minute accuracy, but discover little 
invention and no talents tor despatch. In spite of instruction and example, 
the spirit of the race predominates ; their motions are naturally tardy, and 
it is in vain to uige them to quicken their pace. Among the Spaniards in 
America, the work of an Indian is a phrase by which they describe any 
thing, in the execution of which an immense time has been employed and 
much labour wasted.§ 

VII. No circumstance respecting rude nations has been the object of 

freater curiosity than- their religious tenets and rites ; and none, perhaps, 
as been so imperfectly understood, or represented with so little fidelity. 
Priests and missionaries are the persons who have had the best opportunities 
of carrying on this inquiry among the most uncivilized of the American tribes. 
Their minds, engrossed by the ooctrincs of their own religion, and habituated 
to its institutions, are apt to discover something which resembles those 
objects of their veneration, in the opinions and rites of every people. 
Whatever they contemplate they View through one medium, and draw 
and accommodate it to their own system. They study to reconcile the 

♦ Labat, Voyages, ii. 91, &c. 131. t Gumilla, il. 297. } Borde Relat. dea Caralbes 

p. 28. ^ Voyages de Ulloa, I. 335. Letti. Edif. &c. xv. 348. 



180 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

institutions which fall under their observation to their own creed, not to 
explain them accordint!;' to the rude notions of the people themselves. 
They ascribe to them ideas which they are incapable of forming, and sup- 
pose them to be acquainted with principles and facts, which it is impossible 
that they should know. Hence, some missionaries have been induced to 
believe, that even among the most barbarous nations in America, they had 
discovered traces, no less distinct than amazing, of their acquaintance with 
the sublime niysteries and peculiar institutions of Christianity. From their 
own interpretation of certain expressions and ceremonies, they have con- 
cluded that these people had some knowledge of the doctrine of the 
Trinity, of the incarnation of the Son of God, of his expiatory sacrifice, of 
the virtue of the cross, and of the efficacy of the sacraments.* In such 
unintelligent and credulous guides we can place little confidence. 

But even when we make our choice of conductors with the greatest 
care, we mi;st not follow them with implicit faith. An inquiry into the 
religious notions of rude nations is involved in peculiar intricacies, and we 
must often pause in order to separate the facts which our informers relaJe 
from the reasonings with which they are accompanied, or the theories 
which they build upon them. Several pious writers, more attentive to the 
importance of the subject than to the condition of the people whose senti- 
ments they were endoavouring to discover, have bestowed much unprofit- 
able labour in researches of this nature [86]. 

There are two fundamental doctrines, upon which the whole system of 
religion, as far as it can be discovered by the light of nature, is established. 
The one respects the being of a God, the other the immortality of the soul. 
To discover the ideas of the uncultivated nations under our review, with 
regard to those important points, is not only an object of curiosity, but 
may afford instruction. To these two articles I shall confine mv researches, 
leaving subordinate opinions, and the detail of local superstitfons, to more 
minute inquirers. Whoever has had any opportunity of^ examining into the 
religious opinions of persons in the inferior ranks or life, even in the most 
enlightened and civilized nations, will find that their system of belief is de- 
rived from instruction, not discovered by inquiry. That numerous part of the 
human species, whose lot is labour, whose principal and almost sole occu- 
pation is to secure subsistence, views the arrangement and operations of 
nature with little reflection, and has neither leisure nor capacity lor enter- 
ing into that path of refined and intricate speculation which conducts to the 
knowledge of the principles of natural religion. In the early and most 
rude periods of savage life, such disquisitions are altogether unknown. 
When the intellectual powers are just beginning to unfold, and their first 
feeble exertions are directed towards a few objects of primary necessity 
and use ; when the faculties of the mind are so limited as not to have 
formed abstract or general ideas ; when language is so barren as to be 
destitute of names to distinguish any thing that is not perceived by some 
of the senses ; it is preposterous to expect that man should be capable of 
tracing with accuracy the relation between cause and effect ; or to suppose 
that he should rise from the contemplation of the one to the knowledge of 
the other, and form just conceptions of a Deity, as the Creator and Governor 
of the universe. The idea of creation is so familiar, wherever the mind is 
enlarged by science and illuminated with revelation, that we seldom reflect 
how profound and abstruse this idea is, or consider what progress man 
must have made in observation and research, before he could arrive at any 
knowledge of this elementary principle in religion. Accordingly, several 
tribes have been discovered in America, which have no idea whatever of 
a Supreme Being, and no rites of religious worship. Inattentive to that 

* Venegasi, I. 88. 02. Torqueraada, ii. 445. Garcia Origen. 122. Herrera, dec. 4. lib. ix. c. 
T. dec. 5, lib. iv. c. 7. 



AMERICA 181 

magnificent spectacle of beauty and order presented to their view, unac- 
customed to reflect either upon what they themselves are, or to inquire 
who is the author of their existence, men, in their savage state, pass their 
days like the animals around them, without knov^'ledge or veneration of any 
superior power. Some rude tribes have not in their language any name for 
the Deity, nor have the most accurate observers been able to discover any 
practice or institution which seemed to imply that they recognised his 
authority, or were solicitous to obtain his favour* [87]. It is however onlv 
among men in the most uncultivated state of nature, and while their intel- 
lectual faculties are so I'eeble and limited as hardly to elevate them above 
the irrational creation, that we discover this total insensibility to the im- 
pressions of any invisible power. 

But the human mind, formed for religion, soon opens to the reception of 
ideas, which are destined, when corrected and refined, to be the great 
source of consolation amidst the calamities of life. Among some o( the 
American tribes, still in the infancy of improvement, we discern apprehen- 
sions of some invisible and powerful beings. These apprehensions are 
originally indistinct and perplexed, and seem to be suggested rather by 
the dread of impending evils than to flow from gratitude for blessings 
received. While nature holds on her course v^'ith uniform and undis- 
turbed regularity, men enjoy the benefits resulting from it, without inquir- 
ing concerning its cause. But every deviation from this regular course 
rouses and astonishes them. When they behold events to which they are 
not accustomed, they search for the reasons of them with eager curiosity. 
Their understanding is unable to penetrate into these ; but imagination, 
a more forward and ardent faculty of the mind, decides without hesitation. 
It ascribes the extraordinary occurrences in nature to the influence of invi- 
sible beings, and supposes that the thunder, the hurricane, and the earthquake 
are effects of their interposition. Some such confused notion of spiritual or 
invisible power, superintending over those natural calamities which frequently 
desolate the earth, and terrify its inhabitants, may be traced among many 
rude nations [88]. But besides this, the disasters and dangers of savage 
life are so many, and men often find themselves in situations so formidable, 
that the mind, sensible of its own weakness, has no resource but in the 
guidance and protection of wisdom and power superior to what is human. 
Dejected with calamities which oppress him, and exposed to dangers 
vv'hich he cannot repel, the savage no longer relies upon himiSelf ; he feels 
his own impotence, and sees no prospect of bei-ng extricated, but by the 
interposition of some unseen arm. Hence, in all unenlightened nations, 
the first rites or practices which bear any resemblance to acts of religion, 
have it for their object to avert evils which men suffer or dread. The 
Manitous or Okkis of the North Americans were amulets or charms, which 
they imagined to be of such virtue as to preserve the persons who reposed 
confidence in them from any disastrous event, or they were considered as 
tutelary spirits, whose aid they might implore in circumstances of distress.! 
The Cemis of the islanders were reputed by them to be the authors of 
every calamity that afflicts the human race ; they were represented under 
the most frightful forms, and religious homage was paid to them with no 
other view than to appease these furious deilies.J Even am.ong those tribes 
whose religious system was more enlai^ed, and who had formed some 
conception of benevolent beings, which delighted in conferring benefits, as 
well as of malicious powers prone to inflict evil ; superstition still appears 

• Biet, 539. Lery ap. de Bry, iii. 221. Niouhoff. Church. Coll. ii. 132. Lettr. Edif. 2. 177. 
Id. 12, IJ. Vencgns, i. 87. Lozano Descr. rid Gran Chaco, 59. Feriiand. Mission, de Chcqiiit. 39. 
Gumilla, ii. 156, Rochefort Hist, des Aiitilli's, p. 468. Margrave Hisl. in Append, de Chllierisilius, 
2c6. Ulloa, Notic. Amer. 336, tc. Barrere, 218, 219. Harcourt Voy. to Guiana, Purch. Pilgr. iv. 
n l'r/3. Account of Brazil, by a Portuguese. Ibid. p. 1289, Jones's Journal, p. 59. tCliarlev. 
N. Fr. iu 34j. Stc. Creuiii Hist. Cauab. p. 62, &c, t Oviedo. lib. iii. c. 1. p. 111. P. Martyr, 
decad. p. lUQ, Jtc. 



182 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

as the offspring of fear, and all its effortg were employed to avert calami* 
ties. They were persuaded that their good deities, prompted by the 
beneficence of their nature, would bestow every blessing in their power, 
without solicitation or acknowledgment ; and their only anxiety was to 
soothe and deprecate the wrath of the powers whom they regarded as 
the enemies of mankind.* 

Such were the imperfect conceptions of the greater part of the Americans 
with respect to the interposition of invisible agents, and such, almost uni- 
versally, was the mean and illiberal object of their superstitions. Were 
we to trace back the ideas of other nations to that rude state in which 
history first presents them to our view, we should discover a surprising 
resemblance in their tenets and practices ; and should be convinced, that 
in similar circumstances, the faculties of the human mind hold nearly the 
same course in their progress, and arrive at almost the same conclusions. 
The impressions of fear are conspicuous in all the systems of superstition 
formed in this situation. The most exalted notions of men rise no higher 
than to a perplexed apprehension of certain beings, whose power, though 
supernatural, is limited as well as partial. 

But, among other tribes, which have been longer united, or have made 
greater progress in improvement, we discern some feeble pointing towards 
more just and adequate conceptions of the power that presides in nature. 
They seem to perceive that there must be some universal cause to whom 
all things are indebted for their being. If we may judge by some of their 
expressions, they appear to acknowledge a divine power to be the maker of 
the world, and the disposer of all events. They denominate him the Great 
Spirit.] But these ideas are faint and confused, and when they attempt to 
explain them, it is manifest that among them the word spirit has a meaning 
veiy different from that in which we employ it, and that they have no concep- 
tion of any deity but what is corporeal. They believe their gods to be of 
the human form, though of a nature more excellent than man, and retail such 
wild incoherent fables concerning their functions and operations, as are 
altogether unworthy of a place in history. Even among these tribes, there 
is no established form of public worship ; there are no temples erected in 
honour of their deities ; and no ministers peculiarly consecrated to their 
service. They have the knowledge, however, of several superstitious 
ceremonies and practices handed down to them by tradition, and to these 
they have recourse with a childish credidity, when roused by any emer- 
gence from their usual insensibility, and excited to acknowledge the 
power, and to implore the protection of superior beings, j 

The tribe of the Natchez, and the people of Bogota, had advanced 
beyond the other uncultivated nations of America in their ideas of religion, 
as well as in their political institutions; and it is no less dilHcult to explain 
the cause of this distinction than of that which we have already consi- 
dered. The Sun was the chief object of religious worship among the 
Natchez. In their temples, which were constructed with some magnifi- 
cence, and decorated with various ornaments, according to their mode of 
architecture, they preserved a perpetual fire, as the purest emblem of their 
divinity. Ministers were appointed to watch and feed this sacred flame. 
The first function of the great chief of the nation, every morning, was an 
act of obeisance to the Sun ; and festivals returned at stated seasons, which 
were celebrated by the whole community with solemn but unbloody rites.5 
This is the most refined species of superstition known in America, and 
perhaps one of the inost natural as well as most seducing. The Sun is the 
apparent source of the joy, fertility, and life, diffused through nature ; and 

* Tertre, W. 3fi5. Borde, p. 14. State of Vircinia, by a Native, book iii. p. 32, 33. Dumont, j. 
165. Bancroft Nat. Hist, of Guiana, 309. "f Chariev. N. Fr. iii. 343. Sagaril, Voy. du Fays 
des Hurons, 226. % Chariev. N. Fr. iii. 345. Colden, i. 17. § Dumont, i. 158, &c. CbarleT 
N. Fr. ui. 417, &.C. 439. Lafitau, i. 167. 



AMERICA. 183 

while the human mind, in its earlier essays towards inquiry, contemplates 
and admires his universal and animating energy, its admiration is apt to 
stop short at what is visible, without reaching to the unseen cause ; and 
pays that adoration to the most glorious and beneficial work of God, which 
IS due only to him who formed it. As fire is the purest and most active of 
the elements, and in some of its qualities and effects resembles the Sun, it 
was, not improperly, chosen to be the emblem of his powerful operation. 
The ancient Persians, a people far superior, in every respect, to tnat rude 
tribe whose rites I am describing, founded their religious system on similar 
principles, and established a form of public worship, less gross and excep- 
tionable than that of any people destitute of guidance trom revelation. 
This surprising coincidence in sentiment between two nations, in such 
different states of improvement, is one of the many singular and unaccount- 
able circumstances which occur in the history of human affairs. 

Among the people of Bogota, the Sun and Moon were, likewise, the 
chief objects of veneration. Their system of religion was more regular 
and complete, though fess pure, than that of the Natchez. They had 
temples, altars, priests, sacritices, and that long train of ceremonies, which 
superstition introduces wherever she has fully established her dominion 
over the minds of men. But the rites of their worship were cruel and 
bloody. They offered human victims to their deities, and many of their 
practices nearly resembled the barbarous institutions of the Mexicans, the 
genius of which we shall have an opportunity of considering more atten- 
tively in its proper place.* 

With respect to the other great doctrine of religion, concerning the 
immortality of the soul, the sentiments of the Americans were more 
united : the human mind, even when least improved and invigorated by 
culture, shrinks from the thoughts of annihilation, and looks forward witn 
hope and expectation to a state of future existence. This sentiment, 
resulting from a secret consciousness of its own dignity, from an instinctive 
longing after immortality, is universal, and may be deemed natural. 
Upon this are founded the most exalted hopes of man in his highest state 
of improvement; nor has nature withheld from him this soothing consola- 
tion, in the most early and rude period of his progress. We can trace this 
opinion from one extremity of America to the other, in some regions more 
faint and obscure, in others more perfectly developed, but nowhere 
unknown. The most uncivilized of its savage tribes do not apprehend 
death as the extinction of being. All entertain hopes of a future and more 
happy state, where they shall be forever exempt from the calamities which 
imbitter human life in its present condition. This future state they con- 
ceive to be a delightful country, blessed with perpetual spring, whose 
forests abound with game, whose rivers swarm with fish, where famine is 
never felt, and uninterrupted plenty shall be enjoyed without labour or toil. 
But as men, in forming their first imperfect ideas conceining the invisible 
world, suppose that there they shall continue to feel the same desires, and 
to be engaged in the same occupations, as in the present world; they natu- 
rally ascribe eminence and distinction, in that state, to the same qualities 
and talents which are here the object of their esteem. The Americans, 
accordingly, allotted the highest place, in their country of spirits, to the 
skilful hunter, to the adventurous and successful warrior, and to such as had 
tortured the greatest number of captives, and devoured their flesh. t These 
notions were so prevalent that they gave rise to a universal custom, which 
is at once the strongest evidence that the Americans believe m a future 
state, and the best illustration of what they expect there. As they imagine, 
that departed spirits begin their career anew in the world whither they are 
gone, that their friends may not enter upon it defenceless and unprovided, 

♦ Pieiraliila, Conq. del N. Rcyno, p. 17. Ilerrcra, dec. G. lib. v. c. 6. t Lery ap. de Bry, iii, 

S22. Cliarlev. N. Fr. iii. 351, &c. De la Potlierie, ii. 45, &c. iii. 5. 



184 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

they bury together with the bodies of the dead their bow, their arrows, 
ana other weapons used in hunting or war ; they deposit in their tombs the 
sliins or stuffs of which they make garments, Indian corn, manioc, venison, 
domestic utensils, and whatever is reckoned among the necessaries in tlieir 
simple mode of lile.* In some provinces, upon the decease of a cazique 
or chief, a certain number of his wives, of his favourites, and of his slaves, 
were put to death, and interred together with him, that he might appear 
with the same dignity in his future station, and be waited upon by the same 
attendants.! This persuasion is so deep rooted that many of the deceased 
person's retainers offer themselves as voluntary victims, and court the 

frivilege of accompanying their departed master, as a high distinction, 
t has been found difficult, on some occasions, to set bounds to this enthu- 
siasm of affectionate duty, and to reduce the train of a favourite leader to 
such a number as the tribe could afford to spare [89]. 
_ Among the Americans, as well as other uncivilized nations, many of the 
rites and observances which bear some resemblance to acts of religion, 
have no connection with devotion, but proceed from a fond desire of prying 
into futurity. The human mind is most apt to feel and to discover this vain 
curiosity, when its own powers are most feeble and uninformed. Aston- 
ished with occurrences oi which it is unable to comprehend the cause, it 
naturally fancies that there is something mysterious and wonderful in their 
origin. Alarmed at events of which it cannot discern the issue or the con- 
sequences, it has recourse to other means of discovering them than the 
exercise of its own sagacity. Wherever superstition is so established as to 
form a regular system, this desire of penetrating into the secrets of futurity 
is connected with it. Divination becomes a religious act. Priests, as the 
ministers of heaven, pretend to deliver its oracles to men. They are the 
only soothsayers, augurs, and magicians, \\ho profess the sacred and 
important art of disclosing what is hid from other eyes. 

But, among rude nations, who pay no veneration to any superintending 
power, and who have no established rites or ministers of religion, their 
curiosity, to discover what is future and unknown, is cherisned by a 
different principle, and derives strength from another alliance. As the 
diseases of rnen, in the savage state, are (as has been already observed) 
like those of the animal creation, few, but extremely violent, their im- 
patience under what they sutler, and solicitude for the recovery of health, 
soon inspired them with extraordinary reverence for such as pretended to 
understand the nature of their maladies, and to be possessed of knowledge 
sufficient to preserve or deliver them from their sudden and fatal efiects. 
These ignorant pretenders, however, were such utter strangers to the 
structu'-e of the human frame, as to be equally unacquainted with the 
causes of its disorders, and the manner in which they will terminate. 
Superstition, mingled frequently with some portion of craft, supplied what 
they wanted in science. They imputed the origin of diseases to superna- 
tural influence, and prescribed or performed a variety of mysterious rites, 
which they gave out to be of such efficacy as to remove the most dangerous 
and inveterate maladies. The credulity and love of the marvellous, 
natural to uninformed men, favoured the deception, and prepared them to 
be the dupes of those impostors. Among savages, their first physicians are 
a kind of conjurers or wizards, who boast that they know what is past, 
and can foretell what is to come. Incantations, sorcjfry, and mummeries of 
diverse kinds, no less strange than frivolous, ar^ie means which they 
employ to expel the imaginary causes of maU|;nity ;| and, relying upon 

* Chronica de Circa dc Leon, c. 28. Sa^ard, 238. Cienx. Hist. Cannd. p. 91. Rochefort. 
Hist, des Antilt's, m;s. Blel, ;«(l. De la Potherie, ii. 44. iii. 3. Blanco Convers. de Piritii, p. 35. 
tDumonl Louisiane, i. 208, &c. 0\iedo, lib. v. c. 3. Gomara Hist. Gen. c. 28. P. Mart, decad. 
304, Charlev. N. Kr. iii. 421. Heriera, dec. 1. lib. iii. c, 3. P. Melchior Hernandez Memor. d% 
Cheriqui. Coll. Oris;. Papers, i. Chron. de Cieca de Leon, c.33. ; P. Melch. Hernandez Memo 
rialde Cheriqui. Collect. Ori^. Pap. i. 



AMERICA. 185 

the efficacy of these, they predict with confidence what will be the fate 
of their deluded patients. Thus superstition, in its earliest form, flowed 
from the solicitude of man to be delivered from present distress, not from 
his dread of evils awaiting him in a future life, and was originally ingrafted 
on medicine, not on religion. One of the first and most intelligent historians 
of America, was struck with this alliance between the art of divination and 
that of physic, among the people of Hispaniola.* But this was not peculiar 
10 them. The Jlexis, the Piavas, the Autnoins, or whatever was the 
distinguishing name of their diviners and charmers in other parts of 
America, were all the physicians of their respective tribes, in the same 
manner as the Bubitos of Hispaniola. As their function led them to apply 
to the human mind when enfeebled by sickness, and as they found it, in 
that season of dejection, prone to be alarmed with imaginary fears, or 
amused with vain hopes, they easily induced it to rely with implicit con- 
fidence on the virtue of their spells, and the certainty of their predictions.! 

Whenever men acknowledge the reality of supernatural power and dis- 
cernment in one instance, they have a propensity to admit it in others. 
The Americans did not long suppose the efficacy of conjuration to be con- 
fined to one subject. They had recourse to it in every situation of danger 
or distress. When the events of war were peculiarly disastrous, when 
they met with unforeseen disappointment in hunting, when inundations or 
drought threatened their crops with destruction, they called upon their 
conjurors to begin their incantations, in order to discover the causes of 
those calamities, or to foretell what would be their issue.J Their con- 
fidence in this delusive art gradually increased, and maniiested itself in 
all the occurrences of life. When involved in any difficulty, or about to 
enter upon any transaction of moment, every individual regularly consulted 
the sorcerer, and depended upon his instructions to extricate him from the 
former, as well as to direct his conduct in the latter. Even among the 
rudest tribes in America, superstition appears in this form, and divination 
is an art in high esteem. Long before man had acquired such knowledge 
of a deity as inspires reverence, and leads to adoration, we observe him 
stretching out a presumptuous hand to draw aside that veil with which 
Providence kindly conceals its purposes from human knowledge ; and we 
find him labouring with fruitless anxiety to penetrate into the mysteries of 
the divine administration. To discern and to worship a superintending 
power is an evidence of the enlargement and maturity of the human 
understanding ; a vain desire of prying into futurity is the error of its 
infancy, and a proof of its weakness. 

From this weakness proceeded likewise the faith of the Americans in 
dreams, their observation of omens, their attention to the chirping of birds, 
and the cries of animals, all which they suppose to be indications of future 
events ; and it any one of these prognostics is deemed unfavourable, they 
instantly abandon the pursuit of those measures on which they are most 
e** tirly bent.§ 

/III. But if we would form a complete idea of the uncultivated nations 
of America, we must not pass unobserved some singular customs, which, 
though universal and characteristic, could not be reduced, with piopriety, 
to any of the articles into which I have divided my inquiry concerning 
their manners. 

Among savages, in every part of the globe, the love of dancing is a 
favourite passion. As, during a great part of their tune, they languish in 

♦ Oviedo, lib. v. c. 1. f Herrera, dec. I. lib. iii. c. 4. Osborne Coll. ii. 8G0. Dumont, i. 

169, &c, Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 3C1. 364, &c. Lawson, N. C'ariol. 2t4. Ribas, Triuiiif. p. 17. Biet, 
386. Ue la Potherie, ii. 35, &c. * Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 3. Dunioiit, i. 173. Fernand. Relac. 

de los Chtiiuii. p. 40. Lozano, 84, Margrave, 279. $ Charlev. N. Fr. iii.2G2. 353. Stadius 

ap do Bry, iii. 120. Creuxj. Hist. Canad. 84. Techo Hist, of Parag. Cliurch. Coll. vi. 37. De la 
Vothcrio, iii. 6. 

Vol. [.—24 10 



m HISTORY OF [Book IV 

a state of inactivity and indolence, without any occupation to rouse or 
interest them, they delight universally in a pastime which calls forth the 
active powers of their nature into exercise. The Spaniards, when they first 
visited America, were astonished at the fondness of the natives for dancing, 
and beheld with wonder a people, cold and unanimated in most of their 
other pursuits, kindle into life, and exert themselves with ardour, as often 
as this favourite amusement recurred. Amon^ them, indeed, dancing 
ought not to be denominated an amusement. It is a serious and important 
occupation which mingles in every occurrence of public or private life. 
If any intercourse be necessary between two American tribes, the ambas- 
sadors of the one approach in a solemn dance, and present the calumet or 
emblem of peace ; the sachems of the other receive it witli the same 
ceremony.* If war is denounced against an enemy, it is by a dance ex- 
pressive of the resentment which they feel, and of the vengeance which 
they meditate.! If the wrath of their gods is to be appeased, or their bene- 
ficence to be celebrated ; if they rejoice at the birth of a child, or mourn 
the death of a friend,J they have dances appropriated to each of these 
situations, and suited to the different sentiments with which they are then 
aninSated. If a person is indisposed, a dance is prescribed as the most 
effectual means of restoring him to health ; and if he himself cannot endure 
the fatigue of such an exercise, the physician or conjuror performs it io 
his name, as if the virtue of his activity could be transferred to his 
patient.§ 

All their dances are imitations of some action ; and though the music 
by which they are regulated is extremely simple, and tiresome to the ear 
by its dull monotony, some of their dances appear wonderfully expressive 
and animated. The war dance is, perhaps, the most striking. It is the 
representation of a complete American campaign. The departure of the 
warriors from their village, their march into the enemy's country, the 
caution with which they encamp, the address with which they station 
some of their party in ambush, the manner of surprising the enemy, the 
noise and ferocity of the combat, the scalping of those who are slain, the 
seizing of prisoners, the triumphant return of the conquerors, and the tor- 
ture of the victims, are successively exhibited. The performers enter 
with such enthusiastic ardour into their several parts ; their gestures, their 
countenance, their voice, are so wild and so well adapted to their various 
situations, that Europeans can hardly believe it to be a mimic scene, or 
view it without emotions of fear and horror.H 

But however expressive some of the American dances may be, there is 
one circumstance in them remarkable, and connected with the character 
of the race. • The songs, the dances, the amusements of other nations, ex- 
pressive of the sentiments which animate their hearts, are often adapted 
to display or excite that sensbility which mutually attaches the sexes. 
Among some people, such is the ardour of this passion, that love is almost 
the sole object of festivity and joy ; and as rude nations are strangers to 
delicacy, and unaccustomed to disguise any emotion of their minds, their 
dances are often extremely wanton and indecent. Such is the Calenda, of 
which the natives of Africa are so passionately fond ;1[ and such the feats 
of the dancing girls which the Asiatics contemplate with so much avidity 
of desire. But among the Americans, more cold and indifferent to their 
females, from causes which I have already explained, the passion of love 
mingles but little with tiieir festivals and pastimes. Their sohgs and 

• De la Potherie Hist. U. 17, &c: Charlev. N. Fr. lil. 211. 297. La Ilontan, i. 100 137. Hen- 
nepin Decou. 146, &.c. T Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 35)8. Lafitau, i. 523. J .louti-l, 343. Gomara 
'Hist. Gen. c. 196. <ii Denys Hist. Nat. 189. BricUcil, 372. He la Pothone, ii. 36. || Do la 

Potherie, ii. 116. Cliarlev. N. F. iii. 297. Lafitau, i. 523. IF Adanson Voyage to Senegal, iii. 

287. Labat, Voyages, iv. 463. Sloane Hist. Nat. of Jam. Introd. p. 48. Ferniin Descnpl. de 
Surin, i. 139. 



AMERICA. 187 

dances are mostly solemn and martial ; they are connected with some of 
the serious and important affairs of life ;* and, having no relation to love or 
gallantry, are seldom common to the two sexes, but executed by the men 
and vi'omen apartj [90]. If, on some occasions, the women are permitted 
to join in the festival, tne character of the entertainment is still the same, 
and no movement or gesture is expressive of attachment, or encourages 
familiarity.^ 

An immoderate love of play, especially at games of hazard, which 
seems to be natural to all people unaccustomed to the occupations of 
regular industry, is likewise universal among the Americans. The same 
causes, which so oiten prompt persons in civilized life, who are at their 
ease, to have recourse to this pastime, render it the delight of the savage. 
The former are independent of labour, the latter do not feel the necessity 
of it ; and as both are unemployed, they run with transport to whatever 
is interesting enough to stir and to agitate their minds. Hence the Ameri- 
cans, who at other times are so indifferent, so phlegmatic, so silent, and 
animated with so few desires, as soon as they engage in play become 
rapacious, impatient, noisy, and almost frantic with eagerness. Their 
furs, their domestic untensils, their clothes, their arms, are staked at the 
gaming table, and when all is lost, high as their sense of independence is, in 
a wild emotion of despair or of hope, they will often risk their personal 
liberty upon a single cast.§ Among several tribes, such gaming parties 
frequently recur, and become their most acceptable entertainment at every 
great festival. Superstition, which is apt to take hold of those passions 
which are most vigorous, trequently lends its aid to confirm and strengthen 
this favourite inclination. Their conjurors are accustomed to prescribe a 
solemn match at play as one of the most efficacious methods of appeasing 
their gods, or of restoring the sick to health.il 

From causes similar to those which render them fond of play, the 
Americans are extremely addicted to drunkenness. It seems to have been 
one of the first exertions of human ingenuity to discover some composition 
of an intoxicating quality ; and there is hardly any nation so rude, or so 
destitute of invention, as not to have succeeded in this fatal research. The 
most barbarous of the American tribes have been so unfortunate as to 
attain this art ; and even those which are so deficient in knowledge, as to 
be unacquainted with the method of giving an inebriating strength to 
liquors by fermentation, can accomplish the same end by other means. 
The people of the islands of North America, and of California, used, for 
this purpose, the smoke of tobacco, drawn up with a certain instrument 
into the nostrils, the fumes of which ascending to the brain, they felt all 
the transports and phrensy of intoxicationlF [91]. In almost every other 
part of the New W orld, the natives possessed the art of extracting an 
intoxicating liquor from maize or the manioc root, the same substances 
which they convert into bread. The operation by which they effect this 
nearly resembles the common one of brewing, but with this difference, 
that, in place of yeast, they use a nauseous infusion of a certain quantity 
of maize or manioc chewed by their women. The saliva excites a vigorous 
fermentation, and in a few days the liquor becomes fit for drinking. It is 
not disagreeable to the taste, and, when swallowed in large quantities, is 
of an intoxicating quality.** This is the general beverage of the Ameri- 
cans, which they distinguish by various names, and for which they feel 
such a violent and insatiable desire as it is not easy either to conceive or 

* Descript. of N. France. Osbome Coll. li. 883. Cliarlev. N. Fr. iii. 84. t Wafer's Account 
of iBlhmus, &c. 1C9. Levy ap. de Bry, iii. 177. Lozano Hist, de Paraa. i. 149. Herreia, dec. 2. 
lib. vii. c. 8. dec. 4. lib. x. c. 4. t Barrnre, Fr. F.quin. p. 191. \ Cliarlev. N. Fr. Iii. ail. 

318. Lafitaii, ii. 338. &c. Ribas Triumf. 13. Brickell, 335. fj Charley. N. Fr. ill. P62, 

V Oviedo Hist. ap. Ramus, iii. 113. Veiiegas, i. C8. Naufrag. dc Cabeca de Vaca, cap. AUi, 
•♦ Stadiu* ap. de Bry, iii. IH. Lery, ibid. 175. 



188 HISTORY OF LBookIV. 

describe. Among polished nations, where a succession of various functions 
«nd amusements keeps the mind in continual occupation, the desire for 
strong drink is regulated in a great measure by the climate, and increases 
or diminishes according to the variations of its temperature. In warm 
regions, the delicate and sensible frame of the inhabitants does not require 
the stimulation of fermented liquors. In colaer countries, the constitution 
of the natives, more robust and more sluggish, stands in need of generous 
liquors to quicken and animate it. But among savages, the desire of 
something that is of power to intoxicate is in every situation the same. 
All the people of America, if we except some small tribes near the Straits 
o[ Magellan, whether natives of the torrid zone, or inhabitants of its more 
temperate regions, or placed by a harder fate in the severe climates towards 
its northern or southern extremity, appear to be equally under the dominion 
of this appetite.* Such a similarity of taste, among people in such ditfer- 
ent situations, must be ascribed to the influence of some moral cause, and 
cannot be considered as the effect of any physical or constitutional want. 
While engaged in war or in the chase, the savage is often in the most 
interesting situations, and all the powers of his nature are roused to the 
most vigorous exertions. But those animating scenes are succeeded by 
long intervals of repose, during which the warrior meets with nothing that 
he deems of sufficient dignity or importance to merit his attention. He 
languishes and mopes in this season of indolence. The posture of his body 
is an emblem of the state of his mind. In one climate, coM'ering over the 
fire in his cabin ; in another, stretched under the shade of some tree, he 
dozes away his time in sleep, or in an unthinking joyless inactivity not far 
removed from it. As strong liquors awake him from this torpid state, give a 
brisker motion to his spirits, and enliven him more thoroughly than either 
dancing or gaming, his love of them is excessive. A savage, when not 
engaged in action, is a pensive melancholy animal ; but as soon as he 
tastes, or has a prospect of tasting, the intoxicating draught, he becomes 
gay and frolicsome.! Whatever be the occasion or pretexts on which the 
Americans assemble, the meeting always terminates in a debauch. Many 
of their festivals have no other object, and they welcome the return of 
them with transports of joy. As they are not accustomed to restrain any 
appetite, they set no bounds to this. The riot often continues without 
intermission several days ; and whatever may be the fatal effects of their 
excess, they never cease from drinking as long as one drop of liquor 
remains. The persons of greatest eminence, the most distinguished war- 
riors, and the chiefs most renowned for their wisdom, have no greater 
command of themselves than the most obscure members of the cornmunity. 
Their eagerness for present enjoyment renders them blind to its fatal con- 
sequences ; and those very men, who in other situations seem to possess a 
force of mind more than human, are in this instance inferior to children, in 
foresight as well as consideration, and mere slaves of brutal appetite. | 
When their passions, naturally strong, are heightened and inflamed by 
drink, they are guilty of the most enormous outrages, and the festivity 
seldom concludes without deeds of violence or bloodshed. § 

But, amidst this wild debauch, there is one circumstance remarkable; 
the women, in most of the American tribes, are not permitted to partake 
of it [92]. Their province is to prepare the liquor, to serve it about to the 
guests, and to take care of their husbands and friends when their reason is 
overpowered. This exclusion of the Avomen from an enjoyment so highly 
valued by savages, may be justly considered as a mark of their inferiority, 
and as an additional evidence of that contempt with which they were 

• Gumllla, i.257. I.ozano Descrip. del Gran. Chaco, Sfi. 10X Ribas, 8. Ulloa, i. 249. 337. 
Marcliais, iv. 436. Fernandez Mission, de las Chequit. 35. Barrere, p. '203. Blanco Convers. do 
Piriiu, 31. t Melendez Tesores Veidad. ui. 360. t Ribas, 9. Ulloa, i 338. $ Lettr. 

Edif. ii. 178. Torquemada Mond. Ind. i. 339. 



AMERICA. 189 

treated in the New World. The people of North America, when first 
discovered, were not acquainted with any intoxicating drink ; but as the 
Europeans early found it their interest to supj)ly them with spirituous 
liquors, drunkenness soon became as universal among them as among their 
countrymen to the south ; and their women, having acquired this new 
taste, indulge it with as little decency and moderation as the men.* 

It were endless to enumerate all the detached customs which have 
excited the wonder of travellers in America ; but I cannot omit one 
seemingly as singular as any that has been mentioned. When their 
parents and other relations become old, or labour under any distemper 
which their slender knowledge of the healing art cannot remove, the 
Americans cut short their days with a violent hand, in order to be relieved 
from the burden of supporting and tending them. This practice pre- 
vailed among the ruder tribes in ever}'- part ofthe continent, from Hudson's 
Bay to the river De la Plata ; and however shocking it may be to those 
sentiments of tenderness and attachment, which, in civilized life, we are 
apt to consider as congenial with our frame, the condition of man in the 
savage state leads and reconciles him to it. The same hardships and 
difficulty of procuring subsistence, which deter savages, in some cases, 
from rearing their children, prompt them to destroy the aged and infirm. 
The declining state of the one is as helpless as the infancy of the other. 
The former are no less unable than the latter to perform the functions that 
belong to a warrior or hunter, or to endure those various distresses in 
which savages are so often involved by their own want of foresight and 
industry. Their relations feel this ; and, incapable of attending to the 
wants or weaknesses of others, their impatience under an additional burden 
prompts them to extinguish that life which they find it difficult to sustain. 
This is not regarded as a deed of cruelty, but as an act of mercy. An 
American, broken with years and infirmities, conscious that he can no 
longer depend on the aid of those around him, places himself contentedly 
in his grave ; and it is by the hands of his children or nearest relations 
that the thong is pulled, or the blow inflicted, which releases him for ever 
from the sorrows of life.t 

IX. After contemplating the rude American tribes in such various lights ; 
after taking a view of their customs and manners from so many different 
stations, nothing remains but to form a general estimate of their character 
compared with that of more polished nations. A human being, as he 
comes originally from the hand of nature, is every Avhere the same. At 
his first appearance in the state of infancy, whether it be among the 
rudest savages or in the most civilized nation, we can discern no quality 
which marks any distinction or superiority. The capacity of improve- 
ment seems to be the same ; and the talents he may afterwards acquire, 
as well as the virtues he may be rendered capable of exercising, depend, 
in a great measure, upon the state of society in which he is placed. To 
this state his mind naturallj'' accommodates itself, and from it receives 
discipline and culture. In proportion to the wants which it accustoms a 
human being to feel, and the functions in which these engage him, his 
intellectual powers are called forth. According to the connexions which 
it establishes between him and the rest of his species, the affections of his 
heart are exerted. It is only by attending to this great principle that we 
can discover what is the character of man in every different period of his 
progress. 

If we apply it to savage life, and measure the attainments of the 
human mind in that state by this standard, we shall find, according to 
an observation which I have already made, that the intellectual powers of 
man must be extremely limited in their operations. They are confined 

• Hutchinson Hist, of Massacliiis. 469. Lafltau, ii. 125. Sagard, 146. f Cassani Histor 

de N. Reyno rte Gran. p. 300. Plso, p. 6. Ellia Way. 191. Gumilla, i. 3^. 



190 HISTORY OF IBookIV. 

within the narrow sphere of what he deems necessary for supplying his 
own wants. Whatever has not some relation to these neither attracts his 
attention, nor is the object of his inquiries. But however narrow the 
bounds may be within which the knowled2;e of a savage is circumscribed, 
he possesses thoroughly that small portion which he has attained. It was 
not communicated to him by formal instruction ; he does not attend to it 
as a matter of mere speculation and curiosity ; it is the result of his own 
observation, the fruit of his own experience, and accommodated to his 
condition and exigencies. While employed in the active occupations of 
war or of hunting, he often finds himself in difficult and perilous situations, 
from which the efforts of his own sagacity must extricate him. He is 
frequently engaged in measures, where every step depends upon his own 
ability to decide, where he must rely solely upon his own penetration to 
discern the dangers to which he is exposed, and upon his own wisdom in 
providing against them. In consequence of this, he feels the knowledge 
which he possesses, and the efforts which he makes, and either in delibe- 
ration or action rests on himself alone. 

As the talents of individuals are exercised and improved by such 
exertions, much political wisdom is said to be displayed in conducting the 
affairs of their small communities. The council of old men in an Ameri- 
can tribe, deliberating upon its interests, and determining with respect to 
peace or war, has been compared to the senate in more polished republics. 
The proceedings of the former, we are told, are often no less formal and 
sagacious than those of the latter. Great political wisdom is exhibited 
in pondering the various measures proposed, and in balancing their pro- 
bable advantages against the evils of^ which they may be productive. 
Much address and eloquence are eniployed by the leaders, who aspire at 
acquiring such confidence with their countrymen as to have an ascendant 
in those assemblies.* But, among savage tribes, the field for displaying 
political talents cannot be extensive. Where the idea of private property 
is incomplete, and no criminal jurisdiction is established, there is hardly 
any function of internal government to exercise. Where there is no com- 
merce, and scarcely any intercourse am.ong separate tribes ; where 
enmity is implacable, and hostilities are carried on almost without intermis- 
sion; there will be few points of public concern to adjust with their 
neighbours ; and that department of their affairs which may be denomi- 
nated foreign, cannot be so intricate as to require much refined policy in 
conducting it. Where individuals are so thoughtless and improvident as 
seldom to take effectual precautions for self-preservation, it is vain to 
expect that public measures and deliberations will be regulated by the 
contemplation of remote events. It is the genius of savages to act from 
the impulse of present passion. They have neither foresight nor temper 
to form complicated arrangements with respect to their future conduct. 
The consultations of the Americans, indeed, are so frequent, and their 
negotiations are so many [93], and so long protracted, as to give their 
proceedings an extraordinary aspect of wisdom. But this is not owing 
so much to the depth of their schemes, as to the coldness and phlegm of 
their temper, which render them slow in determining.! If we except 
the celebrated league, that united the Five Nations in Canada, into a 
federal republic, which shall be considered in its proper place, we can 
discern few such traces of political wisdom, among the rude American 
tribes, as discover any great degree of foresight or extent of intellectual 
abilities. Even among them, we shall find public measures more fre- 
quently directed by the impetuous ferocity of their youth, than regulated 
by the experience and wisdom of their old men. 
As the condition of man in the savage state is unfavourable to " the 

• Charlov. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 369, &.C. ] Ibid. iu. 271, 



AMERICA. 191 

prcm-ess of the undei-standing, it has a tendency likewise, in some respects, 
to cneck the exercise of affection, and to render the heart contracted. The 
strongest feeling in the mind of a savage is a sense of his own independence. 
He has sacrificed so small a portion of his natural liberty by becoming a 
member of society, that he remains, in a great degree, the sole master of 
his own actions.* He often takes his resolutions alone, without consulting 
or feeling any connection with the persons around him. In many of his 
operations he stands as much detached from the rest of his species as if he 
had formed no union with them. Conscious how little he depends upon 
other men, he is apt to view them with a careless indifference. Even the 
force of his mind contributes to increase this unconcern ; and as he looks 
not beyond himself in deliberating with respect to the part Avhich he should 
act, his solicitude about the consequences of it seldom extends further. 
He pursues his own career, and indulges his own fancy, without inquiring 
or regarding whether what he does be agreeable or ofiensive to others, 
whether they may derive benefit or receive hurt from it. Hence the 
ungovernable caprice of savages, their impatience under any species of 
restraint, their inability to suppress or moderate any inclination, the scorn 
or neglect with which they receive advice, their high estimation of them- 
selves, and their contempt of other men. Among them, the pride of inde- 
pendence produces almost the same effects with interestedness in a more 
advanced state of society ; it refers every thing to a man himself, it leads him to 
be indifferent about the'mannerin which his actions may affectother men, and 
renders the gratification of his own wishes the measure and end of conduct. 

To the same cause may be imputed the hardness of heart and insensibi- 
lity remarkable in all savage nations Their minds, roused only by strong 
emotions, are little susceptible of gentle, delicate, or tender affections.! 
Their union is so incomplete that each individual acts as if he retained all 
his natural rights entire and undimmished. If a favour is conferred upon 
him, or any beneficial service is performed on his account, he receives it 
with much satisfaction, because it contributes to his enjoyment ; but this 
sentiment extends not beyond himself, it excites no sense of obligation, he 
neitherfeelsgratitude, nor thinks of making any returnj [94]. Even among 
peisons the most closely connected, the exchange of those good offices 
which strengthen attachment, mollify the heart, and sweeten the intercourse 
of life, is not frequent. The high ideas of independence among the Ame- 
ricans nourish a sullen reserve, which keeps them at a distance from each 
other. The nearest relations are mutually afraid to make any demand, 
or to solicit any service,^ lest it should be considered by the other as 
imposing a burden, or laymg a restraint upon his will. 

I have already remarked the influence of this hard unfeeling temper 
upon domestic life, with respect to tiie connection between husband and 
wife, as well as that between parents and children. Its effects are 
no less conspicuous, in the performance of those mutual offices of ten- 
derness which the infirmities of our nature frequently exact. Among 
some tribes, when any of their number are seized with any violent disease, 
they are generally abandoned by all around them, who, careless of their 
recovery, fly in the utmost consternation from the supposed danger of infec- 
tion.!! "But even where they are not thus deserted, the cold indifference 
with which they are attended can afford them little consolation. No look 
of sympathy, no soothing expressions, no officious services, contribute to 
alleviate the distress of the sufferers, or to make them forget what they 
endure. U^ Their nearest relations will often refuse to submit to the smallest 
fnconveniency, or to part with the least trifle, however much it may tend 

• Fernandez Miseion. de los Chequit. 33. Charlev. Hist. N. Fr. iii. 309. * Oviedo, Hist, 
lb. xvi. c. 2. ^ De la Potberie, iii. 28. || Lettre de P. Cataneo ap. Muratori Christian, i. 

30. Tortrc, ii, 410. Lozano, 100. Herrera, dec. 4. lib. viii. c. 5. dec. 5. lib. iv. c, 2. Falkiier's 
Deicript. of Patagonia, 98 !T GuniUla, i. 329 Lozano, 100, 



192 HISTORY OF [BookIV. 

to their accommodation or relief.* So little is the breast of a savage sus- 
ceptible of those sentiments which prompt men to that feeling attention 
which mitigates the calamities of human life, that, in some provinces of 
America, the Spaniards have found it necessary to enforce the common 
duties of humanity by positive laws, and to oblige husbands and w ives, 
parents and children, under severe penalties, to take care of each other 
during their ^ckness.j The same harshness of temper is still more con- 
spicuous in their treatment of the animal creation. Prior to their inter- 
course with the people of Europe, the North Americans had some tame 
dogs, which accompanied them in their hunting excursions, and served 
them with all the ardour and fidelity peculiar to the species. But, 
instead of that fond attachment which the hunter naturally feels towards 
those useful companions of his toils, they requite their services with 
neglect, seldom feed, and never caress them.]; In other provinces the 
Americans have become acquainted with the domestic animals of Europe, 
and availed themselves of their service; but it is universally observed that 
they always treat them harshly ,§ and never employ any method either for 
breaking or managing them, but force and cruelty. In everj' part of the 
deportment of man in his savage state, whether towards his equals of the 
human species, or towards the animals belov/ him, we recognise the same 
character, and trace the operations of a mind intent on its own gratifications, 
and regulated by its own caprice, with little attention or sensibility to the 
sentiments and feelings of the beings around him. 

After explaining how unfavourable the savage state is to the cultivation 
of the understanding, and to the improvement of the heart, I should not 
have thought it necessary to mention what may be deemed its lesser 
defects, if the character of nations, as well as of individuals, were not often 
more distinctly marked by circumstances apparently trivial than by those 
of greater moment. A savage frequently placed in situations of danger 
and distress, depending on himself alone, and wrapped up in his own 
thoughts and schemes, is a serious melancholy animal. His attention to 
others is small. The range of his own ideas is narrow. Hence that taci- 
turnity which is so disgusting to men accustomed to the open intercourse of 
social conversation. When they are not engaged in action, the Americans 
often sit whole days in one posture, without opening their lips.|| When 
they go forth to war, or to the chase, they usually march in a line at some 
distance from one another, and without exchanging a word. The same 
profound silence is observed when they row together in a canoe. IT It is 
only when they are animated by hjtoxicating liquors, or roused by the 
jollity of the festival and dance, that they become gay and ccnversible. 

To the same causes may be imputed the refined cunning with which 
they form and execute their schemes. Men who are not habituated to a 
liberal communication of their own sentiments and wishes, are apt to be so 
distrustful as to place little confidence in others, and to have recourse to an 
insidious craft in accomplishing their own puposes. In civilized life, those 
persons who by their situations have but a few objects of pursuit on which 
their minds incessantly dwell, are most remarkable for low artifice in carry- 
ing on their little projects. Among savages, whose views are equally 
confined, and their attention no less persevering, those circumstances rnust 
operate still more powerfully, and gradually accustom them to a disin- 
genuous subtlety in a]l their transactions. The force of this is increased by 
habits which they acquire in carrying on the two n)0st interesting operations 
wherein they are engaged. With them war is a system of craft, in which 
tbey trust for success to stratagem more than to open force, and have their 

* Gargia Origen, &c. 90. Herrera, dec. 4. lib. viii. c. 5. t Cogulludo Hist, de Yucathan, p. ."WO. 
t Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 119. 337. $ UUoa Notic. American. 312. || Voyage de Bougucr, 108. 
IT Cliarlev. iii. 340. 



AMERICA. m 

invention continually on the stretch to circumvent and surprise their 
enemies. As hunters, it is their constant object to ensnare in order that 
they may destroy. Accordingly, art and cunning have been universally 
observed as distinguishing characteristics of all savages. The people of 
the rude tribes of America are remarkable for their artifice and duplicity. 
Impenetrably secrect in forming their measures, they pursue them with a 
patient undeviating attention, and there is no refinement of dissimulation 
which they cannot employ, in order to ensure success. The natives of 
Peru were engaged above thirty years, in concerting the plan of that 
insurrection which took place under the vice-royalty of the Marquis de 
Villa Garcia ; and though it was communicated to a great number of 
persons, in all different ranks, no indication of it ever transpired during 
that long period ; no man betrayed his trust, or, by an unguarded look, 
or rash word, gave rise to any suspicion of what v/as intended.* The 
dissimulation and craft of individuals is no less remarkable than that of 
nations. When set upon deceiving, they wrap themselves up so artificially, 
that it is impossible to penetrate into their intentions, or to detect their 
designs.! 

But if there be defects or vices peculiar to the savage state, there are 
likewise virtues which it inspires, and good qualities, to the exercise of 
which it is friendly. The bonds of society sit so loose upon the members 
oi' the more rude American tribes, that they hardly feel any restraint. 
Hence the spirit of independence, which is the pride of a savage, and 
which he considers as the unalienable prerogative of man. Incapable of 
control, and disdaining to acknowledge any superior, his mind, (hough 
limited in its powers, and errin"; in many of its pursuits, acquires such 
elevation by the consciousness of its own freedom, that he acts on .some 
occasions with astonishing force, and perseverance, and dignity. 

As independence nourishes this high spirit among savages, the perpetual 
•wars in which they are engaged call it forth into action. Such long inter- 
vals of tranquillity as are frequent in polished societies are unknown in tho 
savage state. Their enmities, as I have observed, are implacable and 
immortal. The valour of the young men is never allowed to rust in 
inaction. The hatchet is always in the hand, either for attack or defence. 
Even in their hunting excursions, they must be on their guard against 
surprise from the hostile tribes by which they are surrounded. Accustomed 
to continual alarms, they grow familiar with danger ; courage becomes an 
habitual virtue, resulting naturally from their situation, and strengthened 
by constant exertions. The mode of displaying fortitude may not be the 
same in small and rude communities, as in more powerful and civilized 
states. Their system of war, and standard of valour may be fornied upon 
different principles ; but in no situation does the human mind rise more 
superior to the sense of danger, or the dread of death, than in its most 
simple and uncultivated state. 

Another virtue remarkable among savages, is attachment to the commu- 
nity of which they are members. From the nature of their political union, 
one might expect this tie to be extremely feeble. But there are circum- 
stances which render the influence, even of their loose mode of association, 
very powerful. I'he American tribes are small ; combined against theii 
neighbours, in prosecution of ancient enmities, or in avenging recent injuries, 
then- interests and operations are neither numerous nor complex. These 
are objects which the uncultivated understanding of a savage can compre- 
hend. His heart is capable of forming connections which are so .ime iiu 
fused. He assents with warmth to public measures, dictated by passions 
similar to those which direct his own conduct. Hence the ardour with 
which individuals undertake the most perilous service, when the commu- 

• Voy«ae deUlloa, II. 309. t ©umflla, 1. \fS. OjMrlev. 

Vol. 1.-25 



194 HISTORY OP [Book IV. 

nity deems it necessary. Hence their fierce and deep rooted antipathy to 
the pubUc enemies. Hence their zeal for tlie honour of their tribe, and 
that love of their country, which prompts them to brave danger that it may 
triumph, and to endure the most exquisite torments, without a groan, that 
it may not be disgraced. 

Thus, in everj' situation where a human being can be placed, even m the 
most unfavourable, there are virtues which peculiarly belong to it ; (here 
are affections which it calls forth ; there is a species of happiness which it 
yields. Nature, with the most beneficent intention, conciliates and forms 
the mind to its condition ; the ideas and wishes of man extend not beyond 
that state of society to which he is habituated. What it presents as objects 
of contemplation or enjoyment, fills and satisfies his nn'nd, and he can 
hardly conceive any other mode of life to be pleasant, or even tolerable. 
The Tartar, accustomed to roam over extensive plains, and to subsist on the 
product of his herds, imprecates upon his enemy, as the greatest of all 
curses, that he may be condemned to reside in one place, and to be nourished 
wiih the top of a weed. The rude Americans, fond of their own pursuits, 
and satisfied with their own lot, are equally unable to comprehend the 
intention or utility of the various accommodations, which, in more polished 
society are deemed essential to the comfort of life. Far from complaining^ 
of their own situation, or viewing that of men in a more improved state 
with admiration or envy, they regard themselves as the standard of excel- 
lence, as beings the best entitled, as well as the most perfectly qualified, to 
enjoy real happiness. Unaccustomed to any restraint upon their will or 
their actions, they behold with amazement the inequality of rank, and the 
subordination which takes place in civilized life, and consider the volun- 
tary subn)ission of one man to another as a renunciation no less base than 
unaccountable, of the first distinction of humanity. Void of foresight, as 
well as free from care themselves, and delighted with that state of indolent 
security, they wonder at the anxious precautions, the unceasing industiy, 
and complicated arrangements of Europeans, in guarding against distant 
evils, or providing for future wants ; and they often exclaim against their 
preposterous folly, in thus multiplying the troubles and increasing the 
labour of life.* This preference of their own manners is conspicuous on 
every occasion. Even the names, by which the various nations wish to be 
distinguished, arc assumed from this idea of their own pre-eminence. 
The appellation which the Iroquois give to themselves is the chief of men. '^ 
Cnraibe, the original name of the fierce inhabitants of the Windward Islands, 
signifies </je zaarlike people.t The Cherokees, from an idea of their own 
superiority, call the Europeans Koihings, or the accursed race, and assume 
to themselves the name of the beloved people.^ The same principle regu- 
lated the notions of the other Americans concerning the Europeans ; for 
although at first they were filled with astonishment at their arts, and with 
dread of their power, they soon came to abate their estimation of men 
whose maxims of life were so different from their own. Hence they 
called them the froth of the sea, men without father or mother. They 
supposed, that either they had no country of their own, and therefore 
invaded that wliich belonged to others ;|| or that, being destitute of the 
necessaries of life at home, they were obliged to roam over the ocean, in 
order to rob such as were more amply provided. 

Men thus satisfied with their condition are far from any inclination to 
relinquish their own habits, or to adopt those of civilized lite. The transi- 
tion is too violent to be suddenly made. Even where endeavours have 
been used to wean a savage from his own customs, and to render the accom- 
modations of polished society familiar to him ; even where he has been 

* Charlev. N. Fr. iil. 338. Lahontan, ii. 97. t Colden, i. S. + Rochefon Hist, des Antilles, 
455. $ Adair Hist. Aiuer. Indians, p. 32. H Benzon. Hist. Novi Orbis, lib. iii. c. 21. 



AMERICA. 195 

allowed to taste of those pleasures, and has been honoured with those 
distinctions, which are the chief objects of our desire, he droops and lan- 
guishes under the restraint of laws and forms, he seizes the first opportunity 
of breaking loose from them, and returns with transport to the forest or the 
wild, where he can enjoy a careless and uncontrolled freedom.* 

Thus I have finished a laborious delineation of the character and man- 
ners of the uncivilized tril)es scattered over the vast continent of America. 
In this, f aspire not at rivalling the great masters who have painted and 
adorned ^avage life, either in boldness of design, or in the glow and beauty 
of their colouring. I am satisfied with the more humble merit of having 

f)ersistp i with patient industry, in viewing my subject in many various 
ights, and collecting from the most accurate observers such detached, and 
otten minute features, as might enable me to exhibit a portrait that resembles 
ihe original. 

Before I close this part of my work, one observation more is necessary, 
in order to justify the conclusions which I have formed, or to prevent the 
mistakes into which such as examine them may fall. In contemplating the 
inhabitants of a country so widely extended as America, great attention 
should be paid to the diversity ot climates under which they are placed. 
The influence of this I have pointed out with respect to several important 
particulars which have been the object of research; but even where it 
has not been mentioned, it ought not to be overlooked. The provinces of 
America are of such different temperament, that this alone is sufficient to 
constitute a distinction between their inhabitants. In every part of the 
earth where man exists, the power of climate operates, with decisive 
influence, upon his condition and character. In those countries which 
approach near to the extremes of heat or cold, this influence is so conspi- 
cuous as to strike every eye. Whether we consider man merely as an 
animal, or as being endowed with rational powere which fit him for activity 
and speculation, we shall find that he has uniformly attained the greatest 
perfection of ^vhich his nature is capable, in the temperate regions of the 
globe. There his constitution is most vigorous, his organs most acute, and 
his form most beautiful. There, too, he possesses a superior extent of 
capacity, greater fertility of imagination, more enterprising courage, and a 
sensibility of heart which gives birth to desires, not only ardent, but perse- 
vering. In this favourite situation he has displayed the utmost efforts of 
his genius, in literature, in policy, in commerce, in war, and in all the arts 
which improve or embellish life.t 

This powerful opeiation of climate is felt most sensibly by rude nations, 
and produces greater effects than in societies more improved. The talents 
of civilized men are continually exerted in rendering their own condition 
more comfortable ; and by their ingenuity and inventions, they can in a 
great measure supply the defects, and guard against the inconveniences of 
any climate. But the improvident savage is affected by every circum- 
stance peculiar to his situation. He takes no precaution either to mitigate 
or to improve it. Like a plant or an animal, he is formed by the climate 
under which he is placed, and feels the full force of its influence. 

In surveying the rude nations of America, this natural distinction between 
the inhabitants of the temperate and torrid zones is very remarkable. 
They may, accordingly, be divided into two great classes. The one com- 
prehends all the North Americans from the river St. Laurence to the Gulf 
of Mexico, together with the people of Chili, and a few small tribes 
towards the extremity of the southern continent. To the other belong 
all the inhabitants of the islands, and those settled in the various provinces 
which extend from the isthmus of Daricn almost to the southern confines 

• Charlev. N. Fr. iii. 323. t Dr. Ferguflon's Essay on the Hist of Civil Socic^, 

art iii. cb. 1. 



196 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

of Brasil, along the east side of the Andes. In the former, which comprC' 
hends all the regions of the temperate zone that in America are inhabited, 
the human species appears manifestly to be more pertect. The natives 
are more R)bust, more active, more intelligent, and more courageous. 
They possess, in the most eminent degree, that force of mind, and Jove of 
independence, which I have pointed out as the chief virtues of man in his 
savage state. They have defended their liberty with persevering iortitude 
against the Europeans, who subdued the other rude nations ot America 
with the greatest ease. The natives of the temperate zone arc the only 
people in" the New World who are indebted for Iheir freedom to their own 
valour. The North Americans, though long encompassed by three formi- 
dable European powers, still retain part of their original possessions, and 
continue to exist as independent nations. The people of Chili, though 
early invaded, still maintain a gallant contest with the Spaniards, and 
have set bounds to their encroachments ; whereas, in the Avarmer regions, 
men are more feeble in their frame, less vigorous in the efforts of their 
minds, of a gentle but dastardly spirit, more enslaved by pleasure, and 
more sunk in indolence. Accordingly, it is in the torrid zone that the 
Europeans have most completely established their dominion over Ame- 
rica; the most fertile and desirable provinces in it are subjected to their 
yoke ; and if several tribes there still enjoy independence, it is either 
oecause they have never been attacked by an enemy already satiated with 
conquest, and possessed of larger territories than he was able to occupy, or 
because they have been saved from oppression by tlieir remote and inac- 
cessible situation. 

Conspicuous as this distinction may appear between the inhabitants of 
those different regions, it is not, however, universal. Moral and political 
causes, as I have formerly observed, alTect the disposition and character of 
mdividuals, as well as nations, still more powerfully than the influence of 
climate. There are, accordingly, some tribes, in various parts of the 
torrid zone, possessed of courage, high spirit, and the love of independence, 
in a degree hardly inferior to the natives of more temperate climates. ^Ve 
are too little acquainted with the history of those people, to be able to trace 
the several circumstances in their progress and condition, to Avhich they 
are indebted for this remarkable pre-eminence. The fact, nevertheless, is 
certain. As early as the first voyage of Columbus, he received intbrmalion 
that several of the islands were inhabited by the Caribbees, a iierce race of 
men, nowise resembling their feeble and timid neighbours. In his second 
expedition to the New World, he found this information to be just, and was 
himself a witness of their intrepid valour* [95]. The same character 
they have maintained invariably in all subsequent contests with the people 
of Europe ;t and even in our own times we have seen them make a gal- 
lant stand in defence of the last territory which the rapacity of the invaders 
had lett in their possession [9&]. Some natiotis in Brasil were no less 
eminent lor vigour of nn'nd and braveiy in war.J 'i'lie people ol" the 
isthmus of Darien boldly met the Spaniards in the field, and liequently 
repelled those formidable invaders.§ Other instances might be proiluced. 
It is not by attending to any single cause or principle, how powertul and 
extensive soever its influence may appear, that we can explain the actions, 
or account for the character of men. Even the law ol' climate, more 
universal, perhaps, in its operation than any that alTects the human species, 
cannot be applied, in judging of their conduct, without many exceptions. 

♦ Life of Columbus, c. 47, 48. t Rocliefort Hist, des Aulilles, 531. J Lery ap. ilu Dry, iii. 
S207, &c. $ Hurrera, dec. 1. lib. x. c. J5, &cc. dec. 'i. pussiiii. 



AMERICA. WT 



BOOK V. 



When Grijalva [1518.] returned to Cuba, he found the armament 
destined to attempt the conquest of that rich country which he had discovered 
almost complete. Not only ambition, but avarice, had urged Velasquez 
to hasten his preparations; and having such a prospect of gratifying both, 
he had advanced considerable sums out of his private (ortune towards 
defraying the expenses of the expedition. At the same time, he exerted 
his influence as governor, in engaging the most distinguished persons in the 
colony to undertake the service [9'?]. At a time when the spirit of the 
Spanish nation was adventurous to excess, a number of soldiers, eager to 
embark in any daring enterprise, soon appeared. But it was not so easy 
to find a person qualified to take the command in an expedition of so 
much importance ; and the character of Velasquez, who had the right of 
nomination, greatly increased the difficulty of the choice. Though of most 
aspiring amliition, and not destitute of talents for government, he possessed 
neither such courage, nor such vigour and activity of mind, as to undertake 
in person the conduct of the armament which he was preparing. In this 
embarrassing situation, he formed the chimerical scheme, not only of 
achieving great exploits by a deputy, but of securing to himself the glory 
of conquests %vhich were to be made by another. In the execution of this 
plan, he fondly aimed at reconciling contradictions. He was solicitous 
to choose a commander of intrepid resolution, and of superior abilities, 
because he knew these to be requisite in order to ensure success ; but, at 
the same time, from the jealousy natural to little minds, he wished this 
person to be of a spirit so tame and obsequious as to be entirely dependent 
on his will. But when he came to apply those ideas in forming an opinion 
concerning the several officers who occurred to his thoughts as worthy of 
being intrusted with the command, he soon perceived that it was impos- 
sible to find such incompatible qualities united in one character. Such as 
were distinguished for courage and talents were too high spirited to be 
passive instruments in his hands. Those who appeared more gentle and 
tractable were destitute of capacity, and unequal to the charge. This 
augmented his perplexity and his tears. He deliberated long and with 
much solicitude, and was sail wavering in his choice when Amador de 
Lares, the royal treasurer in Cuba, and Andres Duero, his own secretary, 
the two persons in whom he chiefly confided, were encouraged by this 
irresolution to propose a new^ candidate ; and they supported their recom- 
mendation with such assiduity and address, that, no less fatally for Velas- 
quez than happily for their country, it proved successful,* 

The min whom they pointed out to him was Fernando Cortes. He was 
born at Medellin, n small town in Estremadura, in the year one thousand 
lour hundred and eighty -five, and descended from a family of noble blood, 
but of very moderate fortune. Being originally destined by his parents to 
the study of law, as the most likely method of bettering his condition, he 
was sent early to the university of Salamanca, where he imbibed some 
tincture of learning. But he was soon disgusted with an academic life, 
which did not suit his ardent and restless genius, and retired to Medellin, 
where he gave himself up entirely to active sports and martial exercises. 
At this period of life he was so impetuous, so overbearing, and so dissipated, 
that his father was glad to comply with his inclination, and sent him abroad 
as an adventurer in arms. 1 here were in that age two conspicuous 
theatres, on which such of the Spanish youth as courted military glory 

* B. Diaz, c, 19. Gomaia Cron. o. 7. Henera, deo. 3. lib. Ul. e. 11. 



198 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

might display their valour ; one in Italy, under the command of the Great 
Captain ; the other in the New World. Cortes preferred the former, but 
was prevented by indisposition from embarking with a reinforcement of 
troops sent to Naples. Upon this disappointment he turned his views 
towards America, whither he was allured by the prospect of the advan- 
tages which he might derive from the patronage of Ovando [98], the 
fovernor of Hispaniola, who was his kinsman. When he landed at St. 
)omingo, in one thousand five hundred and four, his reception was such as 
equalled his most sanguine hopes, and he was employed by the Governor 
in several honourable and lucrative stations. These, however, did not 
satisfy his ambition; and, in the year one thousand five hundred and 
eleven, he obtained permission to accompany Diego Velasquez in his 
expedition to Cuba. In this service he distinguished himself so much, 
that, notwithstanding some violent contests with Velasquez, occasioned by 
trivial events unworthy of remembrance, he was at length taken into 
favour, and received an ample concession of lands and of Indians, the 
recompense usually bestowed upon adventurers in the New World.* 

Though Cortes had not hitherto acted in high command, he had dis- 
played such qualities in several scenes of difficulty and danger, as raised 
universal expectation, and turned the eyes of his countrymen towards him 
as one capable of performing great things. The turbulence of youth, as 
soon as he found objects and occupations suited to the ardour of his mind, 
gradually subsided and settled into a habit of regular indefatigable 
activity. The impetuosity of his temper, when he came to act with his 
equals, insensibly abated, by being kept under restraint, and mellowed 
into a cordial soldierly frankness. These qualities were accompanied 
with calm prudence in concerting his schemes, with persevering vigour in 
executing them, and with, what is peculiar to superior genius, the art of 
gaining the confidence and governing the minds of m.en. To all which 
were added the inferior accomplishments that strike the vulgar, and com- 
mand their respect ; a graceful person, a winning aspect, extraordinar}'' 
address in martial exercises, and a constitution of such vigour as to be 
capable of enduring any fatigue. 

As soon as Cortes was mentioned to Velasquez by his two confidants, 
he flattered Jiimself that he had at length lound what he had hitherto 
sought in vain, a man with talents for command, but not an object for 
jealousy. Neither the rank nor the fortune of Cortes, as he imagined, was 
such that he could aspire at independence. He had reason to believe that 
by his own readiness to bury ancient animosities in oblivion, as well as his 
liberality in conferring several recent favours, he had already gained the 
good will of Cortes, and hoped, by this new and unexpected mark of con- 
fidence, that he might attach him for ever to his interest. 

Cortes, re( eiving his commission [Oct. 23], with the warmest expressions 
of respect and gratitude to the governor, immediately erected his standard 
before his own house, appeared in a military dress, and assumed all the 
ensigns of his new dignity. His utmost influence and activity were exerted 
in persuading many of his friends to engage in the service, and in urging 
forward the preparations for the voyage. All his own funds, together with 
what money he could raise by mortgaging his lands and Indians, were 
expended in purchasing military stores and provisions, or in supplying the 
wants of such of his officers as were unable to equip themselves in a manner 
suited to tiieir rank [99]. Inotfensive and even laudable as this conduct 
was, his disappointed competitors were malicious enough to give it a turn 
to his disadvantage. They represented him as aiming already, with little 
disguise, at establishing an independent authority over his troops, and 
endeavouring- to secure their respect or love by his ostentatious and inter 

' Gomara Cron. c. 1, S, 3. 



AMERICA. 199 

csted liberality. They reminded Velasquez of his former dissensions with 
the man in whom he now reposed so much confidence, and foretold that 
Cortes would be more apt to avail himself of the power which tlie 
governor was inconsiderately pytting; in his hands, to aven2:e past injuries 
than to requite recent obligations. These insinuations made such impres- 
sion upon tlie suspicious mind of Velasquez, that Coites soon observed 
some symptoms of a growing alienation and distrust in his behaviour, and 
was advised by Lares and Duero to hasten his departure before these 
should become so confirmed as to break out with open violence. Fully 
sensible of this danger, he ui^ed forward his preparations with such rapidity 
that he set sail from St. Jago de Cuba on the eighteenth of November. 
Velasquez accompanying him to the shore, and taking leave of him with 
an appearance of perfect friendship and confidence, though he had secretly 
given it in chai"ge to some of Cortes' officers, to keep a watchful eye upon 
every part of their commander's conduct.* 

Cortes proceeded to Trinidad, a small settlement on the same side of the 
island, where he was joined by several adventurers, and received a supply 
of provisions and military stores, of which bis stock was still very incom- 
plete. He had hardly left St. Jago, when the jealousy which had been 
working in the breast of Velasquez grew so violent that it was impossible 
to suppress it. The armament was no longer under his own ev^e and direc- 
tion ; and he felt that as his power over it ceased, that of Cortes would 
become more absolute. Imagination now aggravated eveiy circumstance 
which had formerly excited suspicion : the rivals of Cortes industriously 
threw in reflections which increased his fear ; and with no less art than 
malice they called superstition to their aid, employing the predictions of 
an astrologer in order to complete the alarm. All these, by their united 
operation, produced ihe desired effect. Velasquez repented bitterly of his 
own imprudence, in having committed a trust of so much importance to a 
person whose fidelity appeared so doubtful, and hastily despatched in- 
structions to Trinidad, empowering Verdugo, the chief magistrate there, 
to deprive Cortes of his commission. But Cortes had already made such 
progress in gaining the esteem and confidence of his troops, that, finding 
officers as Avell as soldiers equally zealous to support his authority, he 
soothed or intimidated Verdugo, and was permitted to depart from Trinidad 
without molestation. 

From Trinidad Cortes sailed for the Havana, in order to raise more 
soldiers, and to complete the victualling of his fleet. There several persons 
of distinction entered into the service, and engaged to supply what 
provisions were still wanting ; but as it was necessary to allow them some 
time for perfonning what they had promised, Velasquez, sensible that he 
ought no longer to rely on a man of whom he had so openly discovered his 
distrust, availed himself of the interval which this unavoidable delay 
afforded, in order to make one attempt more to wrest the command out of 
the hands of Cortes. He loudly complained of Verdugo's conduct, accusing 
him either of childish facility, or of manifest treachery, in suffering Cortes 
to escape from Trinidad. Anxious to guard against a second disappoint- 
ment, he fvent a person of confidence to the Havana, with peremptory 
injunctions to Pedro Barba,his lieutenant-governor in that colony, instantly 
o arrest Cortes, to send him prisoner to St. Jago under a strong guard, and 
o countermand the sailing of the armament until he should receive further 
orders. He wrote likewise to the principal officers, requirin"; them to 
assist Barba in executing what ho had given him in charge. But before 
the arrival of this messenger, a Franciscan friar of St. Jago had secretly 
conveyed an account of this interesting transaction to Bartholomew de 
Olmedo, a monk of the same order, who acted as chaplain to the expedition, 

• Gomara, Cron. c. 7. B. Diaz, o. 90. 



200 HISTORYOF [Book V. 

Cortes, forewarned of the danger, had time to take precautions for his 
own safety. His first step was to find some pretext for removing from the 
Havana Diego de Ordaz, an officer of great merit, but in whom, on account 
of his known attachment to Velasquez, he could not confide in this trying 
and delicate juncture. He gave him the command of a vessel destined to 
take on board some provisions in a small harbour beyond Cape Antonio, 
and thus made sure of his absence without seeming to suspect his fidelity. 
When he was gone, Cortes no longer concealed the intentions of Velasquez 
from ills troops; and as officers and soldieis were equally impatient to set 
out on an expedition, in preparing for which most of them had expended 
all their fortunes, they expressed their astonishment and indignation at that 
illiberal jealousy to which the governor was about to sacrifice, not only 
the honour of their general, but all their sanguine hopes of glory and 
wealth. With one voice they entreated that he would not abandon the 
important station to which he had such a good title. They conjured him 
not to deprive them of a leader whom they followed with such well 
founded confidence, and oiferea :o sned the jast drop of their blood in 
maintainmg his authority. Cortes was easily induced to comply with 
what he himself so ardently desired. He swore that he would never 
desert soldiers who had given him such a signal proof of their attachment, 
and promised instantly to conduct them to that rich country which had 
been so long the object of their thoughts and wishes. This declaration 
was received with transports of military applause, accompanied with 
threats and imprecations against all who should presume to call in question 
the jurisdiction of their general, or to obstruct the execution of his designs. 

Every thing was now ready for their departure ; but though this expe- 
dition was fitted out by the united effort of the Spanish power in Cuba ; 
though every settlement had contributed its quota of men and provisions ; 
though the governor had laid out considerable sums, and each adventurer 
had exhausted his stock, or strained his credit, the poverty of the prepara- 
tions was such as must astonish the present ag'e, and bore, indeed, no 
resemblance to an armament destined for the conquest of a great empire. 
The fleet consisted of eleven vessels ; the largest of a hundred tons, which 
was dignified by the name of Admiral ; three of seventy or eighty tons, 
and the rest small open barks. On board of these were six hundred and 
seventeen men ; of which five hundred and eight belonged to the land 
service, and a hundred and nine were seamen or artificers. The soldiers 
were divided into eleven companies, according to the number of the ships ; 
to each of which Cortes appointed a captain, and committed to him the 
command of 4he vessel while at sea, and of the men when on shore [lOO]. 
As the use of fire arms among the nations of Europe was hitherto confined 
to a few battalions of regularly disciplined infantry, only thirteen soldiers 
were armed with muskets, thirty-two were cross-bow men, and the rest 
had swords and spears. Instead of the usual defensive armour, which 
must have been cumbersome in a hot climate, the soldiers wore jackets 
quilted with cotton, which experience had taught the Spaniards to he a 
sufficient protection against the weapons of the Americans. They had 
only sixteen horses, ten small field pieces, and four falconets.* 

With this slender and ill provided train did Cortes set sail [Feb. 10, 
1519], to make war upon a monarch whose dominions were more extensive 
than all the kingdoms subject to the Spanish crown. As religious enthu- 
siasm always mingled with the spirit of adventure in the New "World, and, 
by a combination still more strange, united with avarice, in prompting the 
Spaniards to all their enterprises, a large cross was displayed in their 
standards, with this inscription, Le< us fdloza the cross, for under this sign 
a'c shall conquer. 

« B. UiaBt «. ». 



A M ERIC A. 301 

So powerfully were Cortes and his followers animated with both these 
passions, that no less eager to plunder the opulent country whither they 
were bound, than zealous to propagate the Christian faith among its inha- 
bitants, they set out, not with the solicitude natural to men going upon 
dangerous services, but with that confidence which arises from security of 
success, and certainty of the di\ine protection. 

As Cortes had determined to touch at every place where Grijalva had 
visited, he steered directly towards the island of Cozumel ; there he had 
the good fortune to redeem Jerome de Aguilar, a Spaniard, who had been 
eight years a prisoner among the Indians. This man was perfectly ac- 
quainted with a dialect of their language understood through a large extent 
of country, and possessing besides a considerable share of prudence and 
sagacity, proved extremely useful as an interpreter. From Cozumel, 
Cortes proceeded to the river of Tabasco [March 4], in hopes of a recep- 
tion as friendly as Grijalva had met with there, and of lindmg gold in the 
same abundance ; but the disposition of the natives, from some unknown 
cause, was totally changed. After repeated endeavours to conciliate their 
good will, he was constrained to have recourse to violence. Though the 
forces of the enemy were numerous, and advanced with extraordinary 
courage, they were routed with great slaughter in several successive actions 
The loss which they had sustained, and still more the astonishment and terror 
excited by the destructive efifect of the fire arms, and the dreadful appear- 
ance of the horses, humbled their fierce spirits, and induced them to sue 
for peace. They acknowledged the King of Castile as their sovereign, and 
granted Cortes a supply of provisions with a present of cotton garments, 
some gold, and twenty female slaves [lOl]. 

Cortes continued his course to the westward, keeping as near the shore 
as possible, in order to observe the country ; but could discover no proper 
place for landing until he arrived at St. Juan de Ulua,* As he entered 
this harbour [April 2], a large canoe full of people, among whom were 
two who seemed to oe persons of distinction, approached his ship with 
signs of peace and amity. They came on board without fear or distrust, 
and addressed him in a most respectful manner, but in a language altogether 
unknown to Aguilar. Cortes was in the utmost perplexity and distress at 
an event of which he instantly foresaw the consequences, and already felt 
the hesitation and uncertainty with which he should cairy on the great 
schemes which he meditated, if, in his transactions with the natives, he 
must depend entirely upon such an imperfect, ambiguous, and conjectural 
mode of communication as the use of signs. But he did not remain long 
in his embarrassing situation ; a fortunate accident extricated him when 
his own sagacity could have contributed little towards his relief". One of 
the female slaves, whom he had received from the cazique of Tabasco, 
happened to be present at the first interview between Cortes and his new 
guests. She perceived his distress, as well as the confusion of Aguilar : 
and, as she perfectlj^ understood the Mexican language, she explained 
what they had said in the Yucatan tongue, with which Aguilar was ac- 
quainted. This woman, known afterwards by the name of Donna Marina, 
and who makes a conspicuous figure in the history of the New World, 
where great revolutions were brought about by small causes and incon- 
siderable instruments, was born in one of the provinces of the Mexican 
Empire. Having been sold as a slave in the early part of^ her life, after 
a variety of adventures she fell into the hands of the Tabascans, and had 
resided long enough among them to acquire their language without losing 
the use of her own. Though it was both tedious ana troublesome to 
converse by the intervention of two different interpreters, Cortes was so 
highly pleased with having discovered this method of carrying on some 

* B. Diaz, ot 31— 3S. Gomwa Croiu o, 18—03. Honera, dec 3. liK iv. o. 11, &«. 

Vol. I.— 26 



902 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

intercourse with the people of a country into which he was determined 
to penetrate, that in the transports of his joy he considered it as a visible 
interposition of Providence in his favour.* 

He now learned that the twopersons whom he had received on board 
of his ship were deputies from Teutile and Filpatoe, two officers intrusted 
with the government of that province by a great monarch whom they 
called Montezuma ; and that they were sent to inquire what his intentions 
were in visiting their coast, and to offer him what assistance he might 
need, in order to continue his voyage. Cortes, struck with the appearance 
of those people, as well as the tenor of the message, assured them, in 
respectful terms, that he approached their country with most friendly 
sentiments, and came to propose matters of great importance to the welfare 
of their prince and his kingdom, which he would unfold more fully, in 
person, to the governor and the general. Next morning, without waiting 
ior any answer, he landed his troops, his horses, and artillery ; and, having 
chosen proper ground, began to erect huts for his men, and to fortify his 
camp. The natives, instead of opposing the entrance of those fatal guests 
into their country, assisted them in all their operations with an alacrity of 
which they had ere long good reason to repent. 

Next day Teutile and Filpatoe entered the Spanish camp with a numerous 
retinue ; and Cortes, considering them as the ministers of a great monarch 
entitled to a degree of attention very different from that which the Spaniards 
were accustomed to pay the petty caziques with whom they had intercourse 
in the isles, received them with much formal ceremony. He informed 
them, that he came as ambassador from Don Carlos of Austria, King of 
Castile, the greatest monarch of the East, and was intrusted with 
propositions of such moment, that he could impart them to none but the 
Emperor Montezuma himselt", and therefore required them to conduct him, 
without loss of time, into the presence of their master. The Mexican 
officers could not conceal their uneasiness at a request which they knew 
would be disagreeable, and which they foresaw might prove extremely 
embarrassing to their sovereign, whose mind had been filled with many 
disquieting apprehensions ever since the former appearance of the Spaniards 
on his coasts. But before they attempted to dissuade Cortes from insisting 
on his demand, they endeavoured to conciliate his good will by entreating 
him to accept of certain presents, which, as humble slaves of Montezuma, 
they laid at his feet. They were introduced with great parade, and con- 
sisted of fine cotton cloth, of plumes of various colours, and of ornaments 
of gold and silver to a considerable value ; the workmanship of which 
appeared to be as curious as the materials were rich. The display of 
these produced an effect very different from what the Mexicans intended. 
Instead of satisfying, it increased the avidity of the Spaniards, and rendered 
them so eager and impatient to become masters of a country which 
abounded with such precious productions, that Cortes could hardly listen 
with patience to the arguments which Filpatoe and Teutile employed to 
dissuade him from visiting the capital, and in a haughty determined tone 
he insisted on his demand of being admitted to a personal audience 
of their sovereign. During this interview, some painters, in the train 
of the Mexican chiefs, had been diligently employed in delineating, upon 
white cotton cloths, figures of the ships, the horses, the artillery, the soldiers, 
and whatever else attracted their eyes as singular. When Cortes observed 
this, and was informed that these pictures were to be sent to Montezuma, 
in order to convey to him a more lively idea of the strange and wonderful 
objects now presented to their view than any words could communicate, 
he resolved to render the representation still more animating and interest- 
ing, by exhibiting such a spectacle as might give both them and their 

• B. Diaz, c. 37, 38, 39. Gomara Cron. o. 25. 26. Henera, dec. 2. lib. v. o. 4. 



AMERICA. 203 

monarch an awful impression of the extraordinary prowess of his followers, 
and the irresistible force of their arms. The trumpets, by his order, 
sounded an alarm ; the troops, in a moment, formed in order of battle, 
the infantry performed such martial exercises as were best suited to display 
the effect of their different weapons ; the horse, in various evolutions, 
gave a specimen of their agility and strength ; the artillery, pointed towards 
the thick woods which surrounded the camp, were fired, and made dread- 
ful havoc among the trees. The Mexicans looked on with that silent 
amazement which is natural when the mind is struck with objects which 
are both awful and above its comprehension. But, at the explosion of the 
cannon, many of them fled, some fell to the ground, and all were so much 
confounded at the sight of men whose power so nearly resembled that of 
the gods, that Cortes found it difficult to compose and reassure them. The 
painters had now many new objects on which to exercise their art, and 
they put their fancy on the stretch in order to invent figures and symbols 
to represent the extraordinary things which they had seen. 

Messengers were immediately despatched to Montezuma with those 
pictures, and a full account of every thing that had passed since the arrival 
of the Spaniards, and by them Cortes sent a present of some European 
curiosities to Montezuma, which, though of no great value, he believed 
would be acceptable on account of their novelty. The Mexican monarchs, 
m order to obtain early information of every occurrence in all the comers 
of their extensive empire, had introduced a refinement in police unknown 
at that time in Europe. They had couriers posted at proper stations along 
the principal roads ; and as these were trained to agility by a regular 
education, and relieved one another at moderate distances, they conveyed 
intelligence with surprising rapidity. Though the capital in which Mon- 
tezuma resided was above a hundred and eighty miles from St. Juan de 
Ulua, Cortes's presents were carried thither, and an answer to his demands 
was received in a iew days. The same officers who had hitherto treated 
with the Si)aniards were employed to deliver this answer; but as they 
knew how repugnant the determination of their master was to all the 
schemes and wishes of the Spanish commander, they would not venture 
to make it known until they had previously endeavoured to soothe and 
mollify him. For this purpose they renewed their negotiation, by intro- 
ducing a train of a hundred Indians loaded with presents sent to him by 
Montezuma. The magnificence of these was such as became a great 
monarch, and far exceeded any idea which the Spaniards had hitherto 
formed of his wealth. They were placed on mats spread on the ground 
in such order as showed them to the greatest advantage. Cortes and his 
officers viewed with admiration the various manufactures of the country ; 
cotton stuffs so fine, and of such delicate texture as to resemble silk ; 
pictures of animals, trees, and other natural objects, formed with feathers 
of different colours, disposed and mingled with such skill and elegance as 
to rival the works of the pencil in truth and beauty of imitation. But 
what chiefly attracted their eyes were two large plates of a circular form, 
one of massive gold representing the sun, the other of silver, an emblem 
of the moon [lU2]. These were accompanied with bracelets, collars, 
rings, and other trinkets of gold ; and that nothing might be wanted which 
could give the Spaniards a complete idea of what the countiy afibrded, 
with some boxes filled with pearls, precious stones, and grams of gold 
unwrought, as they had been found in tlie mines or rivers. Cortes received 
all these with an appearance of profound veneration for the monarch by 
whom they were bestowed. But when the Mexicans, presuming upon 
this, informed him that their master, though he had desired him to accept 
of wliat he had sent as a token of regard for that monarch whom Cortes 
represented, would not give his consent that foreign troops should approach 
nearer to his capital, or even allow them to continue longer in his dominions, 



ft04 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

the Spanish general declared, in a manner more resolute and peremptory 
than formerly, that he must insist on his first demand, as he could not without 
dishonour, return to his own country, until he was admitted into the pre- 
sence of ihe prince whom he was appointed to visit in the name oi his 
sovereign. The Mexicans, astonished at seeing any man dare to oppose 
that will which they were accustomed to consider as supreme and irre- 
sistible, yet afraid ot precipitating their countiy into an open rupture with 
such formidable enemies, prevailed with Cortes to promise that he would 
not remove from his present camp until the return of a messenger whom 
they sent to Montezuma for further instructions.* 

The firmness with which Cortes adhered to his original proposal should 
naturally have brought the negotiation between him and Montezuma to a 
speedy issue, as it seemed to leave the Mexican monarch no choice, but 
«ither to receive him with confidence as a friend, or to oppose him openly 
as an enemy. The latter was what might have been expected from a 
haughty prince in possession of extensive power. The Mexican empire 
at this period was at a pitch of grandeur to whicn no society ever attained 
in so short a period. Though it had subsisted, according to their own 
traditions, only a hundred and thirty years, its dominion extended from the 
North to the South Sea, over territories stretching, with some small inter- 
ruption, above five hundred leagues from east to west, and more than two 
hundred from north to south, comprehending provinces not inferior in fer- 
tility, population, and opulence, to any in the torrid zone. The people 
were warlike and enterprising ; the authority of the monarch unbounded, 
and his revenues considerable. If, with the forces which might have been 
suddenly assembled in such an empire, Montezuma had fallen upon the 
Spaniards while encamped on a barren unhealthy coast, unsupported by 
any ally, without a place of retreat, and destitute of provisions, it seems 
to be impossible, even with all the advantages of their superior discipline 
and arms, that they could have stood the shock, and they must either have 
perished in such an unequal contest, or have abandoned, the enterprise. 

As the power of Montezuma enabled him to take this spirited part, his 
own dispositions were such as seemed naturally to prompt him to it. Of 
all the princes who had swayed the Mexican sceptre, he was the most 
haughty, the most violent, and the most impatient of control. His subjects 
looked up to him with awe, and his enemies with terror. The former he 
governed with unexampled rigour ; but they M^ere impressed with such an 
opinion of his capacity as commanded their respect ; and, by many victo- 
ries over the latter, he had spread far the dread of his arms, and had 
added several considerable provinces to his dominions. But though his 
talents mia:ht be suited to the transactions of a state so imperfectly polish- 
ed as the Mexican empire, and sufficient to conduct them while in their 
accustomed course, they were altogether inadequate to a conjuncture so 
•extraordinary, and did not qualify him either to judge with the discern- 
ment or to act with the decision requisite in such trymg emergence. 

From the moment that the Spaniards appeared on his coast, he disco 
vered symptoms of timidity and embarrassment. Instead of taking such 
resolutions as the consciousness of his own power, or the memory of his 
former exploits, might have inspired, he deliberated with an anxiety and 
hesitation which did not escape the notice of his meanest courtiers. The 
perplexity and discomposure of Montezuma's mind upon this occasion, as 
well as the general dismay of his subjects, were not owing wholly to the 
impression which the Spaniards had made by the novelty of their appear- 
ance and the terror of tneir arms. Its origin may be traced up to a more 
remote source. There was an opinion, if we may believe the earliest and 
most authentic Spanish historians, almost universal among the Americans, 

• B. Dtoi, Ok 39 Gomara Croo. c. 27 Hcrrcrti, de; 2 lib. v. c. 3, 0. 



AMERICA. 20& 

that sonie dreadful calamity was impending over their heads, from a race 
of formidable invaders, who should come liom regions towards the rising 
sun, to overrun and desolate their country. Whether this disquieting ap- 
prehension flowed from the memory of some natural calamity which had 
afflicted that part of the globe, and impressed the minds of the inhabitants 
with superstitious fears and forebodings, or whether it was an imagination 
accidentally suggested by the astonishment which the first sight ol a new 
race of men occasioned, it is impossible to determine. But as the Mexi- 
cans were more prone to superstition than any people in the New World, 
they were more deeply affected by the appearance of the Spaniards^ 
whom their credulity instantly represented as the instrument destined to 
bring about this fatal revolution which they dreaded. Under those cir- 
cumstances it ceases to be incredible that a handful of adventurers should 
alarm the monarch of a great empire, and all his subjects.* 

Notwilhstatiding the iiifluence of this impression, when the messenger 
arrived from the Spanish camp with an account that the leader of the 
strangers, adhering to his original demand, refused to obey the order en- 
joining him to leave the country, Montezuma assumed some degree of 
resolution ; and in a transport of rage natural to a fierce prince unaccus- 
tomed to meet with any opposition to his will, he threatened to sacrifice 
those presumptuous men to his gods. But his doubts and fears quickly 
returned; and instead of issuing orders to carry his threats into execution, 
he again called his ministers to confer and offer their advice. Feeble and 
temporising measures will always be the result when men assemble to 
deliberate in a situation where they ought to act. The Mexican counsel- 
lors took no efl'ectual measure for expelling such troublesome intruders, 
and were satisfied with issuing a more positive injunction, requiring them 
to leave the country ; but this they preposterously accompanied with a 
present of such value as proved afresh inducement to remain there. 

Meanwhile, the Spaniards were not without solicitude, or a variety of 
sentiments, in deliberating concernin^^ their own future conduct. From 
what they had already seen, many of them formed such extravagant ideas 
concerning the opulence of the countrj^, that, despising danger or hard- 
ships when they had in view treasures which appeared to be inexhausti- 
ble, they were eager to attempt the conquest. Others, estimating the 
power of the Mexican empire by its wealth, and enumerating the various 
proofs which had occurred of its being under a well regulated administra- 
tion, contended, that it would be an act of the wildest frenzy to attack 
such a state with a small body of men, in want of provisions, unconnected 
with any ally, and already enfeebled by the diseases peculiar to the cli- 
mate, and the loss of several of their number.f Cortes secretly applaud- 
ed the advocates for bold measures, and cherished their romantic hopes, 
as such ideas corresponded with his own, and favoured the execution of 
the schemes which he had formed. From the time that the suspicions of 
Velasquez broke out with open violence in the attempts to deprive him 
of the command, Cortes saw the necessity of dissolving a connection which 
would obstruct and embarrass all his operations, and watched for a proper 
opportunity of coming to a final rupture with him. Having this in view, 
he had laboured by every art to secure the esteem and affection of his 
soldiers. With his abilities for command, it was easy to gain their esteem 
and his followers were quickly satisfied that they might rely, with perfect 
confidence, on the conduct and courage of their leader. Nor was it more 
diificult to acquire their affection. Among adventurers nearly of the same 
rank, and serving at their own expense, the dignity of command did not 
elevate a general above mingling with those who acted under him. Cortes 

* Cortes Relatione Seconda, ap. Ramus, III. 23«, 235. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. Ut. c 1. lib. v. c. U, 
to. vu. c. 6. Gomara Cron. c. 66. W. 144. t B. Diaz, o. 4a 



20b II I S T O R Y O F [Book V. 

availed himself of this freedom of intercourse to insinuate himself into 
their favour, and by his affable manners, by well tirr,ed acts of liberality 
to some, by inspiring all with vast hopes, and by allowing them to trade 
privately with the natives [103], he attached the greater part of his sol- 
diers so firmly to himself, that they almost forgot that the armament had 
been fitted out by the authority and at the expense of another. 

During these intrigues, Teulile arrived Avith the present from Monte- 
zuma, and, together with it, delivered the ultimate order of that monarch 
to depart instantly out of his dominions ; and when Cortes, instead of 
complying, renewed his request of an audience, the Mexican turned from 
him abruptly, and quitted the camp with looks and gestures which strongly 
expressed his surprise and resentment. Next morning, none of the natives, 
who used to frequent the camp in great numbers in order to barter with 
the soldiers, and to bring in provisions, appeared. All friendly corres- 
pondence seemed now to be at an end, and it was expected every moment 
that hostilities would commence. This, though an event that might have 
been foreseen, occasioned a sudden consternation among the Spaniards, 
which emboldened the adherents of Velasquez not only to murmur and 
cabal against their general, but to appoint one of their number to rem.on- 
strate openly against his imprudence in attempting the conquest of a 
mighty empire with such inadequate force, and to urge the necessity of 
returning to Cuba, in order to refit the fleet and augment the army. 
Diego de Ordaz, one of his principal officers, whom the malecontents 
charged with this commission, delivered it with a soldierly freedom and 
bluntness, assuring Cortes that he spoke the sentiments of the whole army. 
He listened to this remonstrance without any appearance of emotion ; and 
as he well knew the temper and wishes of his soldiers, and foresaw how 
they would receive a proposition fatal at once to all the splendid hopes 
and schemes which they had been forming with such complacency, he 
carried his dissimulation so far as to seem to relinquish his own measures 
in compliance with the request of Ordaz, and issued orders that the army 
should be in readiness next day to re-embark for Cuba. As soon as this 
was known, the disappointed adventurers exclaimed and threatened ; the 
emissaries of Cortes, mingling with them, inflamed their rage ; the fer- 
ment became general ; the whole camp was almost in open mutiny ; all 
demanding with eagerness to see their commander. Cortes was not slow 
in appearing ; when, with one voice, officers and soldiers expressed their 
astonishment and indignation at the orders which they had received. It 
was unworthy, they cried, of the Castilian courage to be daunted at the first 
aspect of danger, and infamous to fly before any enemy appeared. For 
their parts, they were determined not to relinquish an enterprise that had 
hitherto been successful, and which tended so visibly to spread the know- 
ledge of true religion, and to advance the glory and interest of their coun- 
try. Happy under his command, they would follow him with alacrity 
through every danger in quest of those settlements and treasures which he 
had so long held out to their view ; but if he chose rather to return to 
Cuba, and tamely give up all his hopes of distinction and opulence to an 
envious rival, they would instantly choose another general to conduct them 
in that path of glory which he had not spirit to enter. 

Cortes, delighted with their ardour, took no offence at the boldness with 
whicli it was uttered. The sentiments were what he himself had inspired, 
and the warmth of expression satisfied him that his followers had imbibed 
ihem thoioughiy. He affected, however, to be surprised at v\ hat he heard, 
declaring that his orders to prepare for embarking were issued from a per- 
suasion that this was agreeable to his troops ; that, from deference to what 
he had been informed was their inclination, he had sacrificed his own pri- 
vate opinion, which was firmly bent on establishing immediately a settle- 
ment on the sea coast, and then on c ndeavouring to penetrate into the inte- 



AMERICA. 207 

rior part of the country ; tliat now he was convinced of his error ; and as 
he perceived that they were animated with the generous spirit which 
breathed in every true Spaniard, he would resume, with fresh ardour, his 
original plan of operation, and doubted not to conduct them, in the career 
of victory, to such independent fortunes as their valour merited. UpoD 
this declaration, shouts of applause testified the excess of their joy. The 
measure seemed to be taken with unanimous consent ; such as secretly 
condemned it being obliged to join in the acclamations, partly to conceal 
their disaffection from their general, and partly to avoid the imputation of 
cowardice from their fellow-soldiers.* 

Without allowing his men time to cool or to reflect, Cortes set about car- 
rying his design into execution. In order to give a beginning to a colony, 
he assembled the principal persons in his army, and by their suffrage elect- 
ed a council and magistrates, in whom the government was to be vested. 
As men naturally transplant the institutions and forms of the mother country 
into their new settlements, this was framed upon the model of a Spanish 
corporation. The magistrates were distinguished by the same names and 
ensigns of office, and were to exercise a similar jurisdiction. All the per- 
sons chosen were most firmly devoted to Cortes, and the instrument of 
their election was framed in the king's name, without any mention of their 
dependence on Velasquez. The two principles of avarice and enthusiasm, 
which prompted the Spaniards to all their enterprises in the New World, 
seem to have concurred in suggesting the name which Cortes bestowed on 
his infant settlement. He called it, The Rich Town of the True Cross.] 

The first meeting of the new council was distinguished by a transaction 
of great moment. As soon as it assembled, Cortes applied for leave to 
enter ; and approaching with many marks of profound respect, which 
added dignity to the tribunal, and set an example of reverence for its au- 
thority, he began a long harangue, in which, with much art, and in terms 
extremely flattering to persons just entering upon their new function, he 
observed, that as the supreme jurisdiction over the colony which they had 
planted was now vested in this court, he considered them as clothed Avith 
the authority and representing the person of their sovereign ; that accord- 
ingly he would communicate to them what he deemed essential to the 
public safety, with the same dutiful fidelity as if he were addressing his 
royal master ; that the security of a colony settled in a great empire, whose 
sovereign had already discovered his hostile intentions, depended upon 
arms, and the efficacy of these upon the subordination and discipline pre- 
served among the troops ; that his right to command was derived from a 
commission granted by the governor of Cuba ; and as that had been long 
since revoked, the lawfulness of his jurisdiction might well be questioned ; 
that he might be thought to act upon a defective or even a dubious title ; 
nor could they trust an army which might dispute the powers of its gene- 
ral, at a juncture when it ought implicitly to obey his orders ; that, moved 
by these considerations, he now resigned all his authority to them, that 
they, having both right to choose, and power to confer full jurisdiction, 
might appoint one in the king's name to command the army in its future 
operations ; and as for his own pari, such was his zeal for the service in 
which they were engaged, that he would most cheerfully take up a pike 
with the same hand that laid down the general's truncheon, and convince 
his fellow-soldiers, that though accustomed to command, he had not forgot- 
ten how to obey. Having finished his discourse, he laid the commission 
from Velasquez upon the table, and, after kissing his truncheon, delivered 
it to the chief magistrate, and withdrew. 

The deliberations of the council were not long, as Cortes had concert- 
ed this important measure with his confidants, and had prepared the other 

• B. Diar, c. 40, 41, 42. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. v. c 6. 7, t VUla Rica de la Vera Cna. 



208 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

members with great address for the part which he wished them to take. 
His resignation was accepted ; and as the uninterrupted tenor of their 
prosperity under his conduct afforded the most satisfying evidence of his 
abilities for command, they, by their unanimous suffrage, elected him chief 
justice of the colony, and captain^eneral of its army, and appointed his 
commission to be made out in the King's name, with most ample powers, 
which were to continue in force until the royal pleasure should be further 
known. That this deed might not be deemed the machination of a junto, 
the council called together the troops, and acquainted them with what had 
been resolved. The soldiers, with eager applause, ratified the choice 
which the council had made ; the air resounded with the name of Cortes, 
and all vowed to shed their blood in support of his authority. 

Cortes, having now brought his intrigues to the desired issue, and shaken 
off his mortifying dependence on the governor of Cuba, accepted of the 
commission, which vested in him supreme jurisdiction, civil as well as 
military, over the colony, with many professions of respect to the council 
and gratitude to the army. Together with this new command, he assumed 

freater dignity, and began to exercise more extensive powers. Formerly 
e had felt himself to be only the deputy of a subject ; now he acted as 
the representative of his sovereign. The adherents of Velasquez, fully 
aware of what would be the effect of this change in the situation of 
Cortes, could no longer continue silent and passive spectators of his actions. 
They exclaimed openly against the proceedings of the council as illegal, 
and against those of the army as mutinous. Cortes, instantly perceiving 
the necessity of giving a timely check to such seditious discourse by some 
vigorous measure, arrested Ordaz, Escudero, and Velasquez de Leon, the 
ringleaders of this faction, and sent them prisoners aboard the fleet, loaded 
with chains. Their dependants, astonished and overawed, remained 
quiet ; and Cortes, more desirous to reclaim than to punish his prisoners, 
who were officers of great merit, courted their friendship with such assi- 
duity and address, that the reconciliation was perfectly cordial ; and on 
the most trying occasions, neither their connection with the governor of 
Cuba, nor the memory of the indignity Avith which they had been treated, 
tempted them to swerve from an inviolable attachment to his interest.* 
In this, as well as his other negotiations at this critical conjuncture, which 
decided with respect to his future fame and fortune, Cortes owed much of 
his success to the Mexican gold, which he distributed witli a liberal hand 
both among his friends and his opponents.! 

Cortes, having thus rendered the union between himself and his army 
indissoluble, by engaging it to join him in disclaiming any dependence on 
the governor of Cuba, and in repeated acts of disobedience to his authority, 
thought he now might venture to quit the camp in which he had hitherto 
remained, and advance into the country. To this he was encouraged by 
an event no less fortunate than seasonable. Some Indians having ap- 
proached his camp in a mysterious manner, were introduced into his pre- 
sence. He found that they were sent with a proffer of friendship from the 
cazique of Zempoalla, a considerable town at no great distance; and from 
their answers to a variety of questions which he put to them, according to 
his usual practice in every interview with the people of the country, he 
gathered, that their master, though subject to the Mexican empire, was 
mipatient of the yoke, and filled with such dread and hatred of Monte- 
zuma, that nothing could be more acceptable to him than any prospect of 
deliverance from the oppression under which he groaned. On hearing 
this, a ray of light and hope broke in upon the mind of Cortes. He saw 
that the great empire which he intended to attack was neither perfectly 
united, nor its sovereign universally beloved. He concluded, that the 

• B. Diaz, c. 43, 43. Gomara Cron. c. 30, 31. Herrera, dec. 2. Ub. v. c. 7. f B. Diaz. c. 44. 



AMERICA. 209 

causes of disaffection could not be confined to one province, but that in 
other corners there must be malecontents, so weary of subjection, or so 
desirous of change, as to be ready to follow the standard of any protector. 
Full of those ideas, on which he began to form a scheme that time and 
more perfect information concerning the state of the country enabled him 
to mature, he gave a most gracious reception to the Zempoallans, and 
promised soon to visit their cazique.* 

In order to perform this promise, it was not necessary to vaiy the route 
which he had already fixed for his march. Some otficers, whom he had 
employed to survey the coast, having discovered a village named Q,uiabis- 
lan, about forty miles to the northward, which, both on account of the fer- 
tility of the soil and commodiousness of the harbour, seemed to be a more 
proper station for a settlement than that where he was encamped, Cortes 
determined to remove thither. Zempoalla lay in his way, where the 
cazique received him in the manner which he had reason to expect ; with 
gifts and caresses, like a xian solicitous to gain his good will ; with respect 
approaching almost to adoration, like one who looked up to him as a deli- 
verer. From him he learned many particulars with respect to the charac- 
ter of Montezuma, and the circumstances which rendered his dominion 
odious. He was a tyrant, as the cazique told him with tears, haughty, 
cruel, and suspicious ; who treated his own subjects with arrogance, ruined 
the conquered provinces by excessive exactions, and often tore their sons 
and daughters Irom them by violence ; the former to be offered as victims 
to his gods : the latter to be reserved as concubines for himself or favourites. 
Cortes, in reply to him, artfully insinuated, that one great object of the 
Spaniards in visiting a country so remote from their own, was to redress 
grievances, and to relieve the oppressed ; and having encouraged him to 
hope for this interposition in due time, he continued his march to Qjuia- 
bislan. 

The spot which his officers had recommended as a proper situation, 
appeared to him to be so well chosen, that he immediately marked out 
ground for a town. The houses to be erected were only huts ; but these 
were to be surrounded with fortifications of sufficient strength to resist the 
assaults of an Indian army. As the finishing of those fortifications was 
essential to the existence of a colony, and of no less importance in prose- 
cuting the designs which the leader and his followers meditated, both in 
order to secure a place of retreat, and to preserve their communication 
with the sea, every man in the army, officers as well as soldiers, put his 
hand to the work, Cortes himself setting them an example of activity and 
perseverance in labour. The Indians of Zempoalla and Quiabislan lent 
their aid ; and this petty station, the parent of so many mighty settlements, 
was soon in a state of defence,! 

While engaged in this necessary work, Cortes had several interviews 
with the caziques of Zempoalla and Quiabislan ; and availing himself of 
their wonderand astonishment at the new objects which they daily beheld, 
he gradually inspired them with such a high opinion of the Spaniards, as 
beings of a superior order, and irresistible in arms, that, relying on their 
protection, they ventured to insult the Mexican power, at the veiy name of 
which they were accustomed to tremble. Some of Montezuma s officers 
having appeared to levy the usual tribute, and to demand a certain number 
of human victims, as an expiation for their guilt in presuming to hold 
intercourse with those strangers whom the emperor had commanded to 
leave his dominions ; instead of obeying the order, the caziques made 
them prisoners, treated them with ^reat indignity, and as their superstition 
was no less barbarous than that of the Mexicans, they prepared to sacri- 

« B. Diaz, c 41. Gomara Cron. c. 2a f B. Diaz, c. 45, 46. 48. Gomara Cron. c. 33, 33. 3T, 
Herrera, dec. 2. fib. v. o. 8, d. 

Vol 1.-^7 H 



510 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

fice them to their gods. From this last danger they were delivered by th« 
interposition of Cortes, who manifested the utmost horror at the mention of 
such a deed. The two caziques havina^ now been pushed to an act of such 
open rebellion, as left them no hope of satety but in attaching: themselves 
inviolably to the Spaniards, they soon completed their union with them, by 
formally acknowledging themselves to be vassals of the same monarch. 
Their example was followed by the Totonaques, a fierce people who 
inhabited the mountainous part of the country. They willingly subjected 
themselves to the crown of Castile, and offered to accompany Cortes, with 
all their forces, in his march towards Mexico.* 

Cortes had now been above three months in New Spain ; and though 
this period had not been distinguished by martial exploits, every moment 
had been employed in operations which, though less splendid, were more 
important. By his address in conducting his intrigues with his own army, 
as well as his sagacity in carrj'ing on his negotiations with the natives, he 
had already laid the foundations of his future success. But whatever con- 
fidence he might place in the plan which he had formed, he could not l;ut 
perceive, that as his title to command was derived from a doubtful autho- 
rity, he held it by a precarious tenure. The injuries which Velasquez 
had received were such as would naturally prompt him to apply for 
redress to their common sovereign ; and such a representation, he foresaw, 
might be given of his conduct that, he had reason to apprehend, not only 
that he might be degraded from his present rank, but subjected to punish- 
ment. Befoi'e he began his march, it was necessary to take the most 
effectual precautions against this impending danger. With this view he 
persuaded the magistrates of the colony at Vera Cruz to address a letter 
to the king, the chief object of which was to justify their own conduct in 
establishing a colony independent on the jurisdiction of Velasquez. In 
'order to accomplish this, they endeavoured to detract iVom his merit in 
fitting out the two former armaments under Cordova and Grijalva, atfirming 
that these had been equijjped by the adventurers who engaged in the 
expeditions, and not by the governor. They contended that the sole 
object of Velasquez was to trade or barter with the natives, not to attempt 
the conquest of New Spain, or to settle a colony there. They asserted 
that Cortes and the officers who served under him had defrayed the 
greater part of the expense of fitting out the armament. On this account, 
they humbly requested their sovereign to ratify what they had done in his 
name, and to confirm Cortes in the supreme command by his royal com- 
mission. That Charles might be induced to grant more readily what they 
demanded, they gave him a pompous description of the country Avhicn 
they had discovered ; of its riches, the number of its inhabitants, their 
civilization and arts ; they related the progress which they had already 
made in annexing some parts of the country situated on tliesea coast to the 
crown of Castile : and mentioned the schemes which they had formed, as 
well as the hopes which they entertained, of reducing the whole to sub- 
jection.! Cortes himself wrote in a similar strain ; and as he knew that 
the Spanish court, accustomed to the exaggerated representations of every 
nev/- country by its discoverers, would give little credit to their splendid 
accounts of New Spain, if these were not accompanied with such a speci- 
men of what it contained as would excite a high idea of its opulence, he 

* B. Diaz, c. 47. Goraara Cron. 35, 3C. Hcrrera, dec. 2. lib. v. c. 9, 10, 11. 

t 'n f liis letter it is asserted, f hut thouph a considerable luiniber of Spaniards have been wounded 
In th. ir various encounters with the people of Tobasco, not one of them died, and all had recovered 
In a very short time. This seems to confirm what I observe in p. 214, concerninc; the iniperrcction 
of the oflensive weapons used by the Americans. In this letter, the human sacrifices olfered by 
the Mexicans to their deities are described minutely, and with great horror ; some of the Spaniards, 
it is said, had been eye-witnesses of those barbarous rites. To the letter is subjoined a catalnpue 
and description of t!ie presents sent to the emperor. That published by Goniara, Cron. c. 29, seems 
to have been copied from it. Pet. Martyr describes mauy of the articles in liis treatise, ' De Insolis 
tiup«r luventis,' p. 354, See. 



AMERICA. 211 

solicited his soldiers to relinquish what they might claim as their part of 
the treasures which had hitherto been collected, in order that tlie whole 
might be sent to the king. Such was the ascendant which he had acquired 
over their minds, and such their own romantic expectations ot' future 
wealth, that an arnw of indigent and rapacious adventurers was capable 
of this generous effort, and offered to their sovereign the richest present 
that had hitherto been transmitted from the New World [104]. Portocar- 
rero and Montejo, the chief magistrates of the colony, were appointed 
to carry this present to Castile, wiUi express orders not to touch at Cuba 
in their passage thither.* 

While a vessel was preparing for their departure an unexpected event 
occasioned a general alarm. Some soldiers and sailors, secretly attached 
to Velasquez, or intimidated at the prospect of the dangers unavoidable in 
attempting to penetrate into the heart of a great empire with such unequal 
force, formed the design of seizing one of the brigantines, and making 
their escape to Cuba, in order to give the governor such intelligence as 
might enable him to intercept the ship which was to carry the treasure and 
despatches to Spain. This conspiracy, though formed by persons of low 
rank, was conducted with profound secrecy ; but at the moment when 
every thing was ready for execution, they were betrayed by one of their 
associates. 

Though the good fortune of Cortes interposed so seasonably on this 
occasion, the detection of this conspiracy filled his mind with most dis- 
quieting apprehensions, and prompted him to execute a scheme which he 
had long revolved. He perceived that the spirit of disaffection still lurked 
among his troops ; that though hitherto checked by the uniform success of 
his schemes, or suppressed by the hand of authority, various events might 
occur which would encourage and call it forth. He observed, that many 
of his men, weaiy of the fatigue of service, longed to revisit their settle 
ments in Cuba ; and that upon any appearance of extraordinary danger 
or any reverse of fortune, it would be impossible to restrain them from 
returning thither. He was sensible that his forces, already too feeble, 
could bear no diminution, and that a very small defection of his followers 
would oblige him to abandon tiie enterprise. After ruminating often, and 
with much solicitude, upon those particulars, he saw no hope of success 
but in cutting off all possibility of retreat, and in reducing his men to the 
necessity of adopting the same resolution with which he himself was 
animated, either to conquer or to perish. With this view he determined 
to destroy his fleet ; but as he durst not venture to execute such a bold 
resolution by his single authority, he laboured to bring his soldiers to adopt 
his ideas with respect to the propriety of this measure. His address in 
accomplishing this was not inferior to the arduous occasion in which it was 
employed. He persuaded some that the ships had suffered so much by 
having been long at sea, as to be altogether unfit for service ; to others he 
pointed out what a seasonable reinforcement of strength they would derive 
from the junction of a hundred men, now unprofitably employed as sailors ; 
and to all he represented the necessity of fixing their eyes and wishes upon 
what was before them, without allowing the idea of a retreat once to 
enter their thoughts. VVith univei'sa! consent the ships v/ere drawn ashore, 
and after stripping them of their sails, rigging, iron works, and whatever 
else might be of use, they were broke in pieces. Thus, from an effort i.f 
magnanimity, to which there is nothing parallel in history, five hundred 
men voluntarily consented to be shut up in a hostile country, filled with 
powerful and unknown nations ; and, having precluded eveiy means of 
escape, left themselves without any resource but their own valour and 
perseverance.! 

♦ B Diaz, c. M. Gomara, Croij. c. 40 T Relat. di Cones. Eamufl. iil. 383. B. Diat. Ck 

57, 58. Herrera, dee. 2. fib. v. c. i^ 



212 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

Nothing now retarded Cortes ; the alacrity of his troops and the dis 
position of his allies were equally favourable. All the advantages, how- 
ever, derived from the latter, though procured by much assiduity and 
address, were well nigh lost in a moment, by an indiscreet sally of religious 
zeal, which on many occasions precipitated Cortes into actions inconsistent 
with the prudence that distinguishes his character. Though hitherto he 
had neither time nor opportunity to explain to the natives the errors of 
their own superstition, or to instruct them in the principles of the Christian 
faith, he commanded his soldiers to overturn the altars and to destroy the 
idols in the chief temple of Zempoalla, and in their place to erect a 
crucifix and an image of the Virgin Mary. The people beheld this with 
astonishment and horror ; the priests excited them to arms : but such waa 
the authority of Cortes, and so great the ascendant which the Spaniards 
had acquired, that the commotion was appeased without bloodshed, and 
concord perfectly re-established.* 

Cortes began his march from Zempoalla, on the sixteenth of August, 
with five hundred men, fifteen horse, and six field pieces. The rest of his 
troops, consisting chiefly of such as from age or infirmity were less fit for 
active service, he left as a garrison in Villa Rica, under the command of 
Escalante, an officer of merit, and warmly attached to his interest. The 
cazique of Zempoalla supplied him with provisions, and with two hundred 
of those Indians called Tamemes, whose office, in a countiy where tame 
animals were unknown, was to carrj' burdens, and to perform all servile 
labour. They were a great relief to the Spanish soldiers, who hitherto 
had been obliged not only to carrj' their own baggage, but to drag along 
the artillery by main force. He offered likewise a considerable body of 
his troops, but Cortes was satisfied with four hundred ; taking care, hoAv- 
ever, to choose persons of such note as might prove hostages for the fidelity 
of their master. Nothing memorable happened in his progress, until he 
arrived on the confines of Tlascala. The inhabitants of that province, a 
warlike people, were im.placable enemies of the Mexicans, and had been 
united in an ancient alliance v/ith the caziques of Zempoalla. Though 
less civilized than the subjects of Montezuma, they were advanced in 
improvement far beyond the rude nations of America whose manners Ave 
have described. They had made considerable progress in agriculture ; 
they dwelt in large towns ; they were not strangers to some species of 
commerce ; and in the imperfect accounts of their institutions and laAvs, 
transmitted to us by the early Spanish writers, we discern traces both of 
distributive justice and of criminal jurisdiction in their interior police. 
But still, as the degree of their civilization was incomplete, and as they 
depended for subsistence not on agriculture alone, but trusted for it in a 
great measure to hunting, they retained many of the qualities natural to 
men in this state. Like them they were fierce and revengeful ; like them, 
too, they were high spirited and independent. In consequence of the 
former, they Avere involved in perpetual hostilities, and had but a_ slender 
and occasional intercourse Avith neighbouring states. The latter inspired 
them Avith such detestation of servitude, that they not only refused to 
stoop to a foreign yoke, and maintain an obstinate and successful contest 
in defence of their liberty against the superior poAver of the Mexican 
empire, but they guarded Avith equal solicitude against domestic tyranny; 
and disdaining to acknowledge any master, they lived under the mild and 
limited jurisdiction of a council elected by their several tribes. 

Cortes, though he had received information concerning the martial cha- 
racter of this people, flattered himself that his professions of delivering 
the oppressed from the tyranny of Montezuma, their inveterate enmity to 
the Mexicans, and the example of their ancient allies the Zempoallans* 

♦ 5. Diaz, c. 4], 42. Herrera, doc. 2. lib. v. c. 3, 4. 



AMERICA. 213 

might induce the Tlascalans togrant him a friendly reception. In order 
to dispose them to this, four Zempoallans of great eminence were sent 
ambassadors, to request in his name, and in that of their cazique, that they 
would permit the Spaniards to pass through the territories of the republic 
in their way to Mexico. But instead of the favourable answer which 
was expected, the Tlascalans seized the ambassadors, and, without any 
regard to their public character, made preparations for sacrificing them 
to their gods. At the same time they assembled their troops, in order to 
oppose those unknown invaders if they should attempt to make their 
passage good by force of arms. Various motives concurred in precipi- 
tating the Tlascalans into this resolution. A fierce people, shut up within 
its own narrow precincts, and little accustomed to any intercourse with 
foreigners, is apt to consider every stranger as an enemy, and is easily 
excited to arms. They concluded, from Cortes's proposal of visiting- 
Montezuma in his capital, that, notwithstanding all his professions, he 
courted the friendship of a monarch whom they both hated and feared 
The imprudent zeal of Cortes in violating the temples in Zempoalla, filled 
the Tlascalans with horror ; and as they were no less attached to their 
superstition than the other nations of New Spain, they were impatient to 
avenge their injured gods, and to acquire the merit ot offering up to them 
as victims, those impious men who had dared to profane their altars ; they 
contemned the small number of the Spaniards, as they had not yet mea- 
sured their own strength with that of these new enemies, and had no idea 
of the superiority which they derived from their arms and discipline. 

Cortes, after waiting some days, in vain, for the return of his ambassa- 
dors, advanced [Aug. 30,] into the Tlascalan territories. As the resolutions 
of people who del'ight in war are executed with no less promptitude than 
they are formed, he found troops in the field ready to oppose him. They 
attacked him with great intrepidity, and, in the first encounter, wounded 
some of the Spaniards, and killed two horses ; a loss, in their situation, of 
great moment, because it was irreparable. From this specimen of their 
courage, Cortes saw the necessity of proceeding with caution. His army 
marched in close order ; he chose the stations where he halted, with 
attention, and fortified every camp with extraordinary care. During four- 
teen days he was exposed to almost uninterrupted assaults, the Tlascalans 
advancing with numerous armies, and renewing the attack in various forms, 
with a degree of valour and perseverance to which the Spaniards had 
seen nothing parallel in the New World. The Spanish historians describe 
those successive battles with great pomp, and enter into a minute detail of 
particulars, mingling many exaggerated and incredible circumstances [l05] 
with such as are real and marvellous. But no power of words can render 
the recital of a combat interesting, where there is no equality of danger ; 
and when the narrative closes v/ith an account of thousands slain on the 
one side, while not a single person falls on the other, the most laboured 
descriptions of the previous disposition of the troops, or of the various 
vicissitudes in the engagement, command no attention. 

There are some circumstances, however, in this war, which are memo- 
rable, and merit notice, as they throw light upon the character both of 
the people of New Spain, and of their conquerors. Though the Tlasca- 
lans brought into the field such numerous armies as appear sufficient to 
have overwhelmed the Spaniards, they were never able 1o make any im- 
pression upon their small battalion. Singular as this may seem, it is not 
inexplicable. The Tlascalans, though addicted to war, were like all 
unpolished nations, strangers to military order and discipline, and lost in a 
great measure the advantage which they might have derived from Iheir 
numbers, and the impetuosity of their attack, by their constant solicitude 
to carry off the dead and wounded. This point of honour, founded on a 
sentiment of tenderness natural to the human mind, and strengthened by 



214 HISTORYOF LBooK V. 

anxiety to preserve the bodies of their countrymen from being devoured 
by their enemies, was universal among the people of New Spain. At- 
tention to this pious office occupied them even during the heat of combat,* 
broke their union, and diminished the force of the impression which they 
might have made by a joint effort. 

Not only was their superiority in number of little avail, but the imper- 
fection of their military weapons rendered their valour in a great measure 
inoffensive. After three battles, and many skirmishes and assaults, not 
one Spaniard was killed in the field. Arrows and spears, headed with 
flint or the bones of fishes, stakes hardened in the fire, and wooden swords, 
though destructive weapons among naked Indians, were easily turned aside 
by the Spanish bucklers, and could hardly penetrate the escaupiles, or 
quilted jackets, which the soldiers wore. The Tlascalans advanced 
boldly to the charge, and often fought hand to hand. Many of the Spa 
niards were wounded, though all slightly, which cannot be imputed to 
any want of courage or strength in their enemies, but to the defect of the 
arms with which they assailed them. 

Notwithstanding the fury with which the Tlascalans attacked the Spa- 
niards, they seemed to have conducted their hostilities Avith some degree 
of barbarous generosity. They gave the Spaniards warning of tlieir 
hostile intentions ; and as they knew that their invaders wanted provisions, 
and imagined, perhaps, like the other Americans, that they had left their 
own country because it did not afford them subsistence, they sent to their 
camp a large supply of poultry and maize, desiring them to eat plentifully, 
because they scorned to attack an enemy enfeebled by hunger, and it 
would be an affront to their gods to offer them famished victims, as well 
as disagreeable to themselves to feed on such emaciated prey.j 

When they were taught by the first encounter with their new enemies, 
that it was not easy to execute this threat ; when they perceived, in the 
subsequent engagements, that notwithstanding all the efforts of their own 
valour, of which they had a very high opinion, not one of the Spaniards 
Avas slain or taken, they began to conceive them to be a superior order of 
beings, against whom human power could not avail. In this extremity, 
they had recourse to -their priests, requiring them to reveal the mysterious 
causes of such extraordinary events, and to declare what new means they 
should employ in order to repulse those formidable invaders. The priests, 
after many sacrifices and incantations, delivered this response : That these 
strangers were the offspring of the sun, procreated by his animating energy 
in the regions of the east ; that, by day, while cherished with the influence 
of his parental beams, they were invincible ; but by night, Avhen his re- 
viving heat was withdrav.'n, their vigour declined and faded like the herbs 
in the field, and they dwindled down into mortal men. J Theories less 
plausible have gained credit with more enlightened nations, and have 
influenced their conduct. In consequence of this, the Tlascalans, with 
the implicit confidence of men who fancy themselves to be under the 
guidance of Heaven, acted in contradiction to one of their most established 
maxims in war, and ventured to attack the enemy, with a strong body, in 
the night time, in hopes of destroying them v/hen enfeebled and surprised. 
But Cortes had greater vigilance and discernment than to be deceived by 
the rude stratagems of an Indian army. The sentinels at his outposts, 
observing some extraordinary movement among the Tlascalans, gave the 
alarm. In a moment the troops were under arms, and sallying out, dis- 
persed the party with great slaughter, without allowing it to approach the 
camp. The 1 lascalans convinced by sad experience that their priests 
had deluded them, and satisfied that they attempted in vain either to 
deceive or to vanquish their enemies, their fierceness abated, and they 
began to incline seriously to peace. 

* B. Diaz, c. 65. t Herreta, dec 2. lib. v1. c. 6. Gomara Cron. c 47. J B. Diaz, c. 66. 



AMERICA. 216 

They were at a loss, however, in what manner to address the strangers, 
what idea to form of their character, and whether to consider them as 
being's of a gentle or of a malevolent nature. There were circumstances 
in their conduct which seemed to favour each opinion. On the one hand, 
as the Spaniards constantly dismissed the prisoners whom they took, no. 
only without injury, but often with presents of European toys, and renewed 
their offers of peace after every victory ; this lenity amazed people, who 
according to the exterminating system of war known in America, were 
accustomed to sacrifice and devour without mercy all the captives taken in 
battle, and disposed them to entertain favourable sentiments of the huma- 
nity of iheir new enemies. But, on the other hand, as Cortes had seized 
fifty of their countrymen who brought provisions to his camp, and supposing 
them to be spies, had cut off their hands ;* this bloody spectacle, added to 
the terror occasioned by the fire-arms and horses, filled them with dreadful 
impressions of the ferocity of their invaders [lOfi]. This uncertainty was 
apparent in the mode of addressing the Spaniards. " If," said they, " you 
are divinities of a cruel and savage nature, we present to you five slaves, 
that you may drink their blood and eat their flesh. If you are mild deities, 
accept an offering of incense and variegated plumes. If you are men, 
here is meat, and bread, and fruit to nourish you.j The peace, which 
both parties now desired v/ith equal ardour, was soon concluded. The 
Tlascalans yielded themselves as vassals to the crown of Castile, and en- 
gaged to assist Cortes in all his future operations. He took the republic 
under his protection, and promised to defend their persons and possessions 
from injury or violence. 

This treaty was concluded at a seasonable juncture for the Spaniards. 
The fatigue of service among a small body of men, surrounded by such a 
multitude of enemies, was incredible. Half the army was on duty eveiy 
night, and even they whose turn it was to rest, slept always upon their 
arms, that they might be ready to run to their posts on a moment's warn- 
ing. Many of them were wounded ; a good number, and among these 
Cortes himself, laboured under the distempers prevalent in hot climates, and 
several had died since they set out from Vera Cruz. Notwithstanding the 
supplies which they received from the Tlascalans, they were often in want 
of provisions, and so destitute of the necessaries most requisite in danger- 
ous service, that they had no s:\\ve to dress their wounds, but what was 
composed with the fat of the Indians whom they had slain. | Worn out 
with such intolerable toil and hardships, many of the soldiers be.^an to 
murmur, and when they reflected on the multitude and boldness of their 
enemies, more were ready to despair. It required the utmost exertion of 
Cortes's authority and address to check this spirit of despondency in its 
progress, and to reanimate his followers with their wonted sense of their 
own superiority over the enemies with whom they had to contend. § The 
submission of the Tlascalans, and their own triumphant entry into the 
capital city, where they were received with the reverence paid to beings 
of a superior order, banished at once from the minds of the Spaniards all 
memory of past sufferings, dispelled every anxious thought with respect to 
their future operations, and fully satisfied them that there was not now 
any power in America able to withstand tJieir arms.|| 

Cortes remained twenty days in Tlascala, in order to allow his troops 
a short interval of repose after such hard service. During that time 
be was employed in transactions and inquiries of great moment witji 
respect to his future schemes. In his daily conferences with the Tlas- 
calan chiefs, he received information concerning every particular rela- 
tive to the state of the Mexican empire, or to the qualities of its sovereign, 

* Cortes Rclat. Ramus, iii. 228. C. Gomara Cron. c. 48. t R- Diaz, c. 70. Gomara Cron. 

c. '17. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. vi. c. 7. ; B. Diaz, c. 62. 65. § Corle.i Relat. Ramus, iii. 2SQ, 

B. Diaz, c ag. Gomara Cron. o. Si. U Cortee Relat. Ramus. Iii. 23U. B. l>ia£, c. 73. 



216 HISTORY OF L^ook V. 

which could be of use in regulating his conduct, whether he should be 
obliged to act as a friend or as an ememy . As he found that the antipathy of 
his new allies to the Mexican nation was no less implacable than had 
been represented, and perceived what benefit he might derive from the aid 
of such powerful confederates, he employed all his powers of insinuation 
in order to gain their confidence. Nor was any extraordinary exertion of 
these necessary. The Tlascalans, with the levity of mind natural to un- 
polished men, were, of their own accord, disposed to run from the extreme 
of hatred to that of fondness. Everything in the appearance and conduct 
of their guests was to them matter of wonder [107]. They gazed with 
admiration at whatever the Spaniards did, and, fancying them to be of 
heavenly origin, were eager not only to comply with their demands, 
but to anticipate their wishes. They offered, accordingly, to accompany 
Cortes in his march to Mexico, with all the forces of the republic, under 
the command of their most experienced captains. 

But, after bestowing so much pains on cementing this union, all the bene- 
ficial fruits of it were on the point of being lost by a new effusion of that 
intemperate religious zeal with which Cortes was animated no less than 
the other adventurers of the age. They all considered themselves as in- 
struments employed by Heaven to propagate the Christian faith, and the 
less they were qualified, either by their knowledge or morals, for such a 
function, they were more eager to discharge it. The profound veneration 
of the Tlascalans for the Spaniards having encouraged Cortes to explain 
to some of their chiefs the doctrines of the Christian religion, and to insist 
that they should abandon their own superstitions, and embrace the faith of 
their new friends, they, according to an idea universal among barbarous 
nations, readily acknowledged the truth and excellence of what he taught ; 
but contended, that the Teules of Tlascala were divinities no less than the 
God in whom the Spaniards believed ; and as that Being was entitled to 
the homage of Europeans, so ;hey were bound to revere the same powers 
which their ancestors had worshipped. Cortes conthiued, nevertheless, to 
urge his demand in a tone of authority, mingling threats with his arguments, 
until the Tlascalans could bear it no longer, and conjured him never to 
mention this again, lest the gods should avenge on their heads the guilt of 
having listened to such a proposition. Cortes, astonished and enraged at 
their obstinacy, prepared to execute by force what he could not accomplish 
by persuasion, and was going to overturn their altars and cast down their 
idols with the same violent hand as at Zempoalla, if Father Bartholomew 
de Olmedo, chaplain to the expedition, had not checked his inconsiderate 
impetuosity. He represented the imprudence of such an attempt in a large 
city newly reconciled, and filled with people no less superstitious than 
warlike ; he declared, that the proceeding at Zempoalla had always 
appeared to him precipitate and unjust ; that religion was not to be propa- 
gated by the sword, or infidels to be converted by violence ; that other 
weapons were to be employed in this ministry ; patient instruction must 
enlighten the undersianding, and pious example captivate the heart, before 
men could be induced to aliandon error, and embrace the truth.* Amidst 
scenes where a narrow minded bigotry appears in such close union with 
oppression and cruelty, sentiments so liberal and humane soothe the mind 
with unexpected pleasure ; and at a time when the rights of conscience 
were little understood in the Christian world, and the idea of toleration 
unknown, one is astonished to find a Spanish monk of the sixteenth century 
among the first advocates against persecution, and in behalf of religious 
liberty. The remonstrances of an ecclesiastic, no less respectable for 
wisdom than virtue, had their proper weight with Cortes. He left the 
Tlascalans in the undisturbed exercise of their own rites, requiring only that 

• B. Dlw, c. 77. p. 54. e. 83, p. 61. 



AMERICA. 217 

they should desist from their horrid practice of oflfenng human victims in 
sacrifice. 

Cortes, as soon as his troops were fit for service, resolved to continue his 
march towards Mexico, notwithstanding the e'irnest dissuasives of the Tlas- 
calans, who represented his destiuction as unavoidable if he put himself in 
the power of a prince so faithless and cruel as Montezuma. As he was 
accompanied by six thousand Tlascalans, he had now the command of 
forces which resembled a regular army. They directed their course 
towards Cholula [Oct. 13] ; Montezuma, who had at length consented to 
admit the Spaniards into his presence, having informed Cortes that he had 
given orders for his friendly reception there. Cholula was a considerable 
town, and though only five leagues distant from Tlascala, was formerly an 
independent state, but had been lately suWected to the Mexican empire. 
This was considered by all the people of New Spain as a holy place, the 
sanctuary and chief seat of their gods, to which pilgrims resorted from every 
province, and a greater number of human victims were offered in its prin- 
cipal temple than even in that of Mexico.* Montezuma seems to have 
invited the Spaniards thither, either from some superstitious hope that the 
gods would not suffer this sacred mansion to be defiled, without pouring 
down their wrath upon those impious strangers, who ventured to insult their 
power in the place of its peculiar residence ; or from a belief that he him- 
self might there attempt to cut them off with more certain success, under 
Ihe immediate protection ofhis divinities. 

Cortes had been warned by the Tlascalans, before he set out on his march, 
to keep a watchful eye over the Cholulans. He himself, though received 
into the town with much seeming respect and cordiality, observed several 
circumstances in their conduct which excited suspicion. Two of the Tlas- 
calans, who were encamped at some distance from the town, as the Cholu- 
lans refused to admit their ancient enemies within its pre(!incts, having 
found means to enter in disguise, acquainted Cortes that they observed the 
women and children of the principal citizens retiring in great hurry every 
night ; and that six children had been sacrificed in the chief temple, a rite 
which indicated the execution of some warlike enterprise to be approach- 
ing. At the same time, Marina the interpreter received information from 
an Indian woman of distinction, whose confidence she had gained, that the 
destruction of her friends was concerted ; that a body of Mexican troops 
lay concealed near the town ; that some of the streets were barricaded, 
and in others, pits or deep trenches Avere dug, and slightly covered over, 
as traps into which the horses might fall ; that stones or missive weapons 
were collected on the tops of the temples, with which to overwhelm the 
infantry ; that the fatal hour was now n.t hand, and their ruin unavoidable. 
Cortes, alarmed at this concurring evidence, secretly arrested three of the 
chief priests, and extorted from them a confession, that confirmed the intel- 
ligence which he had received. As not a moment was to be lost, he in- 
stantly resolved to prevent his enemies, and to inflict on them such dreadful 
vengeance as might strike Montezuma and his subjects with terror. For 
this purpose, the Spaniards and Zempoallans were drawn up in a large 
court, which had been allotted for their quarters near the centre of the town ; 
the Tlascalans had orders to advance ; the magistrates and several of the 
chief citizens were sent for, under various pretexts, and seized. On a signal 
given, the troops rushed out and fell upon the multitude, destitute of lead- 
ers, and so much astonished, that the weapons dropping from their hands, 
they stood motionless, and incapable of defence. While the Spaniards 
pressed them in front, the Tlascalans attacked them in the rear. The 
streets were filled with bloodshed and death. The temples, which afford- 
ed a retreat to the priests and some of the leading men, were set on fire, 

• Torquemada Monar. Ind. i. 281, 282. il. 231. Goraara Cron. c. 61. Henera, dee. 2. lib. vil. e. 2 

Vol. I.— 28 



218 HISTORY OF [Book IV. 

and they perished in the flames. This scene of horror continued two days ; 
during which, the wretched inhabitants suffered all that the destructive 
rage of the Spaniards, or the implacable revenge of their Indian allies, 
could inflict. At length the carnage ceased, after the slaughter of six thou- 
sand Cholulans, without the loss of a single Spaniard. Cortes then released 
the magistrates, and, reproaching them oitterly for their intended treachery, 
declared, that as justice was now appeased, he forgave the offence, but 
required them to recall the citizens who liad fled, and re-establish order in 
the town. Such was the ascendant which the Spaniards had acquired over 
this superstitious race of men, and so deeply were they impressed with an 
opinion of their superior discernment, as well as power, that, in obedience 
> this command, the city was in a few days filled again with people, who, 
amidst the ruins of their sacred buildings, yielded respectful service to 
men whose hands were stained with the blood of their relations and fellow- 
citizens* [lOO]. 

From Cholula, Cortes advanced directly towards Mexico [Oct. 29], which 
was only twenty leagues distant. In eveiy place through which he passed, 
he was received as a person possessed of sufficient power to deliver the 
empire from the oppression under which it groaned ; and the caziques or 
governors communicated to him all the grievances which they felt under 
the tyrannical government of Montezuma, Avilh that unreserved confidence 
which men naturally repose in superior beings. When Cortes first observed 
the seeds of discontent in the remote provinces of the empire, hope dawned 
upon his mind ; but when he now discovered such symptoms of alienation 
from their n.onarch near the seat of government, he concluded that the vital 
parts of the constitution were affected, and conceived the most sanguine 
expectations of overturning a state whose natural strength was thus divided 
and impaired. While those reflections encouraged the general to persist 
in his arduous undertaking, the soldiers were no less animated by obser- 
vations more obvious to their capacity. In descending from the mountains 
of Chalco, across which the road lay, the vast plain of Mexico opened 
gradually to their view. When they first beheld this prospect, one of the 
most striking and beautiful on the face of the earth ; when they observed 
fertile and cultivated fields stretching further than the eye could reach ; 
when they saw a lake resembling the sea in extent, encompassed with large 
towns, and discovered the capital city rising upon an island in the middle, 
adorned with its temples and turrets ; the scene so far exceeded their 
imagination, that some believed the fanciful descriptions of romance were 
realized, and that its enchanted palaces and gilded domes were presented 
to their sight ; others could hardly persuade themselves that this wonderful 
spectacle was any thing more than a dream [109]. As they advanced, 
their doubts were removed, but their amazement increased. They were 
now fully satisfied that the country was rich beyond any conception which 
they had formed of it, and flattered themselves that at length they should 
obtain an ample recompense for all their services and sufferings. 

Hitherto they had met with no enemy to oppose their progress, though 
several circumstances occurred which led them to suspect that some design 
was formed to surprise and cut them off. Many messengers arrived suc- 
cessively from Montezuma, permitting them one day to advance, requiring 
them on the next to retire, as his hopes or fears alternately prevailed ; and 
so wonderful was this infatuation, which seems to be unaccountable on any 
supposition but that of a superstitious dread of the Spaniards, as beings ot 
a superior nature, that Cortes was almost at the gates of the capital, before 
the monarch had determined whether to receive him as a Iriend, or to 
oppose him as an enemy. But as no sign of open hostility appeared, the 
Spaniards, without regarding the fluctuations of Montezuma's sentiments, 

'<' Cortes Relat. Ramuf. lii. 231. B. Diaz, c. 83. Gomara Cron. c 64. Hcrrera, dec. 2. lib. vii 
e. 1, 2. 



AMERICA. 219 

continued their march along the causeway which led to Mexico through 
the lake, with great circumspection and the strictest discipline, though 
without seeming to suspect the prince whom they were about to visit. 

When they drew near the city, about a thousand persons, who appeared 
to be of distinction, came forth to meet them, adorned with plumes and 
clad in mantles of fine cotton. Each of these in his order passed by 
Cortes, and saluted him according to the mode deemed most respectful 
and submissive in their country They announced the approach of Mon- 
tezuma himselt", and soon after his harbingers came in sight. There appear- 
ed first two hundred persons in a uniform dress, with Tai'ge plumes of fea- 
thers, alike in fashion, marching two and two, in deep silence, bare boted, 
WMth their eyes fixed on the ground. These w"ere followed by a company 
of higher rank, in their most showy apparel, in the midst of whom was 
Montezuma, in a chair or litter richly ornamented with gold, and feathers 
of various colours. Four of his principal favourites carried him on their 
shoulders, others supported a canopy of curious workmanship over his 
head. Before him marched three officers with rods of gold in their hands, 
which they lifted up on high at certain intervals, and at that signal all the 
people bowed their heads -^^^d hid their faces, as unworthy to look on so 
great a monarch. When he drew near, Cortes dismounted, advancing to- 
wards him with officious haste, and in a respectful posture. At the same 
time Montezuma alighted from his chair, and, leaning on the arms of two 
of his near relations, approached with a slow and stately pace, his attend- 
ants covering the streets with cotton cloths, that he might not -touch the 
ground, Cortes accosted him with profound reverence, after the European 
fashion. He returned the salutation, according to the mode of his country, 
by touching the earth with his hand, and then kissing it. This ceremony, 
the customary expression of veneration from inferiors towards those who 
were above them in rank, appeared such amazing condescension in a proud 
monarch, who scarcely deigned to consider the rest of mankind as of the 
same species with himself, that all his subjects firmly believed those per- 
sons, before whom he humbled himself in this manner, to be something 
more than human. Accordingly, as they marched through the crowd, the 
Spaniards frequently, and with much satisfaction, heard themselves deno- 
minated Teulcs, or divinities. Nothing material passed in this first inter- 
view. Montezuma conducted Cortes to the quarters which he had pre- 
pared for his reception, and immediately took leave of him, with a polite- 
ness not unworthy of a court more refined. " You are now," says he, 
" with your brothers, in your ow-n house ; refresh yourselves after your 
fatigue, and be happy until I return."* The place allotted to the Spaniards 
for their lodging, was a house built by the father of Montezuma. It was 
surrounded by a stone wall, with towers at proper distances, which served 
for defence as well as for ornament, and its apartments and courts were so 
large as to accommodate both the Spaniards and their Jndian allies. The 
first care of Cortes was to take precautions for his security, by planting the 
artillery so as to command the different avenues which led to it, by appoint- 
ing a large division of his troops to be always on guard, and by posting 
sentinels at proper stations, with injunctions to observe the same vigilant 
discipline as if they were within sight of an enemy's camp. 

In the evening, Montezuma returned to visit his guests with the same 
pomp as in their first interview, and brought presents of such value, not 
only to Cortes and to his officers, but even to the private men, as proved 
the liberality of the monarch to be suitable to the opulence of his kingdom. 
A long conference ensued, in which Cortes learned what was the opinion 
of Montezuma with respect to the Spaniards. It was an established tra- 

♦ Cortes Relat. Ram iii. 232— ias. B. Diaz, c. 83— €8. Gomara Cron. c. Ci, 65. Herrera, dec 
8. lib. vU. c. 3, 4, 5. 



220 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

dition, he told him, among the Mexicans, that their ancestors came origin- 
ally from a remote region, and conquered the provinces now subject to his 
dominion ; that after tliey were settled there, the great captain who con- 
ducted this colony returned to his own country, promising that at some future 
period his descendants should visit them, assume the government, and reform 
their constitution and laws ; that from what he had heard and seen of 
Cortes and his followers, he was convinced that they were the very persons 
whose appearance the Mexican traditions and prophecies taught them to 
expect ; that accordingly he had received them, not as strangers, but as 
relations of the same mood and parentage, and desired that they might con- 
sider themselves as masters in his dominions, for both himself and his sub- 
jects should be ready to comply with their will, and even to prevent tlieir 
wishes. Cortes made a reply m his usual style, with respect to the dig- 
nity and power of his sovereign, and his intention of sending him into 
that country ; artfully endeavouring so to frame his discourse, that it might 
coincide as much as possible with the idea which Montezuma had formed 
concerning the origin of the Spaniards. Next morning, Cortes and some 
of his principal attendants were admitted to a public audience of the em- 
peror. The three subsequent days were employed in viewing the city ; 
the appearance of which, so far superior in the order of its buildings and 
the number of its inhabitants to any place the Spaniards had beheld in 
America, and yet so little resembling the structure of a European city, fiUefl 
them with surprise and admiration. 

_ Mexico, or Tenuchtitlan, as it was anciently called by the natives, is 
■situated in a large plain, evironed by mountains of such height that, though 
within the torrid zone, the temperature of its climate is mild and healthful. 
All the moisture which descends from the high grounds, is collected in 
several lakes, the two largest of which, of about ninety miles in circuit, 
communicate with each other. The waters of '.he one are fresh, those of 
the other brackish. On the banks of the latter, and on some small islands 
adjoining to them, the capital of Montezuma's empire was built. The 
access to the city was by artificial causeways or streets formed of stones 
and earth, about thirty feet in breadth. As the waters of the lake during 
the rainy season overflowed the flat countrj^, these causeways vs'ere of 
considerable length. That of Tacuba, on the west, extended a mile and 
a half; that of Tepeaca, on the north-west, three miles ; that of Cuoyacan, 
towards the south, six miles. On the east* there was no causeway, and 
the city could be approached only by canoes.t In each of these cause- 
ways were openings at proper intervals, through which the waters flowed, 
and. over these beams of timber were laid, which being covered with earth, 
the causev.'ay or street had every where a uniform appearance. As the 
approaches to the city were singular, its construction was remarkable. 
Not only the temples of their gods, but the houses belonging to the monarch, 
and to persons of distinction, were of such dimensions, that, in comparison 
with any other buildings which hitherto had been discovered in America, 
they might be termed magnificent. The habitations of the common peo- 
ple were mean, resembling the huts of other Indians. But they were all 
placed in a regular manner, on the banks of the canals which passed through 
the city, in some of its districts, or on the sides of the streets which inter- 
sected it in other quarters. In several places were large openings or squares, 
one of which, allotted for the great market, is said to nave been so spacious, 
that forty or fifty thousand persons carried on traffic there. In this city, 

* I am indebted to M. Clavigcro for correcting an error of importance in my description of Mexico. 
From the east, vvliere Tezeuco was situated, there was no causeway, as I have observed, and yet 
by some inattention on my part, or on that 3f the printer, in all the former editions one of the 
causeways was said to lead to Tezeuco. M. Clavigero's measurement of tlie length of these 
causeways (lllfcrs somewhat from that which I have adopted from F. Torrihio Clavig. ii. p. 73. 

t F. Torn bio MS. 



AMERICA. 221 

the pride of the New World, and the noblest monument of the industry 
and art of man, while unacquainted with the use of iron, and destitute of 
aid from any domestic animal, the Spaniards, who are most moderate in 
their computations, reckon that there were at least sixty thousand in- 
habitants.* 

But how much soever the novelty of those objects might amuse or 
astonish the Spaniards, they felt the utmost solicitude with respect to 
their own situation. From a concurrence of circumstances, no less un- 
expected than favourable to their progress, they had been allowed to 
penetrate into the heart of a powerful kingdom, and were now lodged in 
its capital without having once met with open opposition from its monarch. 
The Tlascalans, however, had earnestly dissuaded them from placing such 
confidence in Montezuma, as to enter a city of such peculiar situation as 
Mexico, where that prince would have them at mercy, shut up as it were 
in a snare, from which it was impossible to escape. They assured them 
that the Mexican priests had, in the name of the gods, counselled their 
sovereign to admit the Spaniards into the capital, that he might cut them off 
there at one blow with perfect security. t 1 hey now perceived too plainly, 
that the apprehensions of their allies were not destitute of foundation ; that, 
by breaking the bridges placed at certain intervals on the causeways, or by 
destroying part of the causeways themselves, their retreat would be 
rendered impracticable, and they must remain cooped up in the centre of 
a hostile city, surrounded by multitudes sufficient to overwhelm them, and 
without a possibility of receiving aid from their allies. Montezuma had, 
indeed, received them with distinguished respect. But ought they to 
reckon upon this as real, or to consider it as ieigned ? Even if it were 
sincere, could they promise on its continuance ? Their safety depended 
upon the will of a monarch in whose attachment they had no reason to 
confide ; and an order flowing from his caprice, or a word uttered by him 
in passion, might decide irrevocably concerning their fate.J 

These reflections, so obvious as to occur to the meanest soldier, did not 
escape the vigilant sagacity of their general. Before he set out from 
Cholula, Cortes had received advice from Villa Rica,§ that Qualpopoca, 
one of the Mexican generals on the frontiers, having assembled an army 
in order to attack some of the people whom the Spaniards had encouraged 
to throw off the Mexican yoke, Escalante had inarched out with part of 
the garrison to support his allies ; that an engagement had ensued, in which, 
though the Spaniards were victorious, Escalante, with seven of his men, 
had been mortally wounded, his horse killed, and one Spaniard had been 
surrounded by the enemy and taken alive ; that the head of this unfortu 
nate captive, after being carried in triumph to different cities, in order to 
convince the people that their invaders were not immortal, had been sent 
to Mexico. II Cortes, though alarmed with this intelligence, as an indica- 
tion of Montezuma's hostile intentions, had continued his march. But ai 
soon as he entered Mexico he became sensible, that, from an excess of 
confidence in the superior valour and discipline of his troops, as well as 
from the disadvantage of having nothing to guide him in an unknown 
country, but the defective intelligence which he had received from people 
with whom his mode of communication was very imperfect, he had pushed 
forward into a situation where it was difficult to continue, and from which 
it was dangerous to retire. Disgrace, and perhaps ruin, was the certain 
consequence of attempting the latter. The success of his enterprise 
depended upon supporting the high opinion which the people of New 
Spain had formed with lespect to the irresistible power of his arms. Upon 

• CoriesRelat Ram. iil. 239. D. Belat. della grnn Citta de Mexico, par un Gentelhuomo del 
Cortese. Ram. ibid. 304. E. Herrera,.dec. 2. lib. vii. c. 14, &c. t B. Diaz, c. 85, 86. t Ibid. 
c. 94. $ Cortes Relat. Ram. iu. 235. C. || B. Diaz, c. 93, 94. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. viii. c. 1. 



222 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

the first symptom of timidity on his part, their veneration would cease, 
and Montezuma, whom fear alone restrained at present, would let loose 
upon him the whole force of his empire. At the same time, he knew that 
the countenance of his own sovereign was to be obtained only by a series 
of victories, and that nothing but the merit of extraordinary success could 
screen his conduct from the censure of irregularity. PVoin all these con- 
.siderations, it was necessary to maintain his station, and to extricate himself 
out of the difficulties in which one bold step had involved him, by ven- 
turing upon another still bolder. The situation was trj'ing, but his mind 
was equal to it; and after revolving the matter with deep attention, he 
fixed upon a plan no less extraordinary than daring. He determined to 
seize Montezuma in his palace, and to carry him as a prisoner to the 
Spanish quarters. From the superstitious veneration of the Mexicans for 
the person of their monarch, as well as their implicit submission to his 
will, he hoped, by having Montezuma in his power, to acquire the 
supreme direction of their affairs ; or, at least, with such a sacred pledge 
in his hands, he made no doubt of being secure from any effort of their 
violence. 

This he immediately proposed to his ofiicers. The timid startled at a 
measure so audacious, and raised objections. The more intelligent and 
resolute, conscious that it was the only resource in which there appeared 
any prospect of safety, warmly approved of it, and brought over their 
companions so cordially to the same opinion, that it was agreed instantly 
to make the attempt. At his usual hour of visiting Montezuma, Cortes 
went to the palace, accompanied by Alvarado, Sandoval, Lugo, Velasquez 
de Leon, and Daviia, five of his principal officers, and as many trusty 
soldiers. Thirty chosen men followed, not in regular order, but sauntering 
at some distance, as if they had no object but curiosity ; small parties 
were posted at proper intervals, in all the streets leading from the Spanish 
quarters to the court ; and the remainder of his troops, with the Tlascalan 
allies, were under arms ready to sally out on the first alarm. Cortes and 
bis attendants were admitted- without suspicion ; the Mexicans retiring, as 
usual, out of respect. He addressed the monarch in a tone vety different 
from that which he had employed in former conferences, )-eprogching him 
bitterly as the author of the violent assault made upon the Spaniards by 
one of his ofticers, and demanded public reparation for the loss which they 
had sustained by the death of some of their campanions, as well as for 
the insult offered to the great prince whose servants they were. ^ Mon- 
tezuma, confounded at this unexpected accusation, and changing coloiir, 
either from consciousness of guilt, or from feeling the indignity with which 
he was treated, asserted his own innocence with great earnestness, and, aS 
a proof of it, gave orders instantly to bring Q,ualpopoca and his accomplices 
prisoners to Mexico. Gortes replied with seeming complaisance, that a 
declaration so^spectable left no doubt remaining in his own mind, but 
that something more was requisite to satisfy his followers, whg would 
never be convinced that Montezuma did not harbour hostile intenfions 
against them, unless, as an evidence of his confidence and attachment, he 
removed from his own palace, and took up his residence in the Spanish 
quartos, where he should be served and honoured as became a great 
monarch. The first mention of so strange a proposal bereaved Montezuma 
of speech, and almost of motion. At length indignation gave him utter- 
ance, and he haughtily answered, " That persons of his rank were not 
accustomed voluntarily to give up themselves as prisoners ; and were he 
mean enough to do so, bis subjects would not permit such'an affront to be 
offered to their sovereign." Cortes, unwilling to e;nploy force, endeavoured 
alternately to soothe and to intimidate him. The altercation became 
warm ; and having continued above tliree hours, Velasquez de Leon, an 
impetuous and gallant young ihan, exclaimed with impatience, "Why 



AMERICA. 223 

waste more time in vain ? Let us either seize iiim instantly, or stab him 
to the heart." Tho threatening' voice and fierce o^estures with which these 
words were uttered, struck Montezuma. The Spaniards, he was sensible, 
/lad now proceeded so far, as left him no hope that they would recede. 
His own danger was imminent, the necessity unavoidable. He saw both, 
and, abandoning himself to his fate, complied with their request. 

His officers were called. He communicated to them his resolution. 
Though astonished and afflicted, they presumed not to question the will ol 
their master, but carried him in silent pomp, all bathed in tears, to the 
Spanish quarters. When it was known that the strangers were conveying' 
away the Emperor, the people broke out into the wildest transports of 
griet and rage, threatening the Spaniards with immediate destruction, as 
the punishment justly due to their iiripious audacity. But as soon as Mon- 
tezuma appeared, with a seeming' gayety of countenance, and waved his 
hand, the tumult was hushed; and upon his declaring it to be of his own 
choice that he went to reside for some time among his new friends, the mul- 
titude, taught to revere every intimation of their sovereign's pleasure, quietly 
dispersed.* 

Thus was a powerful prince seized by a few strangers in the midst of 
his capital, at noonday, and carried off as a prisoner, without opposition or 
bloodshed. History contains nothing parallel to this event, either with 
respect to the temerity of the attempt, or the success of the execution ; 
and were not all the circumstances of this extraordinary transaction authen- 
ticated by the most unquestionable evidence, they would appear so wild 
and extravagant as to go far beyond the bounds of that probability which 
must be preserved even in fictitious narrations. 

Montezuma was received in the Spanish quarters with all the ceremo- 
nious respect which Cortes had promised. He was attended by his own 
domestics, and served with his usual state. His principal officers had free 
access to him, and he carried on every function of government as if he had 
been at perfect liberty. The Spaniards, however, watched him with the 
scrupulous vigilance which was natural in guarding such an important 

f)rize [no], endeavouring at the same time to sooth and reconcile him to 
lis situation by .every external demonstration of regard and attachment. 
But from captive princes, the hour of humiliation and suffering is never far 
distant. Q,ualpopoca, his son, and five of the principal officers who served 
under him, were brought prisoners to the capital [Dec. 4], in consequence 
of the orders which Montezuma had issued. - The Emperor gave them up 
to Cortes, that he might inquire into the nature of their crime, and deter- 
mine their punishment. They were formally tried by a Spanish court 
martial ; and though they had acted no other part than what became loyal 
subjects and bravfe men, in obeying the orders of their lawful sovereign, 
and in opposing the invaders of their country, they .were condemned to be 
burnt alive. The execution of such atrocious deeds is seldom long sus- 
pended. The unhappy victims were instantly led forth. *The pile on 
whicji they were laid was conriposed of theweapons collected in the royal 
magazine for the public dclience. An innumerable multitude of Mexicans 
beheld, in silent astonishment, the double insult offered to the majesty ol 
their empire, an officer of distinction committed to the flames by the author- 
ity of strangers for having done what he owed in duty to his natural^ove- 
reign; and the ajrms provided by the foresight of their ancestors for 
avenging public wrpngs, consumed before their eyes. 

But these were not. the most shocking indignities which the Mexicans 
nad to bear. The Spaniards, convinced that Qiialpopoca would not have 
ventured to attack Escalante without orders from his master, were not 

* Diaz, c. 95. Gomara Cron. c. 83. Cortes Belat Bam. Ul. p 235, 336 Herrera, dec. 2. 10». 
vUic. 2,3. r ,.sv , 



224 HISTORY OF [Book V 

satisfied with inflicting vengeance on the instrument employed in commit- 
ting that crime while the author of it escaped with impunity. Just before 
Qjaalpopoca was led out to suffer, Cortes entered the apartment of Monte- 
zuma, followed by some of his officers, and a soldier, carrying a pair of 
fetters ; and approaching the monarch with a stern countenance told him, 
that as the persons who were now to undergo the punishment which they 
merited, had charged him as the cause of the outrage committed, it was 
necessary that he likewise should make atonement for that guilt ; then 
turning away abruptly, without waitir^ for a reply, commanded the sol- 
dier to clap the fetters on his legs. The orders were instantly executed. 
The disconsolate monarch, trained up with an idea that his person was 
sacred and inviolable, and considering this profanation of it as the prelude 
of immediate death, broke out into loud lamentations and complaints. His 
attendants, speechless with horror, fell at his feet, bathing them with their 
tears ; and, bearing uj^the fetters in their hands, endeavoured with officious 
tenderness to lighten their pressure. Nor did their grief and despondency 
abate, until Cortes returned from the execution, and with a cheerful coun- 
tenance ordered the fetters to be taken off. As Montezuma's spirits' had 
sunk with unmanly dejection, they now rose into indecent joy ; and with 
an unbecoming transition, he passed at once from the anguish of despair to 
transports of gratitude and expressions of fondness towards his deliverer. 
In those transactions, as represented by the Spanish historians, we search 
in vain for the qualities which distinguish other parts of Cortes's cohduct. 
To usurp a jurisdiction which could not belong to a stranger, who assumed 
no higher character than that of an ambassador from a foreign prince, and, 
under colour of it, to inflict a capital punishment on men whose cbndijct 
entitled them to esteem, appears an act of barbarous cruelty. To^ut the 
monarch of a great kingdom in irons, and, after such ignominious treat- 
ment, suddenly to release him, seems to be a display of power no less in- 
considerate than wanton. According to the common relation, no account 
can be given either of the one action or the other, but that Cortes, intoxi- 
cated with success, and presuming on the ascendant which he had acquired 
over the minds of the Mexicans, thought nothing too bold for him to under- 
take, or too dangerous to execute. But, i-n one. view, these proceedings, 
however repugnant to justice and humanity, may have flowed from that 
artful policy which regulated every part of'^ Cortes's behaviour towards the 
Mexicans. They had conceived the Spaniards to be an order of beings 
superior to men. It was of the utmost consequence to cherish this illusion, 
and to keep up the veneration which it inspired. Cortes wished that 
shedding the blood of a Spaniard should be deemed the most heinous of 
all crimes ; and nothing appeared better calculated to establish this 
opinion than to condemn the first Mexicans who had ventured to commit 
it to a cruel death, and to oblige their monarch himself to submit to a mor- 
tifying indignity as an expiation for being accessary to a deed so atro- 
cious [ill] 

1520.] The rigour with which Cortes punished the unhappy persons 
who first presumed to lay violent hands upon his followers, seerns accord- 
ingly to have made all the impression that he desired. The spirit of Mon- 
tezuma was not only overawed but subdued. During six nionths tliat 
Cortes remained in Mexico, the monarch continued in the Spanish quarters 
with an appearance of as entire satisfaction and tranquillity as if he had 
resided there not from constraint, but through choice. His ministers and 
officers attended him as usual. He took cognisance of all affairs ; every 
order was issued in his name. The external asp<?tt of government appear- 
ing the same, and all its ancient forms being scrupulously observed, the 
people were so little sensible of any change, that they obeyed the man- 
dates of their monarch with the same submissive reverence as ever. Such 
was the dread which both Montezuma and his subjects had of the Span- 



AMERICA. 225 

lards, or such the veneration in which they held them, that no attempt was 
made to deliver their sovereign from confinement ;' and though Cortes, rely- 
ing on this ascendant which he had' acquired over their minds, permitted 
him not only to visit his temples, but to make hunting excursions beyond 
the lake, a guard of a few Spaniards carried with it such a terror as to 
intimidate the multitude, and secure the captive monarch.* 

Thus, by the fortunate temerity of Cortes in seizing Montezuma, the 
Spaniards at once secured to themselves more extensive authority in the 
Mexican Empire than it was possible to have acquired in a long course of 
time by open force ; and they exercised more absolute sway in the name 
of another, than they could have done in their own. The arts of polished 
nations, in subjecting such as are less improved, have been nearly the same 
in every period. 1 he system of screening a foreign usurpation, under the 
sanction of authority derived from the natural rulers of a country, the device 
pf employing the magistrates and forms already established as instruments 
to introduce a new dominion, of which we are apt ft) boast as sublime refine- 
ments in policy peculiar to the present age, were inventions of a more early 
period, and had been tried with success in the West long before they were 
practised in the East. 

Cortes availed himself to the utmost of the powers which he possessed 
by being able to act in the name of Montezuma. He sent some Spaniards, 
whom he judged best qualified for such commissions, into different parts of 
the f mpire, accompanied by persons of distinction, whom Montezuma ap- 
pointed to attend them, both as guides and protectors. They visited most 
of the provinces, viewed their soil and productions, surveyed with particular 
care .the districts which yielded gold or silver, pitched upon several places- 
as proper stations for future colonies, and endeavoured to prepare the minds 
of the people for submitting to the Spanish yoke. While they were thus 
employed, Cortes, in the name and by the authority of Montezuma, de- 
graded some of the principal officers in the empire, whose abilities or inde- 
pendent spirit excited bis jealousy, and substituted in their place persons 
less capable or more obsequious. 

One thing still was wanting to complete his security. He wished to 
have such command of the lake as might ensure a retreat if, either from 
levity or disgust, the Mexicans should take arms against him, .and break 
down the bridges or causeways. This, too, his own address, ^nd the 
facility of Montezuma, enabled him to accomplish. Having frequently 
entertained his prisoner with pompous accounts of the European marine 
and art of navigation, he awakened his curiosity to see those moving 
palaces which made their way through the water without oars. Under 
pretext of gratifying this desire, Cortes persuaded Montezuma to appoint 
some of his subjects to fetch part of the naval stores which the Spaniards 
had deposited at Vera Cruz to Mexico, and to employ others in cutting 
down and preparing timber. With their assistcx.xe, the Spanish carpenters 
soon completed two brigantines, ^.hich afforded a frivolous amusement to 
the monarch, and were considered by Cortes a? a certain resource if he 
should be obliged to retire. 

Encouraged by so many instances of the monarch's tame submission to 
his will, Cortes ventured to put it to a proof still more trying. He urged 
Montezuma to acknowledge himself a vassal of the kiiig of Castile, to 
hold his crown of him as superior, and to subject his dominions to the 
payment of an annual tribute'. With this requisition, the last and most 
humbling that can be made to one possessed of sovereign authority, Mon 
tezuma was so obsequious as to comply. He called together the chief 
men of his empire, and' in .a solemn harangue, reminding them of the tra- 
ditions and prophecies which led them to expect the arrival of a people 

♦ Cortes Relat. p. 23C. E. B. Diaz, c. 97, 98, G9. 
Vol I.— 29 



2^6 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

sprung from the same stock with themselves, in order to take possess'ori 
of the supreme power, he declared his belief that the Spaniards were this 
promised race ; that therefore he recognised the right ol their monarch to 
govern the Mexican empire • that he would lay his crown at his tett, and 
obey him as a tributary. While uttering these words, Montezuma dis- 
covered how deeply he was affected in making such a sacrifice. Tears 
and groans frequently interrupted his discourse. Overawed and broken 
as his spirit was, it still retained such a sense of dignity as to feel that 
pang which pierces the heart of princes when constrained to resign inde- 
pendent power. The first mention of such a resolution struck the assembly 
dumb with astonishment. This was followed by a sudden murmur ot 
sorrow, mingled with indignation, which indicated some violent irruption 
of rage to be near at hand. This Cortes foresaw, and seasonably inter- 
posed to prevent it by declaring that his master had no intention to deprive 
Montezuma of the royal dignity, or to make any innovation upon the con- 
stitution and laws of the Mexican empire. This assurance, added to their 
dread of the Spanish power and to the authority of their monarch's example,- 
extorted a reluctant consent from the assembly [ll2]. The act of sub- 
mission and homage was executed with all the formalities which the Spa- 
niards were pleased to prescribe.* 

Montezuma, at the desire of Cortes, accompanied this profession of 
fealty and homage with a magnificent present to his new sovereign ; and 
after his example his subjects brought in very liberal contributions The 
Spaniards now collected all the treasures which had been either voluntarily 
bestowed upon them at different times by Montezuma, or had been ex- 
torted from his people under various pretexts ; and having melted tlie 
gold and silver, the value of these, without including jewels and ornaments 
of various kinds, which were preserved on account of their curious work- 
manship, amounted to six hundred thousand pesos. The soldiers were 
impatient to have it divided, and Cortes complied with their desire. A 
fifth of the whole was first set apart as the tax due to the king. Another 
fifth was allotted to Cortes as commander in chief. The sums advanced 
by Velasquez, by Cortes, and by some of the officers, towards defraying 
the expense of fitting out the armament, were then deducted. The re- 
mainder was divided among the army, including the garrison of Vera 
Cruz, in proportion to their different ranks. After so many defalcations, 
the share of a private man did not exceed a hundred pesos. This sum 
fell so far below their sanguine expectations, that some soldiers rejected it 
with scorn, and others murmured so loudly at this cruel disappointment of 
their hopes, that it required all the address of Cortes, and no small ex- 
ertion of^ his liberality, to appease them. The complaints of the army 
were not altogether destitute of foundation. As the crown had contributed 
nothing towards the equipment or success of the armament, it was not 
without regret that the soldiers 'ueheld it sweep away so great a proportion 
of the treasure purchased by their blood and toil. What fell to the share 
of the general appeared, according to the ideas of wealth in the sixteenth 
century, an enormous sum. Some of Cortes's favourites had secretly 
appropriated to their own use several ornaments of gold, which neither 
paid the royal fifth, nor were brought into account as part of the common 
stock. It was, however, so manifestly the interest of Cortes at this period 
to make a large remittance to the King, that it is highly probable those 
concealments were not of great consequence. 

The total sum amassed by the Spaniards bears no proportion to the 
ideas which might be formed, either by reflecting on the descriptions given 
by historians of the ancient splendour of Mexico, or by considering the 
productions of its mines in modern times. But among the ancient Mexi- 

• Cortes Relat. 238. D. B. Diaz, c. 101. Gomara Cron. c. C2. Herrera, dec. 2, lib. i. c. 4 



AMERICA. 227 

cans, g^old and silver were not the standards by which the worth of other 
commodities was estimated ; and destitute of the artificial value derived 
from this circumstance, were no further in request than as they furnished 
materials for ornaments and trinkets. These were either consecrated to 
the gods in their temples, or were worn as marks of distinction by their 
princes and some of their most eminent chiefs. As the consumption of the 
precious metals was inconsiderable, the demand for them was not such as 

put either the mg^enuity or industry of the Mexicans on the stretch in 
order to augment tKeir store. They were altogether unacquainted with 
the art of working the rich mines with which their country abounded. 
What gold they had was gathered in the beds of rivers, native, and ripened 
into a pure metallic state.* The utmost effort of their labour in search of 
it was to wash the earth carried down by torrents from the mountains, and 
to pick out the grains of gold which subsided ; and even this simple ope- 
ration, according to the report of the persons whom Cortes appointed to 
survey the provinces where there was a prospect of finding mines, they 
performed very unskilfully.! From all those causes, the whole mass of 
gold in possession of the Mexicans was not great. As silver is rarely found 
pure, and the Mexican art was too rude to conduct the process for refining 
it in a proper manner, the quantity of this metal was still less considerable.^ 
Thus, though the Spaniards had exerted all the power which they pos- 
sessed in Mexico, and often with indecent rapacity, in order to gratify their 
predominant passion, and though Montezuma had fondly exhausted his 
treasures, in hopes of satiating their thirst for gold, the product of both, 
which probably included a great pait of the bullion in the empire, did 
not rise in value above what has been mentioned [113]. 

But however pliant Montezuma miuht be in other matters, with respect 
to one point he was inflexible. Though Cortes often urged him, with the 
importunate zeal of a missionary, to renounce his false gods, and to em- 
brace the Christian faith, he always rejected the proposftion with horror. 
Superstition, among the Mexicans, was formed into such a regular and 
complete system, that its institutions naturally took fast hold of the mind ; 
and while the rude tribes in other paits of America were easily induced 
to relinquish a few notions and rites, so loose and arbitrary as hardly to 
merit the name of a public religion, the Mexicans adhered tenaciously to 
their mode of worship, which, however barbaro'is, was accompanied with 
such order and solemnity as to render it an object of the highest venera- 
tion. Cortes, finding all his attempts ineffectual to shake the constancy of 
Montezuma, was so much enraged at his obstinacy, that in a transport of 
zeal he led out his soldiers to throw down the idols in the grand temple 
by force. But the priests taking arms in defence of their altars, and the 
people crowding with great ardour to support them, Cortes's prudence 
overruled his zeal, and induced him to desist from his rash attempt, after 
dislodging the idols from one of the shrines, and placing in their stead an 
image of the Virgin Mary [114]. 

From that moment the Mexicans, who had permitted the imprisonment 
of their sovereign, and suffered the exactions of strangers without a 
struggle, began to meditate how they might expel or destroy the Spaniards, 
and tnoughl themselves called upon to avenge their insulted deities. The 
priests and leading men held frequent consultations with Montezurr:a for 
this purpose. But as it might prove fatal to the captive monarch *o 
attempt either the one or the other by violence, he was willing to try more 
gentle means. Having called Cortes into his presence, he observed, that 
now, as all the purposes of his embassy were fully accomplished, the gods 
had declared their will, and the people signified their desire, that he and 
his followers should instantly depart out of the empire. With this he re- 

* Cortes Relat. p. S'Se. F. B Diaz, r. 102, 103. Gomara Cron c. 00. t B. Diaz, c. 103. 

1 Ilerrera, dec. 2. lib»ix. c. 4. 



228 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

quired them to comply, or unavoidable destruction would fall suddenly on 
their heads. The tenour of this unexpected requisition, as well as the 
determined tone in which it was uttered, left Cortes no room to doubt, that 
it was the result of some deep scheme concerted between Montezuma and 
his subjects. He quickly perceived that he might derive more advantage 
from a seeming compliance with the monarch's inclinations, than from an 
ill-timed attempt to change or to oppose it ; and replied, with great com- 
posure, that he had already begun to prepare for returning to his own 
country; but as he had destroyed the vessels in which he arrived, some 
time was requisite for building other ships. This appeared reasonable. 
A number of Mexicans were sent to Vera Cruz to cut down timber, and. 
some Spanish carpenters were appointed to superintend the -vork. Cortes 
flattered himself that during this interval he might either find means to 
avert the threatened danger, or receive such reinforcements as would 
enable him to despise it. 

Almost nine months were elapsed since Portocarrero and Montejo had 
sailed with his despatches to Spain ; and he daily expected <heir letum 
with a confirmation of his authority from the King. Without this, his con- 
dition was insecure and precarious ; and after all the great things which 
he had done, it might be his doom to bear the name and suffer the punish- 
ment of a traitor. Rapid and extensive as his progress had been, he could 
not hope to complete the reduction of a great empire with so small a body 
of men, which by this time diseases of various kinds considerably thinned; 
nor could he apply for recruits to the Spanish settlements in the islands, 
until he received the royal approbation of his proceedings. 

While he remained in this cruel situation, anxious about what was past, 
uncertain with respect to the future, and, by the late declaration of Monte- 
zuma, oppressed with a new addition of cares, a Mexican courier arrived 
with an account of some ships having appeared on the coast. Cortes, with 
fond credulity, imagining that his messengers were returned from Spain, and 
that the completion of all his wishes and hopes was at hand, imparted the 
glad tidings to his companions, who received them with transports of mutual 
gratulation. Their joy was not of long continuance. A courier from 
Sandoval, whom Cortes had appointed to succeed Escalantc in command 
at Vera Cruz, brought certain information that the armament was fitted 
out by Velasquez, governor of Cuba, and, instead of bringing the aid 
which they expected, threatened them with immediate destruction. 

The motives which prompted Velasqtpz to this violent measure are 
obvious. From the circumstances of Cortes' departure, it was impossible 
not to suspect his intention of throwing off all dependence upon him. 
His neglecting to transmit any account of his operations to Cuba, 
strengthened this suspicion, which was at last confirmed beyond doubt by 
the indiscretion of the officers whom Cortes sent to Spain. , They, from 
some motive which is not clearly explained by the contemponry historians, 
touched at the island of Cuba, contrary to the peremptory orders of their 
general.* By this means Velasquez not only learned that Cortes and his 
followers, after formally reno-mcing all connection with him, had esta- 
blished an independent colony in New Spain, and were soliciting the King 
to confirm their proceedings by his authority; but he obtained particular 
information concerning the opu'ence of the country, the valuable presents 
which Cortes had received, and the inviting prospects of success that 
opened to his view. Ever) passion which can agitate an ambitious mind ; 
shame, at having been so grossly overreached ; indignation, at being 
betrayed by the man whom he had selected as the object of his favour 
and confidence; grief,' for having wasted his fortune to aggrandize an 
enemy ; and despair of recovering so fair an opportunity of establishing 

* B. Diaz, c. 54, 55. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. v. c. 14 Gomara Cron. c. 96. 



AMERICA. 229 

his fame and extending his power, now raged in the bosom ol" Velasquez. 
All these, with united force, excited him to make an extraordinary effort 
in order to be avenged on the author of his wrongs, and to wrest from him 
his usurped authority and conquests. Nor did he want the appearance of 
a good title to justify such an attempt. The agent whom he sent to Spain 
with an account of Grijalva's voyage, had met with a most favourable 
reception ; and from the specimens which he produced, such high expec 
tations were formed concerning the opulence of New Spain, that Velasque'. 
was authorized to prosecute the discovery of the country, and appointee 
governor of it during life, with more extensive power and privileges thac 
Bad been granted to any adventurer from the time of Columbus.* Elated 
by this distinguishing mark of favour, and warranted to consider Cortes 
not only as intruding upon his jurisdiction, but as disobedient to the roya' 
mandate, he determined to vindicate his own rights, and the honour of 
his sovereign by force of arms [ll5]. His ardour in carrying on his pre- 
parations was such as might have been expected from the violence of the 
passions with which he was animated ; and in a short time an armament was 
completed, consisting of eighteen ships which had on board fourscore 
horsemen, eight hundred foot soldiers, of which eighty were musketeers, 
and a hundred and twenty cross-bow men, together with a train of twelve 
pieces of cannon. As Velasquez's experience of the fatal consequence of 
committing to another what he ought to have executed himself, had not 
rendered him more enterprising, he vested the command of this ibrmi- 
dable body, which, in the infancy of the Spanish power in America, merits 
the appellation of an army, in ramphilo de Narvaez, with- instructions tc 
seize Cortes and his principal officers, to send them prisoners to him, and 
then to complete the discovery and conquest of the country in his name. 

After a prosperous voyage, Narvaez landed his men without opposition 
near St. Juan de Ulua [April]. Three soldiers, whom Cortes had sent 
to search for mines in that district, immediately joined him. By this 
accidfent he not only received information concerning the progress and 
situation of Cortes, but, as these soldiers had made some progress in the 
knowledge of the Mexican language, he acquired interpreters, by whose 
means he was enabled to hold some intercourse with the people of the 
country. But, according to the low cunning of deserters, they framed their 
intelligence with more attentiojkto what they thought would be agreeable 
than to what they knew to be tXe ; and represented the situation of Cortes 
to be so desperate, and the disaffection of his followers to be so general, 
as increased the natural confidence and presumption of Narvaez. His 
first operation, however, might have taught him not to rely on their partial 
accounts. Having sent to summon the governor of Vera Cruz to sur- 
render, Guevara, a priest whom he employed in that service, made the 
requisition with such insolence, that Sandoval, an officer of high spirit, 
and zealously attached to Cortes, instead of complying with his demands, 
seized him and his attendants, and sent them in chains to Mexico. 

Cortes received them not like enemies, but as friends, and, condemning 
the severity of Sandoval, set them immediately at liberty. By this well 
timed clemency, seconded by caresses and presents, he gained their con- 
fidence, and drew from them such particulars concerning the force and 
intentions of Narvaez, as gave him a view of the impending danger in its 
full extent. He had not to contend now with half naked Indians, no match 
for him in war, and still more inferior in the arts of policy, but to take the 
field against an army in courage and martial discipline equal to his own. 
in number far superior, acting under the sanction of royal authority, and 
commanded by an officer of known bravery. He was informed that 
Narvaez, more solicitous to. gratify the resentment of Velasquez thaa 

* Herrera, dec 2 lib. iii. c lU 



230 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

attentive to the honour or interest of his country, had begun his intercourse 
with the natives, by representing him and his followers as fugitives and 
outlaws, guilty of rebellion against their own sovereign, and of injustice in 
invading the Mexican empire ; and had declared that his chief object in 
visiting the country was to punish the Spaniards who had committed these 
crimes, and to rescue the Mexicans from oppression. He soon perceived 
that the same unfavourable representations of his character and actions had 
been conveyed to Montezuma, and that Narvaez had found means to assure 
him, that as the conduct of those who kept him under restraint was hiuhly 
displeasing to the King his master, he had it in charge not only to rescue 
an injured monarch from confinement, but to reinstate him in the possession 
of his ancient power and independence. Animated with this prospect of 
being set ^ree from subjection to strangers, the Mexicans in several provinces 
began openly to revolt from Cortes, and to regard Narvaez as a deliverer 
no less able than willing to save them. Montezuma himself kept up a 
secret intercourse with the new commander, and seemed to court him as 
a person superior in power and dignity to those Spaniards whom he had 
hitherto revered as the first of men [116]. 

Such were the various aspects of danger and difficulty which presented 
themselves to the view of Cortes. No situation can be conceived more 
trying to the capacity and firmness of a general, or where the choice of the 
plan which ought to be adopted was more difficult. If he should wait the 
approach of Narvaez in Mexico, destruction seemed to be unavoidable ; 
for, while the Spaniards pressed him from without, the inhabitants, whose 
turbulent spirit he could hardly restrain with all his authority and attention, 
would eagerly lay hold on such a favourable opportunity of avenging alj 
their wrongs. Ii he should abandon the capital, set the captive monarch 
at liberty, and march out to meet the enemy, he must at once forego the 
fruits of all his toils and victories, and relinquish advantages which could 
not be recovered without extraordinary efforts and infinite danger. If, 
instead of emplojMiig force, he should have recourse to conciliating 
measures, and attempt an accommodation with Narvaez ; the natural 
haughtiness of that officer, augmented by consciousness of his present 
superiority, forbade him to cherish any sanguine hope of success. After 
revolving every scheme with deep attention, Cortes fixed upon that which 
in execution was most hazardous, but, if successful, would prove most 
beneficial to himself and tj his country ; and with the decisive intrepidity 
suited to desperate situations, determined to make one bold effort for victory 
under every disadvantage, rather than sacrifice his own conquests and the 
Spanish interests in Mexico. 

But though he foresaw that the contest must be temainated finally by 
arms, it would have been not only indecent but criminal to have marched 
against his countrymen, without attempting to adjust matters by an amicable 
negotiation, in this service he employed Olmedo, his chaplain, to whose 
character the function was well suited, and who possessed, besides, such 
prudence and address as qualified him to carry on the secret intrigues in 
which Cortes placed his chief confidence. Narvaez rejected with scorn 
every- scheme of accommodation that Olmedo proposed, and was with 
difficulty restrained from laying violent hands on him and his attendants. 
He met, however, with a more favourable reception among the followers of 
Narvaez, to many of whom he delivered letters, either from Cortes or his 
officers, their ancient friends and companions. Cortes artfully accompanied 
these with presents of rings, chains of gold, and other trinkets of value, 
which inspired (hose neoidy adventurers with high ideas of the wealth 
that he had acquired, and with envy of their good fortune who were 
engaged in his service. Some, from hopes of becoming sharers in those 
rich spoils, declared for an immediate accommodation with Cortes. Others, 
from public spirit, lab' ured to prevent a civil war, which, whatever party 



AMERICA. 231 

should prevail, must shake, and perhaps subvert the Spanish power in a 
country where it was so imperfectly established. Narvaez disregarded 
both, and by a public proclamation denounced Cortes and his adherents 
rebels and enemies to their country. Cortes, it is probable, was not much 
surprised at the untractable arrogance of Narvaez ; and after having given 
such a proof of his own pacific disposition as might justify his recourse to 
other means, he determined to advance towards an enemy whom he hac" 
laboured in vain to appease. 

He left a hundred and fifty men in the capital [May], under the com- 
mand of Pedro de Alvarado, an officer of distinguished courage, for whom 
the Mexicans had conceived a singular degree of respect. To the custody 
of this slender garrison he committed a great city, with all the wealth he 
had amassed, and, what was of still greater importance, the person of the 
imprisoned monarch. His utmost art was employed in concealing from 
Montezuma the real cause of his march. He laboured to persuade him, that 
the strangers who had lately arrived were his friends and fellow-subjects ; 
and that, after a short interview with them, they would depart together, and 
return to their own country. The captive prince, unable to comprehend 
the designs of the Spaniard, or to reconcile what he now heard with the 
declarations of Narvaez.^ and afraid to discover any s;^mptom of suspicion or 
distrust of Cortes, promised to remain quietly in the Spanish quarters, and to 
cultivate the same friendship with Alvarado which he had uniformly main- 
tained with him Curtes, with seeming confidence in this promise, but 
relying principally upon the injunctions which he had given Alvarado to 
guard his prisoner with the m.ost scrupulous vigilance, set out from Mexico. 

His strength, even ai'ter it was reinforced by the junction of Sandoval and 
the garrison of Vera Cruz, did not exceed two hundred and fifty men. As 
he hoped for success chielly from the rapidity of his motions, his troops 
were not encumbered either with baggage or artillery. But as he dreaded 
extremely the impression which the enemy might make with their cavalry, 
he had provided against this danger with the foresight and sagacity which 
distinguish a great commander. Having observed that the Indians in the 
province of Chinantla used spears of extraordinary length and force, he 
armed his soldiers with these, and accustomed them to that deep and com- 
pact arrangement which the use of this formidable weapon, the best per- 
haps that was ever invented for defence, enabled them to assume. 

With this small but firm battalion, Cortes advanced towards Zempoalla, 
of which Narvaez had taken possession. During his march, he m.ade 
repeated attempts towards some accommodation with his opponent. But 
Narvaez requiring that Cortes and his followers should instantly recognise 
his title to be governor of New Spain, in virtue of the powers which he 
derived from Velasquez ; and Cortes refusing to submit to any authority 
which was not founded on a commission from the Emperor himself, under 
whose immediate protection he and his adherents had placed their infant 
colony ; all these attempts proved fruitless. The intercourse, however, 
whicli tills occasioned between the two parties, proved of no small advan- 
tage to Cortes, as it afforded him an opportunity of gaining some of Nai- 
vaez's officers by liberal presents, of softening others by a semblance cf 
moderation, and of dazzling all by the appearance of wealth among hi3 
troops, most of his soldiers having converted their share of the Mexican gold 
into chains, bracelets, and other ornaments, which they displayed v, ih 
military ostentation. Narvaez and a little junto of his creatures excepted, 
all the army leaned towards an accommodation with their countrymea 
This discovery of their inclination irritated his violent temper almost to 
madness. In a transport of rage, he set a price upon the head of Cortes, 
and of his principal officers ; and having learned that he was now advanced 
within a league of Zempoalla with bis small body of men, he considered 



232 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

this as an insult which merited immediate chastisement, and marched out 
with all his troops to offer him battle. 

But Cortes was a leader of greater abilities and experience than, on equal 
ground, to fieht an enemy so far superior In number, and so much better 
appointed. Having- taken his station on the opposite bank of the river de 
Canoas, where he knew that he could not be attacked, he beheld the ap- 

fToach of the enemy without concern, and disregarded this vain bravade. 
t was then the beginning of the wet season,* and the rain had poured down, 
during a great part of the day, with a violence peculiar to the torrid zone. 
The lollovvers of Narvaez, unaccustomed to the hardships of military service, 
murmured so much at being thus fruitlessly exposed, that, from their unsol- 
dierlike impatience, as well as his own contempt of his adversary, their 
general permitted them to retire to Zempoalla. The veiy circumstance 
which induced them to quit the field, encouraged Cortes to form a scheme 
by which he hoped at once to terminate the war. He observed that his 
hardy veterans, though standing under the torrents which continued to fall, 
without a single tent oj any shelter whatsoever to cover them, were so far 
from repining at hardships which were become familiar to them, that they 
were still fresh and alert for service. He foresaw that the enemy would 
naturally give themselves up to repose after their fatigue, and that, judging 
of the conduct of others by their own effeminacy, they would deem them- 
selves perfectly secure at a season so unfit for action. He resolved, there- 
fore, to fall upon them in the dead of night, when the surprise and terror of 
this unexpected attack might more than compensate the inferiority of his 
numbers. His soldiers, sensible that no resource remained but in some des- 
perate effort of courage, approved of the measuie with such warmth, that 
Cortes, in a military oration which he addressed to them before they began 
their march, was more solicitous to temper than to inflame their ardour. 
He divided them into three parties. At the head of the first he placed 
Sandoval ; intrusting this gallant officer with the most dangerous and impor- 
tant service, that of seizing the enemy's artillery, which was planted before 
the principal tower of the temple where Narvaez had fixed his head-quar- 
ters. Christoval de Olid commanded the second, with orders to assault 
the tower, and lay hold on the general. Cortes himself conducted the third 
and smallest division, which was to act as a body of reserve, and to support 
the other two as there should be occasion. Having passed the river de 
Canoas, which was much swelled with the rains, not without difhculty, the 
water reaching almost to their chins, they advanced in profound silence, 
without beat of drum, or sound of any warlike instrument ; each man 
armed with his sword, his dagger, and his Chinantlan spear. Narvaez, 
remiss in proportion to his security, had posted only two sentinels to watch 
the motions of an enemy whom he had such good cause to dread. One of 
these was seized by the advanced guard of Cortes's troops ; the other 
made his escape, and, hurrying to the town with all the precipitation of fear 
and zeal, gave such timely notice of the enemy's approach, that there was 
full leisure to have prepared for their reception. But, through the arro- 
gance and infatuation of Narvaez, this important interval was lost. He 
nnputed this alarm to the cowardice of the sentinel, and treated with 
derision the idea of being attacked by forces so unequal to his own. The 
shouts of Cortes's soldiers, rushing on to the assault, convinced him at last 
that the danger which he despised was real. The rapidity with which 
they advanced was such that only one cannon could be fired before Sando- 
val s party closed with the enemy, drove them from their guns, and began 
to force their way up the steps of the tower. Narvaez, no less brave in 
action than presumptuous in conduct, armed himself in haste, and by his 

• Hakluyt, vol. iii. 467. De Laet Descr. Ind. Occid. 221. 



AMERICA. 233 

voice and example animated his men to the combat. Olid advanced to 
sustain his companions ; and Cortes himself rushing to the front, conducted 
and added new vigour to the attack. The compact order in which this 
small body pressed on, and the impenetrable front which they presented 
with their long spears, bore down all opposition before it. They had now 
reached the gate, and were struggling to burst it open, when a soldier 
having set fire to the reeds with which the tower was covered, compelled 
Narvaez to sally out. In the first encounter he was wounded in the eye 
with the spear, and, falling to the ground, was dragged down the steps, and 
in a moment clapped in letters. The cry of victory resounded among the 
troops of Cortes. Those who had sallied out with their leader now main- 
tained the conflict feebly, and began to surrender. Among the remainder 
of his soldiers, stationed in two smaller towers of the temple, terror and 
confusion prevailed. The darkness was so great, that they could not dis- 
tinguish between their friends and foes. Their own artillery was pointed 
against them. Wherever they turned their eyes, they beheld lights gleam- 
ing through the obscurity of the night, which, though proceeding only from 
a variety of shining insects that abound in moist and sultry climates, their 
affrighted imaginations represented as numerous bands of musketeers ad- 
vancing with kindled matches to the attack. After ashort resistance, the 
soldiers compelled their officers to capitulate, and before morning all laid 
down their arms, and submitted quietly to their conquerors. 

This complete victory proved more acceptable, as it was gained almost 
without bloodshed, only two soldiers being killed on the side of Cortes, and 
two officers, with fifteen private men of the adverse faction. Cortes treated 
the vanquished not like enemies, but as countrymen and friends, and offered 
either to send them back directly to Cuba, or to take them into his service, 
as partners in his fortune, on equal terms with his own soldiers. This 
latter proposition, seconded by a seasonable distribution of some presents 
from Cortes, and liberal promises of more, opened prospects so agreeable to 
the romantic expectations which had invited them to engage in this service, 
that all, a few partisans of Narvaez excepted, closed with it, and vied with 
each other in professions of fidelity find attachment to a general, whose 
recent success had givei them such a striking proof of his abilities for com- 
mand. Thus, by a series of events no less fortunate than uncommon, Cortes 
not only escaped from perdition which seemed inevitable, but, when he 
had least reason to expect it, was placed at the head of a thousand 
Spaniards, ready to follow wherever he should lead them. Whoever 
reflects upon the facility with which this victory was obtained, or considers 
with what sudden and unanimous transition the followers of Narvaez ranged 
themselves under the standard of his rival, will be apt to ascribe both 
events as much to the intrigues as to the arms of Cortes, and cannot but 
suspect that the ruin of Narvaez was occasioned no less by the treachery 
of his own followers, than by the valour of the enemy.* 

But in one point the prudent conduct and good fortune of Cortes were 
equally conspicuous. It", by the rapidity of his operations after he began 
his march, he had not brought matters to such a speedy issue, even this 
decisive victory would have come too late to have saved his companions 
whom he left m Mexico. A few days after the discomfiture of Narvaez, 
a courier arrived with an account that the Mexicans had taken arms, and, 
having seized and destroyed the two brigantines which Cortes had built 
in order to secure the command of the lake, and attacked the Spaniards 
in their quarters, had killed several of them, and wounded more, had 
reduced to ashes their magazine of provisions, and carried on hostilities 
with such fury, that thougn Alvarado and his men defended themselves 

•CorteaEelat. 242. D. B. Diaz, c. 110— 125 Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ix. c. 18, &c. Goniaxa Crou.. 
c. 97, &c 

Vol. I.— 30 19 



534 HISTORYOF [Book V. 

with undaunted resolution, they must either be soon cut off by famine, or 
sink under the multitude of their enemies. This revolt was excited by 
motives which rendered it still more alarming;. On the departure of 
Cortes for Zempoalla, the Mexicans flattered themselves that the lon^- 
expected opportunity of restoring their sovereign to liberty, and of vindi- 
cating their country from the odious dominion of strangers, was at length 
arrived ; that while the forces of their oppressors were divided, and the 
arms of one party turned against the other, they might triumph with 
greater facility over both. Consultations were held, and schemes formed 
with this intention. The Spaniards in Mexico, conscious of their own 
feebleness, suspected and dreaded those machinations. Alvarado, though 
a gallant officer, possessed neither that extent of capacity nor dignity of 
manners, by which Cortes had acquired such an ascendant over the minds 
of the Mexicans, as never allowed them to form a just estimate of his 
weakness or of their own strength. Alvarado knew no mode of supporting 
his authority but force. Instead of employing address to disconcert the 
plans or to soothe the spirits of the Mexicans, he waited the return of 
one of their solemn festivals. When the principal persons in the empire 
were dancing, according to custom, in the court of the great temple, he 
seized all the avenues which led to it ; and allured partly by the rich 
ornaments which they wore in honour of their gods, and partly by the 
facility of cutting otf at once tlie authors of that conspiracy which he 
dreaded, he fell upon them, unarmed and unsuspicious of any danger, and 
massacred a great number, none escaping but such as made their way over 
the battlements of the temple. An action so cruel and treacherous filled 
not only the city, but the whole empire with indignation and rage. All 
called aloud for vengeance ; and regardless of the safety of their monarch, 
whose life was at the mercy of the Spaniards, or of their own danger in 
assaulting an enemy who had been so long the object of their terror, they 
committed all those acts of violence of which Cortes received an account. 

To him the danger appeared so imminent as to admit neither of de- 
liberation nor delay. He set out instantly with all his forces, and returned 
from Zempoalla with no less rapidity than he had advanced thither. At 
Tiascala he was joined by two thousand chosen warriors. On entering 
the Mexican territories, he found that disaffection to the Spaniards was 
not confined to the capital. The principal inhabitants had deserted the 
towns through which he passed ; no person of note appearing to meet him 
with the usual respect ; no provision was made tor the subsistence of his 
troops ; and though he was permitted to advance without opposition, the 
solitude and silence which reigned in every place, and the horror with 
which the people avoided all intercourse with him, discovered a deep- 
rooted antipathy that excited the most just alarm. But implacable as the 
enmity of the Mexicans was, they were so unacquainted with the science 
of war, that they knew not how to take the proper measures either for their 
own safety or the destruction of the Spaniards. Uninstructed by their 
former error in admitting a tormidable enemy into their capital, instead of 
breaking down the causeways and bridges, by which they might have 
enclosed Alvarado and his party, and hav-e effectually stopped the career 
of Cortes, they again suffered him to march into the city [June 24] without 
molestation, and to take quiet possession of his ancient station. 

The transports of joy with which Alvarado and his soldiers received 
Iheir companions cannot be expressed. Botii parlies were so much elated, 
the one with their seasonable deliverance, and the other with the great 
exploits winch the>' had achieved, that this intoxication of success seems 
to have reached Cortes himself; and he behaved on this occasion neither 
with his usual sagacity nor attention. He not only neglected to visit 
Montezuma, but embittered the insult by expressions full of contempt for 
that unfortunate prince and his people. The forces of which he had now 



AMERICA. 235 

the command appeared to him so irresistible that be might assume a 
higher tone, and lay aside the mask of moderation under which he bad 
hitherto concealed his designs. Some Mexicans, who understood the 
Spanish language, heard the contemptuous words which Cortes uttered, 
and, reporting them to their countrymen, kindled their rage anew. They 
were now convinced that the intentions of the general were equally bloody 
with those of Alvarado, and that his original purpose in visitmg their 
country had not been, as he pretended, to court the alliance of their 
sovereign, but to attempt the conquest of his dominions. They resumed 
their arms with the additional fury which this discovery inspired, attacked 
a considerable body of Spaniards who were inarching towards the great 
square in which the public market was held, and compelled them to retire 
with some loss. Emboldened by this success, and delighted to find that 
their oppressors were not invincible, they advanced the next day with extra- 
ordinary martial pomp to assault the Spaniards in their quarters. Their 
number was formidable, and their undaunted courage still more so. Though 
the artillery pointed against their numerous battalions, crowded together 
in narrow streets, swept off multitudes at every discharge ; though ever>' 
blow of the Spanish weapons fell with mortal effect upon their naked 
bodies, the impetuosity of the assault did not abate. Fresh men rushed 
forward to occupy the places of the slain, and, meeting with the same 
fate, wei'e succeeded by others no less intrepid and eager for vengeance 
The utmost efforts of Cortes's abilities and experience, seconded by the 
disciplined valour of his troops, were hardly sufficient to defend the forti- 
fications that surrounded the post where the Spaniards were stationed, into 
which the enemy were more than once on the point of forcing their way. 

Cortes beheld with wonder the implacable ferocity of a people who 
seemed at first to submit tamely to the yoke, and had continued so long 
passive under it. The soldiers of Narvaez, who fondly imagined that 
they followed Cortes to share in the spoils of a conquered empire, were 
astonished to find that they were involved in a dangerous war with an 
enemy whose vigour was still unbroken, and loudly execrated their own 
weakness in giving such easy credit to the delusive promises of their new 
leader.* But surprise and complaints were of no avail. Some immediate and 
extraordinary efibrt was requisite to extricate themselves out of their present 
situation. As soon as the approach of evening induced the Mexicans to 
retire in compliance with their national custom of ceasing from hostilities 
with the setting sun, Cortes began to prepare for a sally, next day, with 
such a considerable force as might either drive the enemy out of the city, 
or compel them to listen to terms of accommodation. 

He conducted in person the troops destined for this important service. 
Every invention known in the European art of war, as well as every pre- 
caution suggested by his long acquaintance with the Indian mode of fight- 
ing were employed to ensure success. But he found an enemy prepared 
and determined to oppose him. The force of the Mexicans was greatly 
augmented by fresh troops, which poured in continually from the country, 
and their animosity was in no degree abated. They were led by their 
nobles, inflamed by the exhortations of their priests, and fought in defence 
of their temples and families, under the eye of their gods, and in presence of 
their wives and children. Notwithstanding their numbers, and enthusiastic 
contempt of danger and death, wherever the Spaniards could close with 
tbem, the superiority of their discipline and arms obliged the Mexicans lo 
give way. But in narrow streets, and where many of the bridges of com- 
munication were broken down, the Spaniards could seldom come to a fair 
rencounter with the enemy, and, as they advanced, were exposed to 
ibowers of arrows and stones from the tops of houses. After a day of 

• B. Diaz, c. xam 



S36 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

incessant exertion, though vast numbers of the Mexicans fell, and part of 
the city was burnt, the Spaniards weary with the slaughter, and harassed 
by multitudes which successively relieved each other, were obliged at 
length to retire, with the mortification of having accomplished nothing so 
decisive as to compensate the unusual calamity of having twelve soldiers 
killed, and above sixty wounded. Another sally, made with greater force, 
was not more eflfectual, and in it the general himself was wounded in the 
hand. 

Cortes now perceived, too late, the fatal error into which he had been 
betrayed by his own contempt of the Mexicans, and was satisfied that he 
could neither maintain his present station in the centre of a hostile city, 
nor retire from it without the most imminent danger. One resource still 
remained, to try what effect the interposition of Montezuma might have 
to soothe or overawe his subjects. When the Mexicans approached next 
morning to renew the assault, that unfortunate prince, at the mercy of the 
Spaniards, and reduced to the sad necessity of becoming the instrument of 
his own disgrace, and of the slavery of his people [117], advanced to the 
battlements in his royal robes, and with all the pomp in which he used to 
appear on solemn occasions. At sight of their sovereign, whom they had 
long been accustomed to honour, and almost to revere as a god, the weapons 
dropped from their hands, every tongue was silent, all bowed theh heads, 
and many prostrated themselves on the ground. Montezuma addressed 
them with every argument that could mitigate their rage, or persuade them 
to cease from hostilities. When he ended his discourse, a sullen murmur 
of disapprobation ran through the ranks ; to this succeeded reproaches and 
threats ; and the fury of the multitude rising in a moment above every 
restraint of decency or respect, flights of arrows and vollej-s of stones 
poured in so violently upon the ramparts, that before the Spanish soldiers, 
appointed to cover Montezuma with their bucklers, had time to lift them 
in his defence, two arrows wounded the unhappy monarch, and the blow 
of a stone on his temple struck him to the ground. On seeing him fall, the 
Mexicans were so much astonished, that with a transition not uncommon 
in popular tumults, they passed in a moment from one extreme to the other, 
remorse succeeded to insult, and they fled with horror, as if the vengeance 
of heaven were pursuing the crime which they committed. The Spaniards 
without molestation carried Montezuma to his apartments, and Cortes hast- 
ened thither to console him under his misfortune. But the unhappy 
monarch now perceived how low he was sunk ; and the haughty spirit 
which seemed to have been so long extinct, returning, he scorned to.survive 
this last humiliation, and to protract an ignominious life, not only as the 
prisoner and tool of his enemies, but as the object of contempt or detesta- 
tion among his subjects. In a transport of rage he tore the bandages from 
his wounds, and refused, with such obstinacy, to take any nourisiiment, that 
he soon ended his wretched days, rejecting with disdain all the solicitations 
of the Spaniards to embrace the Christian faith. 

Upon the death of Montezuma, Cortes, having lost all hope of bringing 
the Mexicans to an accommodation, saw no prospect of safely but in at- 
tempting a retreat, and began to prepare for it. But a sudden motion ot 
the Mexicans engaged him in new conflicts. They took possession of a 
high tower in the great temple which overlooked the Spanish quarters, 
and placing there a garrison of their principal warriors, not a Spaniard 
could stir without being exposed to their missile weapons. From this post 
it was necessary to dislodge them at any risk ; and Juan de Escobar, with 
a numerous detachment of chosen soldiers, was ordered to make (he attack. 
But Escobar, though a gallant officer, and at the head of troops accustomed 
to conquer, and who now fought under the eyes of their countrymen, was 
thrice repulsed. Cortes, sensible that not only the reputation but the safety 



AMERICA. 237 

of his army depended on the success of this assault, ordered a buckler to 
be tied to his arm, as he could not manage it with his wounded hand, and 
rushed with his drawn sword into the thickest of the combatants. Encou- 
raged by the presence of their general, the Spaniards returned to the charge 
with such vigour, that they gradually forced their way up the steps, and 
drove the Mexicans to the platform at the top of the tower. There a 
dreadful carnage began ; when two young Mexicans of high rank, observing 
Cortes as he animated his soldiers by his voice and example, resolved to 
sacrifice their own lives in order to cut off the author of ail the calamities 
which desolated their country. They approached him in a suppliant pos- 
ture, as if they had intended to lay down their arms, and seizing him in a 
moment, hurried him towards the battlements, over which they threw 
themselves headlong, in hopes of dragging him along to be dashed in pieces 
by the same fall. But Cortes, by his strength and agility, broke loose from 
their grasp, and the gallant youtlis perished in this generous though unsuc- 
cessful attempt to save their country.* As soon as the Spaniards became 
masters of the tower, they set fire to it, and, without farther molestation, 
continued the preparations for their retreat. 

This became the more necessary, as the Mexicans were so much asto- 
nished at the last effort of the Spanish valour, that they began to change 
their whole system of hostility, and, instead of incessant attacks, endea- 
voured, by barricading the streets and breaking down the causeways, to 
cut off the communication of the Spaniards with the continent, and thus to 
starve an enemy whom they could not subdue. The first point to be de- 
termined by Cortes and his Ibllowers, was, whether they should march out 
openly in the face of day, when they could discern every danger, and see 
how to regulate their own motions, as well as how to resist the assaults of 
the enemy; or, whether they should endeavour to retire secretly in the 
night ? The latter was preferred, partly from hopes that their national 
superstition would restrain the Mexicans from venturing to attack them in 
the night, and partl}"^ from their own fond belief in the predictions of a 

Erivate soldier, who having acquired universal credit by a smattering of 
jarning, and his pretensions to astrology, boldly assured his countrymen of 
success, if they made their retreat in this manner. They began to move, 
towards midnight, in three divisions. Sandoval led the van ; Pedro Alva- 
rado and Velasquez de Leon had the conduct of the rear ; and Cortes com 
manded in the centre, where he placed the prisoners, among whom were 
a son and two daughters of Montezuma, together with several Mexicans of 
distinction, the artillery, the baggage, and a portable bridge of timber in- 
tended to be bid over the breaches in the causeway. They marched in 
profound silence along the causeway which led to Tacuba, liecau^^, it was 
shorter than any of the re'^t, and, lying most remote from the road towards 
Tlascala and the sea-ooast, had been left more entire by the Mexicans. 
They reached the first breach in it without molestation, hoping that their 
retreat was undiscovered. 

Put the Mexicans, unperceived, had not only wa! hed all their motions 
"With attention, but had made proper dispositions for a most formidable 
attack. While the Spaniards were intent upon placing their bridge in the 
breach, and occupied in conducting their horses and arlillerv along it, they 
were suddenly alarmed with a tremendous sound of warlike instruments, 
and a general shout <rom an innumerable multitude of enemies ; the lake 
was covered with canoes ; flights of arrows and showers of stones poured 
in upon them from every quarter; the Mexicans rushing forward to the 

* M. Clavigero has censured me with asperity for relating this gallant action of the two 
Mexuans, and for supposing that there were battlements rr-und the temple of Mexico. I related 
the attempt to destroy Tortes on the authority of Iter. dec. 2. hb. x. c. 9. and of Torquemado, lib. 
iv. c. (ii). I followed them likewise in supposing the uppernMet platform of the temple to be eucom- 
p^giicd by a buiiiement or rail. 



W8 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

charge with fearless impetuosity, as if they hoped in that moment to be 
avena:ed for all their wrongs. Unfortunately the wooden bridge, by the 
weignt of the artiller}-, was wedged so fast into the stones and mudf, that 
it was impossible to remove it. Dismayed at this accident, the Spaniards 
advanced with precipitation towards the second breach. The Mexicans 
hemmed them in on every side ; and though they defended themselves 
with their usual courage, yet crowded together as they were on a narrow 
causeway, their discipline and military skill were of little avail, nor did 
the obscurity of the night permit them to derive great advantage from their 
fire-arms, or the superiority of their other weapons. All Mexico was now 
in arms ; and so eager were the people on the destruction of their oppres- 
sors, that they who were not near enough to annoy them in person, impa- 
tient of the delay, pressed tbrward with such ardour as drove on their 
countrymen in the front with irresistible violence. Fresh warriors instantly 
filled the place of such as fell. The Spaniards, weary with slaughter, and 
unable to sustain the weight of the torrent that poured in upon them, began 
to give way. In a moment the confusion was universal ; horse and foot, 
officers and soldiers, friends and enemies, were mingled together ; and while 
all fought, and many fell, they could hardly distinguish from what hand 
the blow came. 

Cortes, with about a hundred foot soldiers and a few horse, forced his 
way over the two remaining breaches in the causeway, the bodies of the 
dead serving to fill up the chasms, and reached the main land. Having 
formed them as soon as they arrived, he returned with such as were yet 
capable of service to assist his friends in their retreat, and to encoura2:e 
them, by his presence and example, to persevere in the efforts requisite to 
effect it. He met with part of his soldiers who had broke through the 
enemy, but found many more overwhelmed by the multitude of their aggres- 
sors, or perishing in the lake ; and heard the piteous lamentations of others, 
whom the Mexicans, having taken alive, were carrying off in triumph to 
be sacrificed to the god of war. Before day, all who had escaped assem- 
bled at Tacuba. But when the morning dawned, and discovered to the 
view of Cortes his shattered battalion reduced to less than half its num- 
ber, the survivors dejected, and most of them covered with wounds, the 
thoughts of what they had suffered, and the remembrance of so many faith- 
ful friends and gallant followers who had fallen in that night of sorrow,* 
pierced his soul with such anguish, that while he was forming their ranks, 
and issuing some necessary orders, his soldiers observed the tears trickling 
from his eyes, and remarked with much satisfaction, that while attentive to 
the duties of a general, he was not insensible to the feelings of a man. 

In this fatal retreat many officers of distinction perished [11^1, and among 
these Velasquez de Leon, who having forsaken the party of his kinsman, 
the governor of Cuba, to follow the fortune of his companions, was, on that 
account, as well as for his superior merit, respected by them as the second 
person in the army. All the artillery, ammunition, and baggage, were lost ; 
the greater part of the horses, and above two thousand Tlascalans, were 
killed, and only a very small portion of the treasure which they had 
amassed was saved. This, which had been always their chief object, 
proved a great cause of their calamity ; for many of the soldiers having so 
overloaded themselves with bars of gold as rendered them unfit for action, 
and retarded their flight, tell ignominiously, the victims of their own incon- 
siderate avarice. Amidst so many disasters, it was some consolation to find 
that Aguilar and Marina, whose function as interpreters was of such essen- 
tial importance, had made their escape.! 

The first care of Cortes was to find some shelter for his wearied troops; 

• JVoeAr trisU is the name by which it is still distincnished in New Spain. f Cortea Relat. p, 
548 B. Dial, c. 136. Gomara Crou. c. 109. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. x. c. 11, 12. 



AMERICA 239 

for, as the Mexicans infested them on every side, and the people of Tacuba 
began to take arms, he could not continue in his present station. He di- 
rected his march towards the rising- ground, and, having fortunately disco- 
vered a temple situated on an eminence, took possession of it. There he 
found not only the shelter for which he wished, but, what was no less 
wanted, some provisions to refresh his men ; and though the enemy did 
not intermit their attacks throughout the day, they were with less dilhculty 
prevented from making any impression. During this lime Cortes was en- 
gaged in deep consultation with his officers, concerning the route which 
they ought to take in their retreat. They were now on the west side of 
the lake. Tlascala, the only place where they could hope for a friendly 
reception, lay about sixty-four miles to the east of Mexico ;* so that they 
were obliged to go round the north end of the lake before they could fail 
into the road which led thither. A Tlascalan soldier undertook to be their 
guide, and conducted them through a country in some places marshy, in 
others mountaincis, in all ill cultivated and thinly peopled. They marched 
for six days with little respite, and under continual alarms, numerous bodies 
of the Mexicans hovering around them, sometimes harassing them at a dis- 
tance with their missile weapons, and sometimes attacking them closely in 
front, in rear, in flank, with great boldness, as they now knew that they 
were not invincible. Nor were the fati2:ue and danger of those incessant 
conflicts the worst evils to which they were exposed. As the barren coun- 
try through which they passed afforded hardly any provisions, they were 
reduced to feed on berries, roots, and the stalks of green maize ; and at 
the very time that famine was depressing tkeir spirits and wasting their 
strength, their situation required the most vigorous and unremitting exer- 
tions of courage and activity. Amidst those complicated distresses, one 
circumstance supported ana animated the Spaniards. Their commander 
sustained this sad reverse of fortune with unshaken magnanimity. His 
presence of mind never forsook him ; his sagacity foresaw every event, 
and his vigilance provided for it. He was foremost in every danger, and 
endured every hardship with cheerfulness. The difficulties v/ith which 
he was surrounded seemed to call forth new talents ; and his soldiers, 
though despairing themselves, continued to follow him with increasing con- 
fidence in his abilities. 

On the sixth day they arrived near to Otumba, not far from the road 
between Mexico and Tlascala, Early next morning they began to advance 
towards it, flying parties of the enemy still hanging on their rear ; and, 
amidst the insults with which they accompanied their hostilities, Marina 
remarked that they often exclaimed with exultation, "Go on, robbers ; go 
to the place where you shall quickly meet the vengeance due to your 
crimes." The meaning of this threat the Spaniards did not comprehend, 
until they reached the summit of an eminence before them. There a 
spacious valley opened to their view, covered with avast army, extending 
as far as the eye could reach. The Mexicans, while with one body of 
their troops they harassed the Spaniards in their retreat, had assembled 
their principal force on the other side of the lake ; and marching along the 
road which led directly to Tlascala, posted it in the plain of Otumba, 
through which they knew Cortes must pass. At the sight of this incredible 
multitude, which they could survey at once from the rising ground, the 
Spaniards were astonished, and even the boldest began to despair. But 
Cortes, without allowing leisure for their fears to acquire strength by reflec- 
tion, after warning them briefly that no alternative now remained but to 
conquer or to die, led them Instantly to the charge. The Mexicans waited 
their approach with unusual fortitude. Such, however, was the superiority 
of the Spanish discipline and arms, that the impression of this small body 

* Villa Segnor Teatro Americsnos, lib. ii. o. 11. 



240 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

was irresistible ; and whichever way its force was directed, it penetrated 
and dispersed the most numerous battalions. But while these Sfave way 
in one quarter, new combatants advanced iVom another, and the Spaniards, 
though successful in every attack, were ready to sink under those repeated 
efforts, without seeing any end of their toil, or an} hope of victory. At 
that time Cortes observed the great standard of the empire, which was 
carried before the Mexican general, advancing; and fortunately recollecting 
to have heard, that on the fate of it depended the event of every batde, 
he assembled a few of his bravest officers, whose horses were still capable 
of service, and, placing himself at their head, pushed forward towards the 
standard with an impetuosity which f'ore down every thing before it. A 
chosen body of nobles, who guarded the standard, made some resistance, 
but were soon broken. Cortes, with a stroke of his lance, wounded the 
Mexican general, and threw him on the ground. One of the Spanish 
officers, alighting, put an end to his life, and laid hold of the imperial 
standard. The moment that their leader fell, and the standard, towards 
which all directed their eyes, disappeared, a universal panic struck the 
Mexicans ; and, as if the bond which held them together had been dis- 
solved, every ensign was lowered, each soldier threw away his weapons, 
and all fled with precipitation to the mountains. The Spaniards unable to 
pursue them far, returned to collect the spoils of the field, which were so 
valuable as to be some compensation for the wealth v/hich they had lost in 
Mexico ; for in the enemy's army were most of their principal warriors 
dressed out in their richest ornaments as if they had been marching to 
assured victory. Next day [July 8], to their great joy, they entered the 
Tlascalan territories.* 

But amidst their satisfaction in having got beyond the precincts of a 
hostile country, they could not look forward without solicitude, as they 
were still uncertain what reception they might meet with from allies to 
whom tliej returned in a condition very different from that in which they 
had lately set out from their dominions. Happily for them, the enmity of 
the Tlascalans to the Mexican name was so inveterate, their desire to avenge 
the death of their countrymen so vehement, und the ascendant which 
Cortes had acquired over the chiefs of ^he republic so complete, that, far 
^I'om entertaining a thought of taking any advantage of the distressed 
situation in v/hich thoy beheld the Spaniards, they received them with a 
tenderness and cordiality which quickly dissipated all their suspicions. 

Some interval of tranquillity and indulgence was now absolutely neces- 
sary ; not only that the Spaniards miglit give attention to the cure of their 
wounds, which had been too long neglected, but in order to recruit theii 
strength, exhausted by such a long succession of fatigue and hardships. 
During this, Cortes learned that he and his companions were not the only 
Spaniards who had felt the effects of the Mexican enmity. A considerable 
detachment which was marching from ZempoalJa towards the capiidl, had 
been cut off by the people of Tepeaca. A smaller party, returning from 
Tlascala to Vera Cruz, with the share of the Mexican gold allotted to the 
garrison, had been surprised and destroyed in the mountains. At a juncture 
when the life of every Spaniard was of importance, such losses were deeply 
felt. The schemes which Cortes was meditating rendered them peculiarly 
afflictive to him. While his enemies, and even many of his own followers, 
considered the disasters which had befallen him as fatal to the progress of 
his arms, and imagined that nothing now remained but speedily to abandon 
a country which he had invaded with unequal force, his mind, as eminent 
for perseverance as for enterprise, was still bent on accomplishing his 
original purpose, of subjecting the Mexican empire to the crown of Castile. 
Severe and unexpected as the check was which he had received, it did not 

» Cortes Relat. p. 219 B Diaz, c. 128. Gomara Cron. e. 110. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. x. e. 12, 13. 



AMERICA. 241 

appear to him a sufficient reason for relinquishing the conquests which he 
had already made, or against resuming his operations with better hopes of 
success. The colony at Vera Cruz was not only safe, but had remained 
unmolested. The people of Zempoalla and the adjacent districts had 
discovered no symptoms of defection. The Tlascalans continued faithful 
to their alliance. On their martial spirit, easily roused to arms, and in- 
flamed with implacable hatred of the Mexicans, Cortes depended for 
powerful aid. He had still the command of a body of Spaniards, equal 
in number to that with which he had opened his way mto the centre of the 
empire, and had taken possession of the capital ; so that with the benefit 
of greater experience, as well as more perfect knowledge of the country, 
he did not despair of quickly recovering all that he had been deprived of 
by untoward events. 

Full of this idea, he courted the Tlascalan chiefs with such attention, 
and distributed among them so liberally the rich spoils of Otumba, that he 
was secure of obtaining whatever he sliould require of the republic. He 
drew a small supply of ammunition and two or three fieldpieces from his 
stores at Vera Cruz. He despatched an officer of confidence with four 
ships of Narvaez's fleet to Hispaniola and Jamaica, to engage adventurers, 
and to purchase horses, gunpowder, and other military stores. As he knew 
that it would be vain to attempt the reduction of Mexico, unless he could 
secure the command of the lake, he gave orders to prepare in the mountains 
of Tlascala, materials for building twelve brigantines, so as they might be 
carried thither in pieces ready to be put together, and launched when he 
stood in need of their service.* 

But while, with provident attention, he was taking those necessary steps 
towards the execution of his measures, an obstacle arose in ii quarter where 
't was least expected, but most formidable. The spirit of discontent and 
mutiny broke out in his own army. Many of Narvaez's followers were 
planters rather than soldiers, and had accompanied him to New Spain with 
sanguine hopes of obtaining settlements, but with little inclination to engage 
in the hardships and dangers of war. As the same motives had induced 
them to enter into their new engagements with Cortes, they no sooner 
biecame acquainted with the nature of the service, than they bitterly 
lepenled of their choice. Such of them as had the good fortune to survive 
the perilous adventures in which their own imprudence had involved them, 
happy in having made their escape, trembled at the thoughts of iDeing 
exposed a second time to similar calamities. As soon as they discovered 
the intention of Cortes, they began secretly to murmur and cabal, and, 
waxing gradually more audacious, they, in a body, offered a remonstrance 
to their general against the imprudence of attacking a powerful empire 
with his shattered forces, and formally required him to lead them back 
directly to Cuba. Though Cortes, long practised in the arts of command, 
employed arguments, entreaties, and presents to convince or to soothe them ; 
though his own soldiers, animated with the spirit of their leader, warmly 
seconded his endeavours ; he found their fears too violent and deep rooted 
to be removed, and the utmost he could effect was to prevail with them 
to defer their departure for some time, on a promise that he would, at a 
more proper juncture, dismiss such as should desire it. 

That the malecontents might have no leisure to brood over the causes of 
their disafifection, he resolved instantly to call forth his troops into action. 
He proposed to chastise the people oi Tepeaca for the outrage which they 
had committed ; and as the detachment which they had cut off happened 
to be composed mostly of soldiers who had served under Narvaez, their 
companions, from the desire of vengeance, engaged the more willingly in 
this war. He took the command in person, [August] accompanied by a 

* Cortes Relat. p. 333. E. Gomara Cron. o 117. 

Vol. I.— 31 



242 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

numerous body of Tlascalans, and in the space of a few weeks, after various 
encounters, with great slaughter of the Tepeacans, reduced ♦hat province 
to subjection. During several months, while he waited for the supplies of 
men and ammunition which he expected, and was carrying on his prepara- 
tions for constructing the brigantines, he kept his troops constantly em- 
ployed in various expeditions against the adjacent provinces, all of which 
were conducted with a uniform tenour of success. By these, his men 
became again accustomed to victory, and resumed their wonted sense of 
superiority ; the Mexican power was weakened ; the Tlascalan warriors 
acquired the habit of acting in conjunction with the Sp niards ; and the 
chiefs of the republic delighted to see their country enriched with the 
spoils of all the people around them ; and astonished every day with fresh 
discoveries of the irresistible prowess of their allies, they d.eclined no effort 
requisite to support them. 

All those preparatory arrangements, however, though the most prudent 
and efficacious which the situation of Cortes allowed him to make, would 
have been of little avail without a reinforcement of Spanish soldiers. Of 
this he was so deeply sensible, that it was the chief object of his thoughts 
and wishes ; and yet his only prospect of obtaining it froni the return of 
the officer whom he had sent to the isles to solicit aid, was both distant and 
uncertain. But what neither his own sagacity nor power could have pro- 
cured, he owed to a series of fortunate and unforeseen incidents. The 
governor of Cuba, to whom the success of Narvaez appeared an event of 
infallible certainty, having sent two small ships after him with new iiistruc 
tions,_and a supply of men and militar}' stores, the officer whom Cortes had 
appointed to command on the coast, artfully decoyed them into the harbour 
of Vera Cruz, spizpd the vessels, and pasily persuaded the soldiers to fol- 
low the standard of a more able leader than him whom they were destined 
to join.* Soon after, three ships of more considerable force came into the 
harbour separately. These belonged to an armament fitted out by Fran- 
cisco de Garay, governor of Jamaica, who, being possessed with the :<ge 
of discovery and conquest which animated every Spaniard settled in 
America, had long aimed at intruding into some district of New Spain, and 
dividing with Cortes the gloiy and gain of annexing that empire to the 
crown of Castile. They unadvisedly made their attempt on the northern 
provinces, where the country was poor, and the people nerce and warlike ; 
and after a cruel succession of disasters, famine compelled them to venture 
into Vera Cruz, and cast themselves upon the mercy of their countrymen 
[Oct. 28J. Their fidelity was not proof against the splendid hopes and 
promises which had seduced other adventurers ; and, as if the spirit of 
revolt had been contagious in New Spain, they likewise abandoned the 
master whom they were bound to serve, and enlisted under Cortes. t Nor 
was it America alone that furnished such unexpected aid ; a ship arrived 
from Spain, freighted by some private merchants with military stores, in 
hopes of a profitable market in a country, the fame of whose opulence 
began to spread over Europe. Cortes eagerly purchased a cai^o which to 
him was invaluable, and the crew, following the general example, joined 
him at Tlascala.J 

From those various quarters, the army of Cortes was augmented with a 
hundred and eighty men, and twenty horses, a reinforcement too incon- 
siderable to produce any consequence which would have entitled it to 
have been mentioned in the history of other parts of the globe. But in that 
■xf America, where great revolutions were brought about by causes which 
seemed to bear no proportion to their effects, such small events rise into im- 
portance, because they were sufficient to decide with respect to the fate of 

*B.Diaz, c. 13U | Cortes Rdat. 253 F. B. Diaz, c J83. J Cortes Relat. 253. F. BL 

Diaz, c. tiii. 



AMERICA. 243 

kingdoms. Nor is it the least remarkable instance of the singular felicity 
conspicuous in many passages of Cortes's story, that the two persons chiefly 
instrumental in furnishing him with those seasonable supplies, should be an 
avowed enemy who aimed at his destruction, and an envious rival who 
wished to supplant him. 

The first etfect of the junction with his new followers was to enable him 
to dismiss such of Narvaez's soldiers as remained with reluctance in his 
service. After their departure, he still mustered five hundred and fifty 
infantr}"^, of which fourscore were armed with muskets or crossbows, forry 
horsemen, and a train of nine field-pieces.* At the head of these, accom- 
panied by ten thousand Tlascalans and other friendly Indians, Cortes began 
his march towards Mexico, on the twenty-eighth oi December, six months 
after his disastrous retreat from that city.j 

Nor did he advance to attack an enemy unprepared to receive him. 
Upon the death of Montezuma, the Mexican chiefs, in whom the right of 
electing the emperor was vested, had instantly raised his brother Qjuetla- 
vaca to the throne. His avowed and inveterate enmity to the Spaniards 
would have been sufficient to gain their suffrages, although he had been less 
distinguished for courage and capacity. He had an immediate opportunity 
of showing that he was worthy of their choice, by conducting in person those 
fierce attacks which compelled the Spaniards to abandon his capital ; and 
as soon as their retreat afforded him any respite from action, he took 
measures for preventing their return to Mexico, with prudence equal to the 
spirit which he had displayed in driving them out of it. As from the 
vicinity of 1 lascala, he could not be unacquainted with the motions and 
intentions of Cortes, he observed the storm that was gathering, and began 
early to provide against it. He repaired what the Spaniards had ruined 
in the city, and strengthened it with such new fortifications as the skill of 
his subjects was capable of erecting. Besides filling his magazines with 
the usual weapons of war, he gave directions to make long spears headed 
with the swords and daggers taken from the Spaniards, in order to annoy 
the cavalry. He summoned the people in every province of the empire to 
take arms against their oppressors, and as an encouragement to exert them- 
selves with vigour, he promised them exemption from all the taxes which 
his predecessors had imposed.| But what he laboured with the greatest 
earnestness was, to deprive the Spaniards of the advantages which they 
derived from the friendship of the Tlascalans, by endeavouring to persuade 
that people to renounce all connexion with men who were not only avowed 
enemies of the gods whom they worshipped, but who would not fail to 
subject them at last to the same yoke which they were now inconsiderately 
fending their aid to impose upon others. These representations, no less 
striking than well founded, were urged so forcibly by his ambassadors, that 
it required all the address of Cortes to prevent their making a dangerous 
impression. § 

But while Qjuetlavaca was arranging his plan of defence, with a degree 
of foresight uncommon in an American, his days were cut short by the 
small-pox. This distemper, which raged at that time in New Spain with 
fatal malignity, was unknown in that quarter of the globe until it was 
introduced by the Europeans, and may be reckoned among the greatest 
calamities brought upon them by their invaders. In his stead the Mexica^is 
raised to the throne Guatimozin, nephew and son-in-law of Montezuma, a 
young man of such high reputation for abilities and valour, that in this 
dangerous crisis, his countrymen, with one voice, called him to the supren.e 
command. II 

* Cortes Relat. 255. E. t Relat. Me. A. B. Diaz, c. 137. J Cortes Relat. p. 25.T E. 

2.')4. A. B, Diaz, c. 140. $ B. Diaz, c. 12y. llcrreia, doc. 2. lib. x. c. 14. 19. I 11. Diaz, 



«44 HISTORY OF [BookV. 

1521.] As soon as Cortes entered the enemies territories, he discovered 
various preparations to obstruct his progress. But bis troops forced their 
way with little difficulty, and took possession of Tezeuco, the second city 
of the empire, situated on the banks of the lake about twenty miles from 
Mexico.* Here he determined to establish his head-quarters, as the most 
proper station for launching his briganti.ies, as well as for making his ap- 

E roaches to the capital. In order to render his residence there more secure, 
e deposed the cazique, or chief, who was at the head of that community, 
under pretext of some defect in his title, and substituted in his place a per- 
son whom a faction of the nobles pointed out as the right heir of that dig- 
nity. Attached to him by this benefit, the cazique and his adherents served 
the Spaniards with inviolable fidelity.! 

As the preparations for constructing the brigantines advanced slowly 
under the unskilful hands of soldiers and Indians, whom Cortes was obliged 
to employ in asststing three or four carpenters who happened fortunately to 
be in his service ; and as he had not yet received the reinforcement which 
he expected from Hispaniola, he was not in a condition to turn his arms 
directly against the capital. To have attacked at this period, a city so 
populous, so well prepared for defence, and in a situation of such peculiar 
strength, must have exposed his troops to inevitable destruction. Thiee 
months elapsed before the materials for the brigantines were finished, and 
before he hear*^ any thing with respect to the success of the officer whom 
he had sent to Hispaniola. This, however, was not a season of inaction to 
Cortes. He attacked successively several of the towns situated around the 
lake; and though all the Mexican power was exerted to obi,truct his 
operations, he either compelled them to submit to the Spanish crown, or 
reduced them to ruins. The inhabitants of other towns he endeavoured 
to conciliate by more gentle means ; and though he could not hold any 
intercourse with them but by the intervention of interpretei.-, yet, under 
all the disadvantages of that tedious and imperfect mode of communication 
be had acquired such thorough knowledge of the state of the country, as 
well as of the dispositions of the people, that he conducted his negotiations 
and intrigues with astonishing dexterity and success. Most of the cities 
adjacent to Mexico were originally the capitals of small independent states ; 
and some of them having been but lately annexed to the Mexican empire, 
still retained the remembrance of their ancient liberty, and bore with im- 
patience the rigorous yoke of their new masters. Cortes, having early 
observed symptoms of their disatfection, availed himself of this knowledge 
to gain their confidence and friendship. By offering with confidence to 
deliver them from the odious dominion of the Mexicans, and by liberal 
promises of more indulgent treatment if they would unite with him against 
their oppressors, he prevailed on the people of several considerable dis- 
tricts, not only to acknowledge the King of Castile as their sovereign, but 
to supply the Spanish camp with provisions, and to strengthen his army 
with auxiliary troops. Guatimozin, on the first appearance of defection 
among his subjects, exerted himself with vigour to prevent or to punish their 
revolt ; but, in spile of his efforts, the spirit continued to spread. The 
Spaniards gradually acquired new allies, and with deep concern he beheld 
Cortes arming against his empire those very hands which ought to have 
been active in its defence, and ready to advance against the capital at the 
bead of a numerous body of his own subjects.| 

While, by those various methods, Cortes was gradually circumscribing 
the Mexicnn power in such a manner that his prospect of overturning it 
seemed neither to be uncertain nor remote, all bis schemes were well nigh 

* Villa Senor Theatro Americano, i. 156. t Cortes Relat. 256, &c. B. Diaz, c. 137. Go- 

mara Cron. c. 121. Hcrrera, dec. 3. c. 1. i Cortes Kelat. 256—260. B. Diaz, c. 137—140 

Gomara Cron. c. 122, 123. Ilerrera, dec, 3. lib. i. c. 1, 8. 



AMERICA. 246 

defeated by a conspiracy no less unexpected than dangerous. The soldiers 
of Narvaez had never united perfectly with the original companions of 
Cortes, nor did they enter into his measures with the same cordial zeal. 
Upon every occasion that required any extraordinary effort of courage or 
of patience, their spirits were apt to sink ; and now, on a near view of 
what they had to encounter, in attempthig to reduce a city so inaccessible 
as Mexico, and defiended by a numerous army, the resolution even of those 
among them who had adhered to Cortes when he was deserted by their 
associates, beg-an to fail. Tlieir fears led them to presumptuous and un- 
soldierlike discussions concerning the propriety of their general's measures, 
and the improbability of their success. From these they proceeded to 
censure and invectives, and at last began to deliberate how they might 
provide for their own safety, of which they deemed their commander to 
be totally nt'gligent. Antonio Villefagna, a private soldier, but bold, in- 
triguing, and strongly attached to Velasquez, artfully fomented this growing 
spirit of disafi'ection. His quarters became the rendezvous of the male- 
contents, where, after many consultations, they could discover no method 
of checking Cortes in his career, but by assassinating him and his most 
considerable officers, and conferring the command upon some person who 
would relinquish his wild plans, and adopt measures more consistent with 
the general security. Despair inspired them with courage. The hour 
for perpetrating the crime, the persons whom they destined as victims, 
the officers Ui succeed them in command, were all named : and the con- 
spirators signed an association, by which tney bound themselves Avith 
most solemn oaths to mutual fidelity. But on the evening before the ap- 
pointed day, one of Cortes's ancient followers, who had been seduced into 
the conspiracy, touched with compunction at the imminent danger of a 
man whom he had long been accustomed to revere, or struck with horror 
at his own treachery, went privately to his general, and revealed to him 
all that he knew. Cortes, though deeply alarmed, discerried at once what 
conduct was proper in a situation so critical. He repaired instantly to 
Villefagna's quarters, accompanied by some of his most trusty officers. 
The astonishment and confusion of the man at this unexpected visit anti- 
cipated the confession of his guilt. Cortes, while his attendants seized 
the traitor, snatched from his bosom a paper, containing the association, 
signed by the conspirators. Impatient to know how far the infection ex- 
tended, he retired to read it, and found there names which filled him with 
surprise and sorrow. But aware how dangerous a strict scrutiny might 
prove at such a juncture, he confined his judicial inquiries to Villefagna 
alone. As the proofs of his guilt were manifest, he was condemned after 
a short trial, and next morning he was seen hanging before the door of the 
house in which he had lodged. Cortes called his troops together, and 
having explained to them the atrocious purpose of the conspirators, as well 
as the justice of the punishment inflicted on Vilhifagna, he added, with an 
appearance of satisfaction, that he was entirely ignorant with respect to all 
the circumstances of this dark transaction, as the traitor, when arrested, had 
suddenly torn and swallowed a paper which probably contained an account 
of it, and under the severest tortures possessed such constancy as to con- 
ceal the names of his accomplices. This artful declaration restored tran- 
quillity to many a breast that was throbbing, while he spoke, with con- 
sciousness of guilt and dread of detection ; and by this prudent moderation, 
Cortes had the advantage of having discovered, and of being able to 
observe such of his followers as were disaffected ; while they, flattering 
themselves that their past crime was unknown, endeavoured to avert any 
suspicion of it by redoubling their activity and zeal in his service.* 
Cortes did not allow them leisure to ruminate on what had happened ; 

• Cortes Kelau 283. C. B, Diaz, c. 146. Herrera, dec 3. lib. J. c. 1 



246 HISTORY Of [Book V. 

and as the most effectual means of preventing the return of a mutinous 
spirit, he determined to call forth his troops immediately to action. For- 
tunately, a proper occasion for this occurred without his seeming to court 
it. He received intelh'gence that the materials for building the brigantines 
were at length completely finished, and waited only for a body of Spaniards 
to conduct them to Tezeuco. The command of this convoy, consisting of 
two hundred foot soldiers, fifteen horsemen, and two field-pieces, he gave 
to Sandoval, who, by the vigilance, activity, and courage which he mani- 
fested on every occasion, was growing daily in his confidence, and in the 
estimation of his fellow-soldiers. The service was no less singular than 
important ; the beams, the planks, the masts, the cordage, the sails, the 
ironwork, and all the infinite variety of articles requisite for the construction 
of thirteen brigantines, were to be carried sixty miles over land, through a 
mountainous country, by people who were unacquainted with the ministry 
of domestic animals, or the aid of machines to facilitate any work of 
labour. The Tlascalans furnished eight thousand Tamenes, an inferior 
order of men destined for servile tasks, to carry the materials on their 
shoulders, and appointed fifteen thousand warriors to accompany and defend 
them. Sandoval made the disposition for their progress with great pro- 
priety, placing the Tamenes in the centre, one body of warriors in the 
front, another in the rear, with considerable parties to cover the flanks. 
To each of these he joined some Spaniards, not only to assist them in danger, 
but to accustom them to regularity and subordination. A body so numerous, 
and so much encumbered, advanced leisurely but in excellent order ; and 
in some places, where it was confined by the woods or mountains, the line 
of march extended above six miles. Parties of Mexicans frequently ap- 
peared hovering around them on the high grounds ; but perceiving no 
prospect of success in attacking an enemy continually on his guard, and 
prepared to receive them, they did not venture to molest him ; and Sandoval 
had the glory of conducting safely to Tezeuco, a convoy on which all the 
future operations of his countiymen depended.* 

This was followed by another event of no less moment. Four ships 
arrived at Vera Cruz from Hispaniola, with two hundred soldiers, eighty 
horses, two battering cannon, and a considerable supply of ammunition and 
arms.t Elevated with observing that all his preparatory schemes, either 
for recruiting his own army, or impairing the force of the enemy, had now 
produced their full effect, Cortes, impatient to begin the siege in form, 
hastened the launching of the brigantines. To facilitate this, ne had em- 
ployed a vast number of Indians for two months, in deepening the small 
rivulet which runs by Tezeuco into the lake, and in forming it into a canal 
near two miles in length [119] ; and though the Mexicans, aware of his 
intentions, as well as of the danger which threatened them, endeavoured 
frequently to interrupt the labourers, or to burn the brigantines, the work 
was at last cotnpleted.| On the twenty-eighth of April, all the Spanish 
troops, together with the auxiliary Indians, were drawn up o;: the banks of 
the canal ; and with extraordinary military pomp, rendered more solemn 
by the celebration of the most sacred rites of religion, the brigantines were 
launched. As they fell down the canal in order. Father Olmedo blessed 
them, and gave each its name. Every eye followed them with wonder and 
hope, until they entered the lake, when they_ hoisted their sails and bore 
away before the wind. A general shout of joy was raised ; all admiring 
that bold inventive genius, which, by means so extraordinary that their 
success almost exceeded belief, had acquired the command of a fleet, 
without the aid of which Mexico would have continued to set the Spanish 
power and anns at defiance. § 

* Cortes Rplat. 250. C. E. B. Diaz, c. 140. t Cortes Relat. 259. F. 262. D. Gomara Cron. 

c. 129. } B. Diaz, c. HO. % Cortes Relal. 266. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. i, c. 5. Gomara 

Cron. c. 139 



AMERICA. 247 

Cortes determined to attack the city from three different quarters ; from 
Tepeaca on the north side of the lake, from Tacuba on the west, and from 
Cuyoccin towards the south. Those towns were situated on the principal 
causeways which led to the capital, and intended for their defence. He 
appointed Sandoval to command in the first, Pedro de Alvarado in the 
eecond, and Chiistoval de Olid in the third ; allotting to each a numerous 
body of Indian auxiliaries, together with an equal division of Spaniards, 
who, by the junction of the troops from Hispaniola, amounting now to 
eighty-six horsemen, and eight hundi'ed and eighteen foot soldiers ; of 
whom one hundred and eighteen were armed with muskets or crossbows. 
The train of artillery consisted of three battering cannon, and fifteen field- 
pieces.* He reserved for himself, as the station of greatest importance and 
danger, the conduct of the brigantines, each armed with one of his small 
cannon, and manned with twenty -five Spaniards. 

As Alvarado and Olid proceeded towards the posts assigned them [May 
10], they broke down the aqueducts which the ingenuity of the Mexicans 
had erected for conveying water into the capital, and, by the distress to 
which this reduced the inhabitants, gave a beginning to the calamities which 
they were destined to suffer.! Alvarado and Olid found the towns of which 
they were ordered to take possession deserted by their inhabitants, who 
had fled for safety to the capital, where Guatimozm had collected the chief 
force of his empire, as there alone he could hope to make a successful 
stand against the formidable enemies who were approaching to assault him. 

The first effort of the Mexicans was to destroy the fleet of brigantines, 
the fatal effects of whose operations they foresaw and dreaded. Though 
the brigantines, after all the labour and merit of Cortes in forming them, 
were of inconsiderable bulk, rudely constructed, and manned chiefly with 
landsmen hardly possessed of skill enough to conduct them, they must have 
been objects of terror to a people unacquainted with any navigation but 
that of their lake, and possessed of no vessel larger than a canoe. Neces- 
sity, however, urged Guatimozin to hazard the attack ; and hoping to sup- 
ply by numbers what he wanted in force, he assembled such a multitude 
of'^canoes as covered the face of the lake. They rowed on boldly to the 
charge, while the brigantines, retarded by a dead calm, could scarcely ad- 
vance to meet them. But as the enemy drew near, a breeze suddenly 
sprung up ; in a moment the sails were spread, the brigantines, with the 
utmost ease, broke through their feeble opponents, overset many canoes, 
and dissipated the whole armament with such slaughter, as convinced the 
Mexicans, that the progress of the Europeans in knowledge and arts ren- 
deied their superiority greater on this new element than tney had hitherto 
found it by land.| 

From that time Cortes remained master of the lake, and the brigantines 
not only preserved a communication between the Spaniards in their differ- 
ent stations, though at considerable distance from each other, but were 
employed to cover the causeways on each side, and keep off the canoes 
when they attempted to annoy the troops as they advanced towards the 
city. Cortes formed the brigantines in three divisions, appointing one to 
cover each of the stations from which an attack was to be carried on against 
the city, with orders to second the operations of the officer who command- 
ed there. From all the three stations he pushed on the attack against the 
city with equal vigour ; but in a manner so very different from the conduct 
of sieges in regular war, that he himself seems afraid it would appear 
no less improper than singular to persons unacquainted with his situation. § 
Each morning his troops assaulted the barricades which the enemy had 
erected on the causeways, forced their way over the trenches which they 

• Cortes Relat 266. C. t Cortes Relat. 267. B. B. Diaz, c. 150. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. I. c. 13. 
} Cortes Relat. 267. C. B. Diaz, c. 150. Gomara Cron. c. 131. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. I. c. 17 
i Cortes fielat. 270. F. 



248 H I S T O R Y F [Book V. 

had dug, and through the canals where the bridges were broken down, and 
endeavoured to penetrate into the heart of the city, in hopes of obtaining 
some decisive advantage which might force the enemy to surrender, and 
terminate the war at once ; but when the obstinate valour of the Mexicans 
rendered the efforts of the day ineffectual, the Spaniards retired in the 
evening to their former quarters Thus their toil and danger were in some 
measure continually reneAved ; the Mexicans repairing in the night what 
the Spaniards had destroyed through the day, and recovering the posts 
from which they had driven them. But necessity prescribed this slow and 
untoward mode of operation. The number of his troops were so small 
that Cortes durst not, with a handful of men, attempt to make a lodgment 
in a city where he might be surrounded and annoyed by such a multitude 
of enemies. The remembrance of what he had already suffered by the 
ill judged confidence with which he had ventured into such a dangerous 
situation, was still fresh in his mind. The Spaniards, exhausted with 
fatigue, were unable to guard the various posts which they daily gained ; 
and though their camp was filled with Indian auxiliaries, they durst not 
devolve this charge upon them, because they were so little accustomed to 
discipline, that no confidence could be placed in their vigilance. Besides 
this, Cortes was extremely solicitous to preserve the city as much as pos- 
sible from being destroyed, both because he destined it to be the capital 
of his conquests, and wished that it might remain as a monument of his 
glory. From all these considerations, he adhered obstinately, for a month 
after the siege was opened, to the system which he had adopted. The 
Mexicans, in their own defence, displayed valour which was hardly inferior 
to that with which the Spaniards attacked them. On land, on water, by 
night and by day, one furious conflict succeeded to another. Several Span- 
iards were killed, more wounded, and all were ready to sink under ihe 
toils of unintermitting service, which were rendered more intolerable by the 
injuries of the season, the periodical rains being now set in with their usual 
violence.* 

Astonished and disconcerted with the length and difficulties of the siege, 
Cortes determined to make one great effort to get possession of the city, 
before he relinquished the plan which he had hitherto followed, and had 
recourse to any other mode of attack. With this view he sent instructions 
to Alvarado and Sandoval to advance with their divisions to a general as- 
sault, and took the command in person [July 3] of that posted on the cause- 
way of Cuyocan. Animated by his presence, and the expectation of some 
decisive event, the Spaniards pushed forward with irresistible impetuosity. 
They broke through one barricade after another, forced their way over 
the ditches and canals, and, having entered the city, gained ground inces- 
santly in spite of the multitude and ferocity of their opponents. Cortes, 
though delighted with the rapidity of his progress, did not forget that he 
might still find it necessary to retreat ; and, in order to secure it, appointed 
Julien de Alderete, a captain of chief note in the troops which he had re- 
ceived from Ilispaniola, to fill up the canals and gaps in the causeway as 
the main body advanced. That officer, deeming it inglorious to be thus 
employed, while his companions were in the heat of action and the career 
of victory, neglected the important charge committed to him, and hurried 
on, inconsiderately, to mingle with the combatants. The Mexicans, whose 
military attention and skill were daily improving, no sooner observed this 
than they carried an account of it to their monarch. 

Guatimozin instantly discerned the consequence of the error which the 
Spaniards had committed, and, with admirable presence of mind, prepared 
to take advantage of it. He commanded the troops posted in the front to 
slacken their efforts, in order to allure the Spaniards to push forward, while 

• B. Dlas, c. 131. 



AMERICA. 249 

he despatched a lai^e body of chosen warriors througjh different streets, 
some by land, and -^^thers by water, towards the g;reat breach in the cause- 
way which had been left open. On a signal which he gave, the priests 
in the principal temple struck the great drum consecrated to the god of 
war. No sooner did the Mexicans hear its doleful solemn sound, calculated 
to inspire them with contempt of death, and enthusiastic ardour, than they 
rushed upon the enemy with frantic rage. The Spaniards, unable to resist 
men urged on no less by religious fury than hope of success, began to re- 
tire, at first leisurely, and with a good countenance ; but as the enemy 
pressed on, and their own impatience to escape increased, the terror and 
confusion became so general, that when they arrived at the gap in the 
causeway, Spaniards and Tlascalans, horsemen and infantry, plunged in 
promiscuously, while the Mexicans rushed upon them fiercely from every 
side, their light canoes carrying them through shoals which the brigantines 
could not approach. In vain did Cortes attempt to stop and rally his flying 
troops ; fear rendered them regardless of his entreaties or commands. 
Finding all his endeavours to renew the combat fruitless, his next care was 
to save some of those who had thrown themselves into the water ; but 
while thus employed, with more attention to their situation than to his own^ 
six Mexican captains suddenly laid hold of him, and were hurrying him 
off in triumph ; and though two of his officers rescued him at the expense 
of their own lives, he received several dangerous wounds before he could 
break loose. Above sixty Spaniards perished in the rout ; and what ren- 
dered the disaster more afflicting, forty of these fell alive into the hands 
of an enemy never known to show mercy to a captive.* 

The approach of night, though it delivered the dejected Spaniards from 
the attacks of the enemy, ushered in what was hardly less grievous, the 
noise of their barbarous triumph, and of the horrid festival with Avhich 
they celebrated their victory. Every quarter of the city was illuminated ; 
the great temple shone with such peculiar splendour, that the Spsniards 
could plainly see the people in motion, and the priests busy in hastening 
the preparations for the death of the prisoners. Through the gloom, they 
fancied that they discerned their companions by the whiteness of their 
skins, as they Avere stript naked, and compelled to dance before the image 
of the god to whom they were to be offered. They heard the shrieks of 
those who were sacrificed, and thought that they could distinguish each 
unhappy victim by the well known sound of his voice. Imagination added 
to what they really saw or heard, and augmented its horror. The most 
unfeeling melted into tears of compassion, and the stoutest heart trembled 
at the dreadful spectacle which they beheld [l20j. 

Cortes, who, besides all that he felt in common with his soldiers, was 
oppressed with the additional load of anxious reflections natural to a general 
on such an unexpected calamity, could not, like them, relieve his mind by 

f;iving vent to its anguish. He was obliged to assume an air of tranquil- 
ity, in order to revive the spirit and hopes of his followers. The junc- 
ture, indeed, required an extraordinary exertion of fortitude. The JvJexi- 
cans, elated with their victor}', sallied out next morning to attack him in 
his quarters. But they did not rely on the efforts of their own arms alone. 
They sent the heads of Spaniards whom they had sacrificed to the leading 
men in the adjacent provinces, and assured them that the god of war, ap- 
peased by the blood of their invaders, which had been shed so plentifully 
on his altars, had declared with an audible voice, that in eight days time 
those hated enemies should be finally destroyed, and peace and prosperity 
re-established in the empire. 

A prediction uttered with such confidence, and in terms so void of 
ambiguity, gained universal credit among a people prone to superstition. 

• Cortes Relat. p. 273. B. Dial, c. 153. Gomara Cron. c. 138. Renera, dec. 3. lib. I. c. 23. 

Vol. I.— 32 



250 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

The zeal of the provinces, which had already declared against the Spa- 
niards, augmented ; and several which had hitherto remained inactive, took 
arms, with enthusiastic ardour, to execute the decree of the gods. The 
Indian auxiliaries who had joined Cortes, accustomed to venerate the 
same deities with the Mexicans, and to receive the responses of their 
priests with the same implicit faith, abandoned the Spaniards as a race of 
men devoted to certain destruction. Even the fidelity of the Tlascalans 
was shaken, and the Spanish troops were left almost alone in their stations. 
Cortes, finding that he attempted in vain to dispel the superstitious fears 
of his confederates by argument, took advantage, from the imprudence of 
those who had framed the prophecy in fixing ils accomplishment so near 
at hand, to give a striking demonstration of its falsity. He suspended all 
military operations, during the period marked out by the oracle. Under 
cover of the brigantines, which kept the enemy at a distance, his troops 
lay in safety, and the fatal term expired without any disaster.* 

Many of his allies, ashamed of their own credulity, returned to their 
station. Other tribes, judging that the gods, who had now deceived the 
Mexicans, had decreed finally to withdraw their protection from them, 
joined his standard ; and such was the levity of a simple people, moved 
031 every slight impression, that in a short time after such a general defec- 
"tion of his confederates, Cortes saw himself, if we may believe his own 
account, at the head of a hundred and fifty thousand Indians. Even with 
such a numerous army, he found it necessary to adopt a new and more 
wary system of operation. Instead of renewing his attempts to become 
master of the city at once, by such bold but dangerous efforts of valour as 
he had already tried, he made his advances gradually, and with every 
possible precaution against exposing his men to any calamity similar to 
that which they still bewailed. As the Spaniards pushed forward, the 
Indians regularly repaired the causeways behind them. As soon as they 
got possession of any part of the town, the houses were instantly levelled 
with the ground. Day by day, the Mexicans, forced to retire as their 
enemies gained ground, were hemmed in within more narrow limits. 
Guatimozin, though unable to stop the career of the enemy, continued to 
defend his capital with obstinate resolution, and disputed every inch of 
ground. The Spaniards not only varied their mode of attack, but, by 
orders of Cortes, changed the weapons with which they fought. They 
were again armed with the long Chinantlan spears which they had em- 
ployed with such success against Narvaez ; and, by the firm array in which 
this enabled them to range themselves, they repelled, with little danger, 
the loose assault of the Mexicans : incredible numbers of them fell in the 
conflicts which they renewed every day.j While war wasted without, 
famine began to consume them within the city. The Spanish brigantines 
having the entire command of the lake, rendered it almost impossible to 
convey to the besieged any supply of provisions by water. The immense 
number of his Indian auxiliaries enabled Cortes to shut up the avenues to 
the city by land. The stores which Guatimozin had laid up were ex- 
hausted by the multitudes which had crowded into the capital to defend 
their sovereign and the temples of their gods. Not only the people, but 
persons of the highest rank, felt the utmost distresses of famine. What 
they suffered brought on infectious and mortal distempers, the last calamity 
that visits besieged cities, and which filled up the measure of their woes.J 

But, under the pressure of so many and such various evils, the spirit of 
Guatimozin remained firm and unsubdued. He rejected with scorn every 
overture of peace from Cortes ; and, disdaining the idea of submitting 
to the oppressors of his country, determined not to survive its ruin. The 
Spaniards continued their progress. At length all the three divisions 

* B. Diaz, c. 15X Oomara Cron. c. 138. t Cortes Relat. p. 275. C. 276. F. B. Diaz, c. 

IS3. i Curtes Relat. 276. £. 277. F. B. Diaz 155 Gomara Cron. c. 141. 



AMERICA. 251 

penetrated into the great square in the centre of the city, and made a 
secure lodgment there [July 27]. Three-fourths of the city were now 
reduced and laid in ruins. The remaining quarter was so closely pressed, 
that it could not long withstand assailants, who attacked it from their new 
station with superior advantage, and more assured expectation of success. 
The Mexican nobles, solicitous to save the life of a monarch whom they 
revered, prevailed on Guatimozin to retire from a place where resistance 
was now vain, that he might rouse the more distant provinces of the empire 
to arms, and maintain there a more successful struggle with the public 
enemy. In order to facilitate the execution of this measure, they endeavoured 
to amuse Cortes with overtures of submission, that, while his attention 
was employed in adjusting the articles of pacification, Guatimozin might 
escape unperceived. But they made this attempt upon a leader of greater 
sagacity and discernment than to be deceived by their arts. Cortes, sus- 
pecting their intention, and aware of what moment it was to defeat it, 
appointed Sandoval, the officer on whose vigilance he could most per- 
fectly rely, to take the command of the brigantines, with strict injunctions 
to watch every motion of the enemy. Sandoval, attentive to the charge, 
observing some large canoes crowded with people rowing across the lake 
with extraordinary rapidity, instantly gave the signal to chase. Garcia 
Holguin, who commanded the swiftest sailing brigantine, soon overtook 
them, and was preparing to fire on the foremost canoe, which seemed to 
carry some person whom all the rest followed and obeyed. At once the 
rowers dj'opped their oars, and all on board, throwing down their arms, 
conjured him with cries and tears to forbear, as the emperor was there. 
Holguin eagerly seized his prize ; and Guatimozin, with a dignitied com- 
posure, gave himself up into his hands, requesting only that no insult 
might be offered to the empress or his children. When conducted to Cortes, 
he appeared neither with the sullen fierceness of a barbarian, nor with the 
dejection of a supplicant. " I have done," said he, addressing himself to 
the Spanish general, " what became a monarch. I have defended my 
people to the last extremity. Nothing now remains but to die. Take 
this dagger," laying his hand on one which Cortes wore, " plant it in my 
breast, and put an end to a life which can no longer be of use."* 

As soon as the fate of their sovereign was known, the resistance of the 
Mexicans ceased ; and Cortes took possession of that small part of the 
capital which yet remained undestroyed [Aug. 13]. Thus terminated the 
siege of Mexico, the most memorable event in the conquest of America. 
It continued seventy-five days, hardly one of which passed without some 
extraordinary effort of one party in the attack, or of the other in the 
defence of a city, on the fate of which both knew that the fortune of the 
empire depended. As the struggle here was more obstinate, it was like- 
wise more equal llian any between the inhabitants of the Old and New 
Worlds. The great abilities of Guatimozin, the number of his troops, 
the peculiar situation of his capital, so far counterbalanced the superiority 
of the Spaniards in arms and discipline, that they must have relinquished 
the enterprise if they had trusted for success to themselves alone. But 
Mexico was overturned by the jealousy of neighbours who dreaded its 
power, and by the revolt of subjects impatient to shake off its yoke. By 
their effectual aid, Cortes was enabled to accomplish what, without such 
support, he would hardly have ventured to attempt. How much soever 
this account of the reduction of Mexico may detract, on the one hand, 
from the marvellous relations of some Spanish writers, by ascribing that 
to simple and obvious causes which they attribute to the romantic valour 
of their countrymen, it adds, on the other, to the merit and abilities of 
Cortes, who, under every disadvantage, acquired such an ascendant over 

* Cones Relat. 370. B. Diaz, c. 156: Goniura Cron. c, 142. Herrora, dec. 3. lib li. e. 7i 



262 HISTORY OF [Book Y. 

unknown nations, as to render them instruments towards carrying his 
schemes into execution [121], 

The exultation oi" the Spaniards, on accomplishing this arduous enter- 
prise, was at first excessive. But this was quickly damped by the cruel 
disappointment of those sanguine hopes which had animated them amidst 
so many hardships and dangers. Instead of the inexhaustible wealth 
which they expected from becoming masters of Montezuma's treasures, 
and the ornaments of so many temples, their rapaciousness could only 
collect an inconsiderable ho(Ay amidst ruins and desolation.* Guatimozin, 
aware of his impending fate, had ordered what remainea of the riches 
amassed by his ancestors, to be thrown into the lake. The Indian auxilia- 
ries, while the Spaniards were engaged in conflict with the enemy, had 
carried oft' the most valuable part of the spoil. The sum to be divided 
among the conquerors was so small that many of them disdained to accept 
of the pittance which fell to their share, and all murmured and exclaimed ; 
some against Cortes and his confidants, whom they suspected of having 
secretly appropriated to their own use a large portion of the riches which 
should have been brought into the common stock ; others, against Guati- 
mozin, whom they accused of obstinacy in refusing to discover the place 
where he had hidden his treasure. 

Arguments, entreaties, and promises were employed in order to soothe 
them, but with so little effect, that Cortes, from solicitude to check this 
growing spirit of discontent, gave way to a deed which stains the glory 
of all his great actions. Without regarding the former dignity of Guati- 
mozin, or feeling any reverence tor those virtues which he had displayed, 
he subjected the unhappy monarch, together with his chief favourite, to 
torture, in order to force from them a discovery of the royal treasures, 
which it was supposed they had concealed. Guatimozin bore whatever 
the refined cruelty of his tormentors could infiict, with the invincible for- 
titude of an American warrior. His fellow-sufterer, overcome by the vio- 
lence of the anguish, turned a dejected eye towards his master, which 
seemed to implore his permission to reveal all that he knew. But the 
high spirited prince, darting on him a look of authority mingled with 
scorn, checked his weakness by asking, " Am I now reposing on a bed of 
flowers ?" Overawed by the reproach, the favourite persevered in his 
dutiful silence, and expired. Cortes, ashamed of a scene so horrid, 
rescued the royal victim from the hands of his torturers, and prolonged a 
life reserved for new indignities and sufferings.! 

The fate of the capital, as both parlies had foreseen, decided that of the 
empire. The provinces submitted one after another to the conquerors. 
Small detachments of Spaniards marching through them without interrup- 
tion, penetrated in different quarters to the great Southern Ocean, which, 
according to the ideas of Columbus, they imagined would open a short 
as well as easy passage to the East Indies, and secure to the crown of 
Castile all the envied wealth of those fertile regions ;| and the active 
mind of Cortes began already to form schemes for attempting this important 
discovery. § 

He did not know, that during the progress of his victorious arms in 
Mexico, the very scheme, of which he began to form some idea, had been 
undertaken and accomplished. As this is one of the most splendid events 
in the history of the Spanish discoveries, and has been productive of effects 
peculiarly interesting to those extensive provinces which Cortes had now 
subjecteQ to the crown of Castile, the account of its rise and progress 
merits a particular detail. 

* The gold and silver according to Cortes, amounted only to 120,000 pesos. Relat. 280. A. a sun 
much inferior to that which ttie Spaniards had formerly divided in Mexico. t B. Diaz, c. 157 

r.omara Cron. c. 146. Herrefa,dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 8. Torquem, Mon. Ind. i. 574. t Cortes BclaU 
8B0. D. &.O. B. Diaz, c. 157. ^ Herrera, dec 3. lib. ii. c. 17. Gomara Cron. '-. 140. 



AMERICA. 253 

Ferdinand Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portuguese gentleman of honour- 
able birth, having served several years in the East Indies, with distin- 
guished valour, under the famous Albuquerque, demanded the recompense 
which he thought due to his services, with the boldness natuial to a high 
spirited soldier. But as his general would not grant his suit, and he 
expected greater justice from his sovereign, whom he knew to be a good 
judge and a generous rewarder of merit, he quitted India abruptly, and 
returned to Lisbon. In order to induce Emanuel to listen more favourably 
to his claim, he not only stated his past services, but offered to add to 
them by conducting his countrymen to the Molucca or Spice Islands, by 
holding" a westerly course ; which he contended would be both shorter and 
less hazardous than that Avhich the Portuguese now followed by the Cape 
of Good Hope, through the immense extent of the Eastern Ocean. This 
was the original and favourite project of Columbus, and Magellan founded 
his hopes of success on the ideas of that great navigator, confirmed by 
many observations, the result of his own naval experience, as well as that 
of his countrymen in their intercourse with the East. But though the 
Portuguese monarchs had the merit of having first awakened and encou- 
raged the spirit of discovery in that age, it was their destiny, in the course 
of a few years, to reject two grand schemes for this purpose, the execution 
of which would have been attended with a great accession of glory to 
themselves, and of power to their kingdom. In consequence of some ill 
founded prejudice against Magellan, or of some dark intrigue which con- 
temporary historians have not explained, Emanuel would neither bestow 
the recompense which he claimed, nor approve of the scheme which he 
proposed ; and dismissed him with a disdainful coldness intolerable to a 
man conscious of what he deserved, and animated with the sanguine hopes 
of success peculiar to those who are capable of forming or of conducting 
new and great undertakings. In a transport of resentment [1517], Magellan 
formally renounced his allegiance to an ungrateful master, and fled to the 
court of Castile, where he expected that his talents would be more justly 
estimated. He endeavoured to recommend himself by offering to execute, 
under the patronage of Spain, that scheme which he had laid before the 
court of Portugal, the accomplishment of which, he knew, would wound 
the monarch against whom he was exasperated in the most tender part. 
In order to establish the justness of his theory, he produced the same 
arguments which he had employed at Lisbon ; acknowledging, at the 
.«ame time, that the undertaking was both arduous and expensive, as it could 
not be attempted but with a squadron of considerable force, and victualled 
for at least two years. Fortunately, he applied to a minister who was not 
apt to be deterred, either by the boldness of a design, or the expense ol 
carrying it into execution. Cardinal Ximenes, who at that time directed 
the affairs of Spain, discerning at once what an increase of wealth and 
glory would accrue to his country by the success of Magellan's proposal, 
listened to it with a most favourable ear. Charles V., on his arrival in his 
Spanish dominions, entered into the measure with no less ardour, and orders 
were issued for equipping a proper squadron at the public charge, of which 
the command was given to Magellan, whom the King honoured with the 
habit of St. Jago and the 'itie of Captain general.* 

On the tenth of August, one thousand five hundred and nineteen, Ma- 
gellan sailed from Seville with five ships, which, according to the ideas of 
the age, were deemed to be of considerable force, though the burden of 
the largest did not exceed one hundred avA twenty tons. The crews of 
the whole amounted to two hundred and thirty-four men, among whom 
were somt of the most skilful pilots in Spain, and several Portuguese 

• Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 19. lib. iv. c. 9. Gomara Uiol. c, 91. Dalryinplc'e Collect, of Voyage* 
to the South Pacific Oceaii, vol. i. p. 1, &c- 



554 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

sailors, in whose experience, as more extensive, Magellan plnced siiH 
greater confidence. After touching at the Canaries, he stood directly- 
south towards the equinoctial line along the coast of America, hut was so 
Jongretarded hy tedious calms, and spent so much time in searching every 
bay and inlet for that communication with the Southern Ocean which he 
wished to discover, that he did not reach the river De la Plata till the 
twelfth of Januaiy [1520]. That spacious opening through which its vast 
body of water pours into the Atlantic allured him to enter ; but after 
sailing up it for some days, he concluded from the shallowness of the 
stream and the freshness of the water, that the wished-for strait was not 
situated there, and continued his course towards the south. On the thirty- 
first of March he arrived in the Port of St. Julian, about forty-eight degrees 
south of the line, where he resolved to winter. In this uncomfortable 
station he lost one of his squadron ; and the Spaniards suffered so much 
from the excessive rigour of the climate, that the crews of three of his 
ships, headed by their officers, rose in open mutiny, and insisted on relin- 
quishing the visionary project of a desperate adventurer, and returning 
directly to Spain. This dangerous insurrection Magellan suppressed, by 
an effort ol courage no less prompt than intrepid, and inflicted exemplary 
punishment on the ringleaders. With the remainder of his followers, 
overawed but not reconciled to his scheme, he continued his voyage towards 
the south, and at length discovered, near the fifty-third degree of latitude, 
the mouth of a strait, into which he entered, notwithstanding the murmurs 
and remonstrances of the people under his command. After sailing twenty 
days in that winding dangerous channel, tu which he gave his own name, 
and where one of his ships deserted him, the great Sou''.ern Ocean opened 
to his view, rnd with tears of joy he returnv.d thanks to Heaven for having 
thus far crowned his endeavours Avith success.* 

But he was still at a greater distance than hr imagined from the object 
of his wishes. He sailed during three months and twenty days in a unilorir 
direction towards the north-west, without discovering land. In this voyage, 
the longest that had ever been made in the unbounded ocean, he suffered 
incredible distress. His stock of provisions was alr'st exhausted, the 
wafer became putrid, the men were reduced to the shortest allowance 
with which it was possible to sustain life, and the scurvy, the most dreadful 
of all the maladies with which seafaring people are inflicted, began to 
spread among the crew. One circumstance alone afforded them some 
consolation; they enjoyed an uninterrupted course of fair weather, with 
such favourable v/inds that Magellan bestowed on that ocean the name of 
Pacific, which it still retains. When reduced to such extremity that they 
must have sunk under their sufferings, they fell in with a cluster of sm?u 
but fertile islands [March 6], which afforded them refreshments in such 
abundance, that their health was soon re-established. From these isles, 
which he called De los Ladrones, he proceeded on bis voyage, and soon 
made a more important discovery of the islands now known by the name 
of the Philippines. In one of these he got into an unfortunate qua-rel 
with the natives, who attacked him with a numerous body of troops well 
ai-med ; and while he fought at the head of his men with his usual valour, 
he fell [April 26] by the hands of those barbarians, together with several 
of his pnncipal oflicers. 

The expedition was prosecuted under other commanders. After visiting 
many of the smaller isles scattered in the eastern part of the Indian ocean, 
thev touched at the great island of Borneo [Nov, 8], and at length landed 
in Tidore, one of the Moluccas, to the astonishment of the Portuguese, 
who could not comprehend how the Spaniards, by holding a westerly 

* Hcrrera, dec. 2. lib. iv. c. 10. lib. ix. c. 10, &c. Gomara Hist. c. 92. PigafeUa Viaggio ajk 
Raiiiuf. ii. p. 352, &.C. 



AMERICA. 255 

course, had arrived at that sequestered seat of their most valuable com- 
merce, which they themselves had discovered by sailing in an opposite 
direction. There, and in the adjacent isles, the Spaniards found a people 
acquainted vk^ith the benefits of extensive trade, and willing to open an 
intercourse with a new nation. They took in a cargo of the precious 
spices, which are the distinguished production of these islands ; and with 
that, as well as with specimens of the rich commodities yielded by the 
other countries which they had visited, the Victory, which, of the two ships 
that remained of the squadron, was most fit for a long voyage, set sail tor 
Europe [Jan. 1522], under the command of Juan Sebastian del Cano. He 
followed the course of the Portuguese, by the Cape of Good Hope, and 
after many disasters and sufferings he arrived at St. Lucar on the seventh 
of Sep'iCinber, one thousand five hundred and twenty-two, hav'ig sailed 
round the globe in the space of three years and twenty-eight days.* 

Though an untimely fate deprived Magellan of tLe satisfaction of 
accomplishing this great undertaking, his contemporaries, just ^o his 
memory and talents, ascribed to him not only the honour of having formed 
the plan, but of having surmounted almost every obstacle, to the completiOi4 
of it ; and in the present age his name is still ranked among the highest 
in the roll of eminent and successful navigators. The naval glory of Spain 
now eclipsed that of every other nation ; and by a singular felicity she had 
the merit, in the course of a few years, of discovering a new continent 
almost as large as that part of the earth which was formerly known, and 
of ascertaining by experience the form and extent of the whole of the 
terraqueous globe. 

The Spaniards were not satisfied with the g'ory of having first encom- 
passed tlie earth ; they expected to derive great commercial advantages 
from this new and boldest effort of their maritime skill. The men of 
science among them contended, that the Spice Islands, and several of the 
richest countries in the East, were so situated as to belong of right to the 
crown of Castile, in conspquence of the partitions made by Alexander VI. 
The merchants, without att'.nding to this discussion; engaged eagerly in that 
luc"ative and alluring commerce, which was now open to them. The 
Portuguese, alarmed at the intrusion of such fornaidable rivals, remonstrated 
and negotiated in Europe, whil«^ in Asia they obstructed the trade of the 
Spaniards by force of arms. Charles V., not sufficiently instructed with 
respect to the importance of this valuable branch of commerce, or distracted 
by the multiplicity of his schemes and operations, did noi afford his sub- 
jects proper protection. At last, the low state of his finances, exhausted 
by the efforts of his arms in every part of Europe, together with the dread' 
of adding a new war with Portugal to these in which he was already en- 
gaged, induced him io make over his claim of the Moluccas to the Portu- 
guese for three hundred and fifty thousand ducats. He reserved, however, 
to the crown of Castile the right of reviving its pretensions on repayment 
of that sum ; but other objects engrossed his attention and that of his suc- 
cessors ; and Spain was finally excluded froin a branch of commerce in 
which it was engaging with sanguine expectations of profit. t 

Though the trade with the Aloluccas was relinquished, the voyage of 
Magellan was followed by cominercial effects of great moment to Spain. 
Philip II., in the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-four, reduced 
those islands which he discovered in the Eastern ocean to subjection, and 
established settlements there ; between Avhich and the kingdom of New 
Spain a regular intercourse, the nature of which shall be explained in its 
proper place, is still carried on. I return now to the transactions in New 
Spain. 

* Herrcra, dec. 3. lib. i. c. 3. !). lib. iv. c. 1. Goniara Cron. c. 93, &c. Pigafelta jp. Ramus, ii, 
p. 3(il, &.C. t Herrcra, dec. 3. lib. iii. c. 5, &c. dec. 4. lib. v. c. 7, &c 



256 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

At the time that Cortes was acquiring such extensive territories for his 
native country, and preparing the way for future conquests, it was his 
sin2;ular fate not only to be destitute of any commission or authority from 
the sovereign whom he was serving with such successful zeal, but to be 
regaided as an undutiful and seditious subject. By the influence of Fon- 
seca. Bishop of Burgos, his conduct in assuming the government of New 
Spain was declared to be an irregular usurpation, in contempt of the royal 
authority ; and Christoval de Tapia received a commission, empowering 
him to supersede Cortes, to seize his person, to confiscate his effects, to 
make a strict scrutiny into his proceedings, and to transmit the result of 
all the inquiries carried on in New Spain to the Council of the Indies, of 
which the Bishop of Burgos was president. A few weeks after the reduc- 
tion of Mexico, Tapia landed at Vera Cruz with the royal mandate to 
strip its conqueror ot his power, and treat him as a criminal. But Fonseca 
had chosen a very improper instrument to wreak his vengeance on Cortes. 
Tapia had neither the reputation nor the talents that suited the high com- 
mand to which he was appointed. Cortes, while he publicly expressed 
the most respectful veneration for the emperor's authority, secretly took 
measures to defeat the effect of his commission ; and having involved 
Tapia and his followers in a multiplicity of negotiations and conferences, 
in which he sometimes had recourse to threats, but more frequently em- 
ployed bribes and promises, he at length prevailed upon that weaK man 
to abandon a province which he was unworthy of governing.* 

But notwithstanding the fortunate dexterity with which he had eluded 
this danger, Cortes was so sensible of the precarious tenure by which he 
held his power, that he despatched deputies to Spain [May 15], with a 
pompous account of the success of his arms, with further specimens of the 
productions of the country, and with rich presents to the emperor, as the 
earnest of tuture contributions from his new conquests ; requesting, in 
recompense for all his services, the approbation of his proceedings, and 
that he might be intrusted with the government of those dominions, which 
his conduct and the valour of his followers had added to the crown of Castile. 
The juncture in which his deputies reached the court was favourable. The 
internal commotions in Spain, which had disquieted the beginning of 
Ciiarles's reign, Avere just appeased. j The ministers had leisure to turn 
their attention towards foreign affairs. The account of Cortes's victories 
filled his countrymen with admiration. The extent and value of his con- 
quests became the object of vast and interesting hopes. Whatever stain 
he might have contracted, by the irregularity ot the steps which be took 
in order to attain power, was so fully effaced by tiie splendour and merit 
of the great actions which this had enabled him to perform, that every 
heart revolted at the thought of inflicting any censure on a man whose 
services entitled him to the highest marks of distinction. The public 
voice declared warmly in favour of his pretensions ; and Charles, arriving 
in Spain about this time, adopted the sentiments of his subjects with a 
youthful ardour. Notwithstanding the claims of Velasquez, and the partial 
representations of the Bishop of Burgos, tiie emperor appointed Cor'^^s 
captain general and governor of New Spain, judging that no person was 
so capable of maintaining the royal authority, or of establishing good order 
both among his Spanish and Indian subjects, as the victorious leader whom 
the Ibrmer had long been accustomed to obey, and the latter had been 
taught to fear and to respect.J 

Even before his jurisdiction received this legal sanction, Cortes ventured 
lo exercise all the powers of a governor, and, by various arrangements, 

* Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iii. c. Ifi. 3. dec. 4. c. 1. <'ort. Relat. 281. E. B. Diaz. c. 158. f Hist, 
of Charles V. b. iii. i Uerrera, dec. 3. IjI>. if. c 3. Gomara Cron. c. 164,165. B. Diaz, 
167. 168 



AMERICA. 257 

endeavoured to render his conquest a secure and beneficial acquisition 
(o his country. He determined to establish the seat of government in its 
ancient station, and to raise Mexico ag.iin from its ruins ; and having con- 
ceived high ideas concerning the ftitUre grandeur of the state of which he 
was laying the foundation, he began to rebuild its capital on a plan which 
hath gradual!}^ formed the most magnificent city in the New World. At 
(he same tim.e, he employed skilful persons to search for mines, in different 
parts of the country, and opened some which were found to be richer than 
any which the Spaniards had hitherto discovered in America. He detached 
his principal officers into the remote provinces, and encouraged them to 
settle there, not only by bestowing upon them large tracts of land, but by- 
granting them the same dominion over the Indians, and the same right to 
their service, which the Spaniards had assumed in the islands. 

[t was not, however, without difficulty that the Mexican empire could 
be entirely reduced into the form of a Spanish colony. Enraged and ren- 
dered desperate by oppression, (he natives often foi^ot the superiority of 
their enemies, and ran to arms \n defence of their liberties. In every 
contest, however, the European valour and discipline prevailed. But 
fatally for the honour of their country, the Spaniards sullied the glory 
redounding from these repeated victories by their mode of treating the 
vanquished people. After taking Guatimozin, and becoming masters of 
his capital, they supposed that the king of Castile entered on possession of 
all the rights of the captive monarch, and affected to consider every effort 
of the Alexicans to assert their own independence, as the rebellion of 
vassals against their sovereign, or the mutiny of slaves against their master. 
Under the sanction of those ill founded maxims, they violated every right 
that should be held sacred between hostile nations. After each insurrec- 
tion, they reduced the common people, in the provinces which they sub- 
dued, to the most humiliating of all conditions, that of personal servitude. 
Their chiefs, supposed to be more criminal, were punished with greater 
severity, and put to death in the most ignominious or the most excruciating 
mode that the insolence or the cruelty of their conquerors could devise. 
In almost every district of the Mexican empire, the progress of the Spa- 
nish arms is marked with blood, and with deeds so atrocious as disgrace 
the enterprising valour that conducted them to success. In the country of 
Panuco, sixty caziques or leaders, and four hundred nobles, were burned 
at one time. Nor was this shocking barbarity perpetrated in any sudden 
sally of rage, or by a commander ol inferior note. It was the act of San- 
doval, an officer whose name is entitled to the second rank in the annals of 
New Spain, and executed after a solemn consultation with Cortes ; and to 
complete the horror of the scene, the children and relations of the wretched 
victims were assembled, and compelled to be spectators of their dying 
agonies.* It seems hardly possible to exceed in hoiTor this dreadful ex- 
ample of severity ; but it was followed by another, which affected the 
Mexicans still more sensibly, as it gave them a most feeling proof of their 
own degradation, and of the small re^^ard which their haughty masters 
retained for the ancient dignity and splendour of their state. On a slight 
suspicion, contirmed by ver}'' impertect evidence, that Guatimozin had 
formed a scheme to shake off the yoke, and to excite his former subjects 
to take arms, Cortes, without the formality of a trial, ordered the unhappy 
monarch, together with the caziques of Tezeuco and Tacuba, the two 
persons of greatest eminence in the empire, to be hanged ; and the 
Mexicans, with astonishm.ent and horror, beheld this disgraceful punish 
ment inflicted upon persons to whom they were accustomed to look up 
with reverence nardly inferior to that which they paid to the gods thera 
selves! [122]. The example of Cortes and his principal officers encou 

* Cortes Relat. 291. C. Goraara Cron. c. 155. t Gomara Cron: c. 170. B. Diaz, c. 177j 

Ilerirra, dec. 3. lib. viii. e. 9. 

Vol. I.— 33 13 



SCtJ HISTORY OF [Book V. 

raged and justified cersons of subordinate rank to venture upon committing 
greater excesses, ^funo de Guzman, in particular, stained an illustrious 
name by deeds of peculiar enormity and rigour, in various expeditions 
which he conducted.* 

One circumstance, however, saved the Mexicans from further consump- 
tion, perhaps from as complete as that which had depopulated the islands. 
The first conquerors did not attempt to search for the precious metals in 
the bowels of the earth. They were neither sufficiently wealthy to carry 
on the expensive works which are requisite for opening those deep recesses 
where nature has concealed the veins of gold and silver, nor sufficiently 
skilful to perform the ingenious operations by which those precious metals 
are separated from their respective ores. They were satisfied with the 
more simple method, practised by the Indians, of washing the earth car- 
ried down rivers and torrents from the mountains, and collecting the grains 
of native metal deposited there. The rich mines of New Spain, which 
have poured forth their treasures with such profusion on e\erj quarter of 
the globe, were not discovered for several years after the conquest.! By 
that time [1552, &c.], a more orderly government and police were intro- 
duced into the colony ; experience, derived from former errors, had sug* 
gested many useful and humane regulations for the protection and preser- 
vation of the Indians ; and though it then became necessary to increase 
the number of those employed in the mines, and they were engaged in a 
species of labour more pernicious to the human constitution, they suffered 
less har^Jship or diminution than from the ill judged, but less extensive, 
schemes of the first conquerors. 

While it was the lot of the Indians to suffer, their new masters seemed 
not to have derived any considerable wealth from their ill conducted re- 
searches. According to the usual fate of first settlers in new colonies, it 
was their lot to encounter danger and to struggle with difficulties ; the 
fruits of their victories and toils were reserved for times of tranquillity, 
and reaped by successors of great industry, but of inferior merit. The 
early historians of America abound with accounts of the sufferings and of 
the poverty of its conquerors.]; In New Spain, their condition was ren- 
dered more grievous by a peculiar arrangement. When Charles V. ad- 
vanced Cortes to the government of that countiy, he at the same time 
appointed certain commissioners to receive and administer the royal reve- 
nue there, with independent jurisdiction. § These men, chosen from infe- 
rior stations in various departments of public business at Madrid, were so 
much elevated with their promotion, that they thought they were called 
to act a part of the first consequence. But being accustomed to the 
minute formalities of office, and having contracted the narrow ideas suited 
to the sphere in which they had hitherto moved, they were astonished on 
arriving in Mexico [1524], at the high authority which Cortes exercised, 
and could not conceive that the mode of administration, in a country re- 
cently subdued and settled, must be different from what took place in one 
where tranquillity and regular government had been long established. In 
their letters, they represented Cortes as an am.bitious tyrant, who, having 
usurped a jurisdiction superior to law, aspired at independence, and, by 
his exorbitant wealth and extensive influence, might accomplish those dis- 
loyal schemes which he apparenUy meditated. || These insinuations made 
such deep impression upon the Spanish ministers, most of v/hom had been 
formed to business under the jealous and rigid administration of Ferdi- 
nand, that, unmindful of all Cortes's past services, and regardlessof what 
he was then suffering in conducting that extraordinary expedition, in which 
he advanced from the lake of Mexico to the western extremities of Hon- 

* Herrera, dec. 4 and 5. passim. t n>id. dec. 8. lib. x. c. 21; J Cortes Relat 283. F. B 
Diaz, c. 209. $ Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 3. |J Ibid. dec. 3. lib. v. c. 14. 



AMERICA. 259 

duras [123], they infused the same suspicions into the minds of their mas- 
ter, and prevailed on him to order a solemn inquest to be made into hia 
conduct [1525], with powers to the licentiate Ponce de Leon, intrusted 
with that commission, to seize his person, if he should find that expedient, 
and send him prisoner to Spain.* 

The sudden death of Ponce de Leon, a few days after his arrival in New 
Spain, prevented the execution of this commission. But as the object ot 
his appointment was known, the mind of Cortes was deeply wounded 
with this unexpected return for services which far exceeded whatever any 
subject of Spain had rendered to his sovereign. He endeavoured, how- 
ever, to maintain his station, and to recover the confidence of the court. 
But every person in office, who had arrived from Spain since the conquest, 
was a spy upon his conduct, and with malicious ingenuity gave an unfa- 
vourable representation of all his actions. The apprehensions of Charles 
and his ministers increased. A new commission of inquiry was issued 
[l52fi], with more extensive powers, and various precautions were taken 
in order to prevent or to punish him, if he should be so presumptuous as 
to attempt what was inconsistent with the fidelity of a subject.! Cortes 
beheld the approaching crisis cf his fortune with all the violent emotions 
natural to a haughty mind conscious of high desert, and receiving unworthy 
treatment. But though some of his desperate followers urged him to assert 
his own rights against his ungrateful country, and with a bold hand to seize 
that power which the courtiers meanly accused hitn of coveting,J he re- 
tained such self command, or was actuated with such sentiments of loyalty^ 
as to reject their dangerous counsels, and to choose the only course in 
which he could secure his own dignity, without departing from his duty. 
He resolved not to expose himself to the ignominy of a trial in that coun- 
try which had been the scene of his triumphs ; but, without waiting for 
the arrival of his judges, to repair directly to Castile, and commit himself 
and his cause to the justice and generosity of his sovereign. § 

Cortes appeared in his native country with the splendour that suited the 
conqueror of a mighty kingdom. He brought with him a great part of his 
wealth, many jewels and ornaments of great value, several curious produc- 
tions of the country [l24], and was attended by some Mexicans of the first 
rank, as well as by the most considerable of his own officers. His arrival 
in Spain removed at once every suspicion and fear that had been enter- 
tained with respect to his intentions. The emperor, having now nothing 
to apprehend from the designs of Cortes, received him like a person whom 
consciousness of his own innocence had brought into the presence of his 
master, and who was entitled, by the eminence of his services, to the 
highest marks of distinction and respect. The order of St. Jago, the title 
of Marquis del Valle de Guaxaca, the grant of an ample territory in New 
Spain, were successively bestowed upon him ; and as his manners were 
correct and elegant, although he had passed the greater part of his life 
among rough adventurers, the emperor admitted him to the same familiar 
intercourse with himself, that was enjoyed by noblemen of the first rank.|| 

But, amidst those external proofs of regard, symptoms of remaining dis- 
trust appeared. Though Cortes earnestly solicited to be reinstated in the 
government of New Spain, Charles, too sagacious to commit such an im- 
portant charge to a man whom he had once suspected, peremptorily re- 
fused to invest him again with powers which he might find it impossible 
to control. Cortes, though dignified with new titles, returned to Mexico 
[1530], with diminished authority. The military department, with 

Sowers to attempt new discoveries, was left in his hands ; but the supreme 
irection of civil affairs was placed in a board called The Audience of 

* Herrera, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 14, 15. t Ibid. dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 15. dec. 4. lib. ii. c. 1. lib. Iv. 

e. 9, 10. B. Diaz, c. 172. 196. Gomara Cron. c. 1C6. i B. Diaz, c. 194. $ Hjerrera, de* 3L 
lib. Iv. c. 8. II Ibid. dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 1. lib. vi. c. 4. B. Diaz, c. 196. Gomara Cron. c. 192. 



260 HISTORY OF [Book V. 

JVVro Spain. At a subsequent period, when, upon the mcrease of the 
colcmy, the exertion of authority more united and extensive became neces- 
sary, Antonio de IMendoza, a nobleman of high rank, was sent thither as 
Viceroy, to take the government into his iiands. 

This division of power in New Spain proved, as was unavoidable, the 
source of perpetual dissension, which imbittered the life of Cortes, and 
thwarted all his schemes. As he had now no opportunity to display his 
active talents but in attempting new discoveries, he formed various schemes 
for that purpose, all of which bear impressions of a genius that delighted 
in what was bold and splendid. He early entertained an idea, that, either 
by steering through the Gulf of Florida along the east coast of North 
America, some strait would be found that communicated with the western 
ocean ; or that, by examining the isthmus of Darien, some passage would 
be discovered between the North and South Seas.* But having been dis- 
appointed in his expectations with respect to both, he now confined his 
views to such voyages of discovery as he could make from the ports of 
New Spain in the South Sea. There he fitted out successively several 
small squadrons, which either perished in the attempt, or returned without 
making any discoveiy of moment. Cortes, weary of intrusting the con- 
duct of his operations to others, took the command of a new armament in 
person [l5'36] ; and, after enduring incredible hardships, and encountering 
dangers of every species, he discovered the large peninsula of Calitornia, 
and surveyed the greater part of the gulf which separates it from New 
Spain. The discovery of a country of such extent would have reflected 
credit on a common adventurer ; but it could add little new honour to the 
name of Cortes, and was far from satisfying the sanguine expectations 
which he had formed.! Disgusted with ill success, to whicli he had not 
been accustomed, and weary of contesting with adversaries to whom he 
considered it as a disgrace to be opposed, he once more sought for redress 
in his native country [1540]. 

But his reception there was very different from that which gratitude, and 
even decency, ought to have secured for him. The merit of his ancient 
exploits was already, in a great measure, forgotten or eclipsed by the fame 
of recent and more valuable conquests in another quarter of America. No 
service of moment was now expected from a man of declining years, and 
who began to be unfortunate. The emperor behaved to him with cold 
civility ; his ministers treated him sometimes with neglect, sometimes with 
insolence. His grievances received no redress ; his claims were urged 
without effect ; and after several years spent in fruitless application to 
ministers and judges, an occupation the most irksome and mortifying to a 
man of high spirit, who had moved in a sphere where he was more ac- 
customed to command than to solicit, Cortes ended his days on the second 
of December, one thousand five hundred and forty-seven, in the sixty- 
second year of his age. His iate was the same with that of all the per- 
sons who distinguished themselves in the discovery or conquest of the 
New World. Envied by his contemporaries, and ill requited by the court 
which he served, he has been adm.ired and celebrated by succeeding ages. 
Which has formed the most just estimate of his character, an impartial 
consideration of his actions must determine. 

• Cortes Relat. Ram. Hi. 294. B. t Herrera, dec. 5. lib. viU. C 9, 10. dec R lib. vL C 14; Vo 
Hist of CaUfuiu. L 125. LorenziaAa Hist p. 333, &c. 



AMERICA. 261 



BOOK VI. 

1523.] From the time that Nugnez de Balboa discovered the great 
Southern Ocean, and received the first obscure hints concerning the opulent 
countries with which it might open a communication, the wishes and 
schemes of every enterprising peison in the colonies of Darien and Pa- 
nama were turned towards the wealth of those unknown regions. In an 
age when the spirit of adventure Avas so ardent and vigorous, that lai^e 
fortunes were wasted, and the most alarmir^ dangers braved, in pursuit 
of discoveries merely possible, the faintest raj'- of hope was followed with 
an eager expectation, and the slightest information was sutficient to inspire 
such perfect confidence as conducted men io the most arduous under- 
takings [l25l. 

Accordingly, several armaments vrere fitted out in order to explore and 
take possession of ihe countries to the east of Panama, but under the con- 
duct of leaders whose talents and resources were unequal to the attempt.* 
As the excursions of those adventurers did not extend beyond the limits 
of the province to which the Spaniards have given the name of Tierra 
Firme, a mountainous region covered with woods, thinly inhabited, and 
extremely unhealthy, they returned with dismal accounts concerning the 
distresses to which they had been exposed, and the unpromising aspect of 
the places which they had visited. Damped by these tidings, the rage 
for discovery in that direction abated; and it became the general opinion 
that Balboa had founded visionary hopes, on tlie tale of an ignorant Indian, 
ill understood, or calculated to deceive. 

1524.] But there were three persons settled in Panama, on whom the 
circumstances which deterred others made so little impression, that, at the 
very moment when all considered Balboa's expectations of discovering a 
rich country, by steering towards the east, as chimerical, they resolved to 
attempt the execution of his scheme. The names of those extraordinary 
men were Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, and Hernando Luque 
Pizarro was the natural son of a gentleman of an honourable family by a 
very low woman, and, accordii)g to the cruel fate which often attends the 
offspring of unlawful love, had been so totally neglected in his youth by 
the author of his birth, that he seems to have destined him never to rise 
beyond the condition of his mother. In consequence of this ungenerous 
idea, he set him, when bordering on manhood, to keep hogs. But the 
aspiring mind of young Pizarro disdaining that ignoble occupation, he 
abruptly abandoned his charge, enlisted as a soldier, and after serving 
some years in Italy, ergbarked for America, which, by opening such a 
boucdless range to active talents, allured every adventurer whose fortune 
was not equal to his ambitious thoughts. There Pizarro early distinguished 
himself. With a temper of mind no less daring than the constitution of 
bis body was robust, he was foremost in every danger, patient under the 
greatest hardships, and unsubdued by any fatigue. Though so illiterate 
that he could not even read, he was soon considered as a man formed to 
command. Every operation committed to his conduct proved successful, 
as, by a happy but rare conjunction, he united perseverance with ardour, 
and was as cautious in executing as he was bold in forming his plans. By 
engaging early in active life, without any resource but his own talents and 
industry, and by depending on himself alone in his struggles to emerge 
from obscurity, he acquired such a thorough knowledge o? affairs, and ol 

* Calaacba Coronica, p. 100. 



862 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

men, that he was fitted to assume a superior part in conducting the former, 
and in governing the latter.* 

Ahnagro had as little to boast of his descent as Pizarro. The one was 
a bastard, the other a foundling. Bred, like his companion, in the camp, 
he yielded not to him in any of the soldierly qualities of mtrepid valour, 
indefatigable activity, or insurmountable constancy in enduring the hard- 
ships inseparable from military service in the New World. But in Aimagro 
these virtues were accompanied with the openness, generosity, and candour, 
natural to men whose profession is arms ; in Pizarro, they were united with 
the address, the craft, and the dissimulation of a politician, with the art of 
concealing his own purposes, and with sagacity to penetrate into those of 
other men. 

Hernando de Luque was an ecclesiastic, who acted both as priest and 
schoolmaster at Panama, and, by means which the contemporary writers 
have not described, had amassed riches that inspired him with thoughts 
of rising to greater eminence. 

Such were the men destined to overturn one of the most extensive em- 
pires on the face of the earth. Their confederacy for this purpose was 
authorized by Pedrarias, the governor of Panama. Each engaged to 
''employ his whole fortune in the adventure. Pizarro, the least wealthy of 
the three, as he could not throw so large a sum as his associates into the 
common stock, engaged to take the department of greatest fatigue and 
danger, and to command in person the armament wnich was to go first 
upon discovery. Aimagro offered to conduct the supplies of provisions 
and reinforcements of troops, of which Pizarro might stand in need. 
Luque was to remain at Panama to negotiate with the governor, and 
superintend whatever was carrying on for the general interest. As the 
spirit of enthusiasm uniformly accompanied that of adventure in the New 
World, and by that strange union both acquired an increase of force, this 
confederacy, lormed by ambition and avarice, was confirmed by the most 
solemn act of religion. Luque celebrated mass, divided a consecrated 
host into three, and, reserving one part to himself, gave the other two to 
his associates, of which they partook ; and thus, in the name of the Prince 
of Peace, ratified a contract of which plunder and bloodshed were the 
objects.! 

The attempt was begun with a force more suited to the humble con- 
dition of the three associates than to the greatness of the enterprise in 
which they were engaged. Pizarro set sail from Panama [Nov. 14], with 
a single vessel of small burden and a hundred and twelve men. But in 
that age, so little were the Spanish acquainted with the peculiarities of 
the climate in America, that the time which Pizarro chose for his departure 
was the most improper in the whole year ; the periodical winds, which 
were then set in, being directly adverse to the course Avhich he proposed 
to steer.| After beating about for seventy days^with much danger and 
incessant fatigue, Pizarro's progress towards the south-east was not greater 
than what a skilful navigator will now make in as many hours. He 
touched at several places on the coast of Tierra Firme, but found every 
where the same uninviting country which former adventurers had described ; 
the low grounds converted into swamps by an overflowing of rivers ; the 
higher, covered with impervious woods i; few inhabitants, and those fierce 
and hostile. Famine, fatigue, frequent rencounters with the natives, and, 
above all, the distempers of a moist, sultry climate, combined in wasting 
his slender band of followers. [1525.1 The undaunted resolution of their 
leader continued, however, for some time, to sustain their spirits, although 
no sign had yet appeared of discovering those golden regions to which he 

• Herrera, dec. 1 & 2. passim, dec. 4. lib. vi. c. 107. Gomara Hist. c. 144. Zarate, lib. iv. c. 9 
t Herrera, dec. 3. lib. vi. c. 13. Zarate, lib. i. c. 1. :t Ibid. dec. 4, lib. ii. c. 8, Xerez, p. 179. 



AMERICA. 263 

had promised to conduct them. At length he was obliged to abandon that 
inhospitable coast, and retire to Chuchama, opposite to the pearl islands, 
where he hoped to receive a supply of provisions and troops from Panama. 

But Almagro, having sailed from that port with seventy men, stood 
directly towards that part of the continent where he hoped to meet with 
his associates. Not finding him there, he landed his soldiers, who, in 
searching for their companions, underwent the same distresses, and were 
exposed to the same dangers, which had driven them out of the country. 
Repulsed at length by the Indians in a sharp conflict, in which their leader 
lost one of his eyes by the wound of an arrow, they likewise were com 
pelled to re-embark. Chance led them to the place of Pizarro's retreat, 
where they found some consolation in recounting to each other their ad- 
ventures, and comparing their sufTeiings. As Almagro had advanced as 
far as the river St. Juan [June 24], in the province of Popayan, where 
both the country and inhabitants appeared with a more promising aspect, 
that dawn of better fortune was sufficient to determine such sanguine pro- 
jectors not to abandon their scheme, notwithstanding all that they had 
suffered in prosecuting it* [126]. 

1526.] Almagro repaired to Panama in hopes of recruiting their shat 
tered troops. But what he and Pizarro had suffered gave his countrymen 
such an unfavourable idea of the service, that it was with difficulty he could 
levy fourscore men.f Feeble as this reinforcement was, Almagro took the 
command of it, and, having joined Pizarro, they did not hesitate about 
resuming their operations. After a long series of disasters and disappoint- 
ments, not inferior to those which they had already experienced, part of 
the armament reached the Bay of St. Matthew, on the coast of Quito, and 
landing at Tacamez, to the south of the river of Emeraulds, they beheld 
a country more champaign and fertile than any thev had yet discovered in 
the Southern Ocean, the natives clad in garments of woollen or cotton stuflf, 
and adorned with several trinkets of gold and silver. 

But notwithstanding those favourable appearances, magnified beyond the 
truth, both by the vanity of the persons who brought the report from Taca- 
mez, and by the fond imagination of those who listened to them, Pizan'O 
and Almagro durst not venture to invade a country so populous with a 
handful of men enfeebled by fatigue and diseases. They retired to the 
small island of Gallo, where Pizarro remained with part oi the troops, and 
his associate returned to Panama, in hopes of bringing such a reinibrcement 
as might enable them to take possession of the opulent territories whose 
existence seemed to be no longer doubtful. J 

But some of the adventurers, less enterprising, or less hardy, than their 
leaders, having secretly conveyed lamentable accounts of their sufferings 
and losses to their friends at Panama, Almagro met with an unfavourable 
. reception from Pedro de los Rios, who had succeeded Pedrarias in the 
government of that settlement. After weighing the matter with that cold 
economical prudence which appears the first of all virtues to persons whose 
limited faculties are incapable of conceiving or executing great designs, he 
concluded an expedition, attended with such certain waste of men, to be so 
detrimental to an infant and feeble colony, that he not only prohibited the 
raising of new levies, but despatched a vessel to bring home Pizarro and 
his companions from the island of Gallo. Almagro and Luque, though 
deeply affected with those measures, which they could not prevent, and 
durst not oppose, found means of communicating their sentiments privately 
to Pizarro, and exhorted him not to relinquish an enterprise that was the 
foundation of all their hopes, and the only means of re-establishing their 
reputation and fcrtune, which were both on the decline. Pizarro's mind, 

* Ilerrera, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 11, 12. t Zarate, lib, 1 c. 1. J Xerez, 181. Herrera, deo- 

3. lib. viii. c. 13. 



264 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

bent with inflexible obstinacy on all its purposes, needed no incentive to 
persist in the scheme. He peremptorily refused to obey the governor of 
Panama's orders, and employed all his address and eloquence in persuading 
his men not to abandon him. But the incredible calamities to which they 
had been exposed were still so recent in their memories, and the thoughts 
of revisiting their families and friends, after a long absence, rushed ■with 
such joy into their minds, that when Pizarro drew a line upon the sand 
with his sword, permitting such as wished to return home to pass over it, 
only thirteen of all the daring veterans in his service had resolution to remain 
with their commander.* 

This small but determined band, whose names the Spanish historians 
record with deserved praise, as the persons to whose persevering fortitude 
their country is indebted for the most valuable of all its American posses- 
sions, fixed their residence in the island of Gorgona. This, as it was further 
removed from the coast than Gallo, and uninhabited, they considered as a 
more secure retreat, where, unmolested, they might wait for supplies from 
Panama, which they trusted that the activity of their associates would be 
able to procure. Almagro and Luque were not inattentive or cold solicitors, 
and their incessant importunity was seconded by the general voice of the 
colony, which exclaimed loudly against the infamy of exposing brave men, 
engaged in the public service, and chargeable with no error but what flowed 
from an excess of zeal and courage, to perish like the most odiogs criminals 
in a desert island. Overcome by those entreaties and expostulations, the 
governor at last consented to send a small vessel to their relief. But that 
he might not seem to encourage Pizarro to any new enterprise, he would 
not permit one landman to embark on board of it. 

By this time, Pizarro and his companions had remained five months in 
an island infamous for the most unhealthy climate in that region of Ameri- 
ca [127]. During all this period, their eyes were turned towards Panama, in 
hopes of succour from their countrjnnen ; but worn out at leno;th with fruit- 
less expectations, and dispirited with suffering hardships of which they saw 
no end, they, in despair, came to a resolution of committing themselves to 
the ocean on a float, rather than continue in that detestable abode. But,_on 
the arrival of tbe vessel from Panama, they were transported with such joy 
that all their sufferings were forgotten. Their hopes revived ; and, with a 
rapid transition not unnatural among men accustomed by their mode of liie 
to sudden vicissitudes of fortune, high confidence succeeding to extreme 
dejection, Pizarro easily induced not only his own followers, but the crew 
of the vessel from Panama, to resume his former scheme with fiesh ardour. 
Instead of returning to Panama, they stood towards the south-east, and, 
more fortunate in this than in any of their past efforts, they, on the twentieth 
day after their departure from Gorgona, discovered tbe coast of Peru. 
After touching at several villages near the shore, which they found to be 
nowise inviting, they landed at Tunibez, a place of some note about three 
degrees south of the line, distinguished for its stately temple, and a palace 
of the Incas or sovereigns of the country.! There the Spaniards feasted 
their eyes with the first view of the opulence and civilization of the Peru- 
vian empire. They beheld a country fully peopled, and cultivated with 
an appearance of regular industry ; the natives decently clothed, and pos- 
sessed of ingenuity so far surpassing the other inhabitants of the New World 
as to have the use of tame domestic animals. But what chiefly attracted 
their notice was such a show of gold and silver, not only in the ornaments 
of their persons and temples, but in several vessels and utensils for common 
use, formed of those precious metals, as left no room to doubt that they 
abounded with profusion in the country. Pizarro and his companions 

Herrera, dec. 3. lib. x. c 2, 3. Zarate, lib. i. c. 2. Xerez, 181. : Gomara Hist c. 109. t C»» 

laneba, p. 103 



AMERICA. 26* 

seemed now to have attained to the completion of their most sanguine hopes, 
and fancied that all their wishes and dreams of rich domains, and inex- 
haustible treasures, would soon be realized. 

But with the slender force then under his command, Pizarro could only 
vie^v the rich country of which he hoped hereafter to obtain possession. 
He ranged, however, for some time along the coast, maintaining every 
where a peaceable intercourse with the natives, no less astonished at then' 
new visitants than the Spaniards were with the uniform appearance of opu- 
lence and cultivation which they beheld. [1527.] Having explored the 
country as far as requisite to ascertain the importance of the discover}'', 
Pizarro procured from the inhabitants some of their Llamas or tame cattle, 
to which the Spaniards gave the name of sheep, some vessels of gold and 
silver, as Avell as some specimens of their other works of ingenuity, and two 
young men, whom he proposed to instruct in the Castilian language, that 
they might serve as interpreters in the expedition which he meditated. 
With these he arrived at Panama, towards the close of the third year from 
the time of bis depaiture thence.* No adventurer of the age suffered hard- 
ships or encountered dangers which equal those to which he was exposed 
during this long period. The patience with which he endured the one, 
and the fortitude with which he surmounted the other, exceed whatever is 
recorded in the history of the New World, where so many romantic dis- 
plays of those virtues occur. 

1528.] Neither the splendid relation that Pizarro gave of the incredible 
opulence of the country which he had discovered, nor his bitter complaiats 
on account of that unreasonable recall of his forces, which had put it out of 
his power to attempt making any settlement there, could move the governor 
of Panama to swerve from his former plan of conduct. He still contended, 
that the colony was not in a condition to invade such a mighty empire, and 
refused to authorize an expedition which he foresaw would be so alluring 
that it might ruin the province in which he presided, by an effort beyond 
its strength. His coldness, however, did not in any degree abate the ardour 
of the three associates ; but they perceived that they could not cany their 
scheme into execution without the countenance of superior authority, and 
must solicit their sovereign to grant that permission which they could not 
extort from his delegate. With this view, after adjusting among themselves 
that Pizarro should claim the station of governor, Almagro that of lieutenant- 
governor, and Luque the dignity of bishop in the country which they pro- 
posed to conquer, they sent Pizarro as their agent to Spain, though their 
fortunes were now so much exhausted by the repeated efforts which they 
had made, that they found some difficulty in borrowing the small sum 
requisite towards equipping him for the voyage.j 

Pizarro lost no time in repairing to court ; and new as the scene 
might be to him, he appeared before the emperor with the unembarrassed 
dignity of a man conscious of what his services merited ; and he conducted 
his negotiations with an insinuating dexterity of address, which could not 
have been expected either from his education or former habits of life. His 
feeling description of his own sufferings, and his pompous account of the 
countiy which he had discovered, confirmed by the specimens of its pro- 
ductions which he exhibited, made such an impression both on Charles and 
his ministers, that they not only approved of the intended expedition, but 
seemed to be interested in the success of its leader. Presuming on those 
dispositions in his favour, Pizarro paid little attention to the interest of his 
associates. As the pretensions of Luf]ue did not interfere with bis own, he 
obtained for him the ecclesiastical dignity to which he aspired. For Al- 
magro he claimed only the command of the ibrtress which should be erected 

• Herrera, dec. 3. lib. x. c. 3—6. dec. 4. lib. ii. c. 7, 8. Vega, 2. lib. i. c, 10—14. 7ai ate, lib. 1. 
c 2. Benzo Hist. Novi Orbis, lib. iii. c. 1. t Herrera, dec. 4. lib. iii, c. 1. Vega, 2. lib. i. c. 14. 

Vol. I.— 34 



866 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

at Tumbez. To himself he secured whatever his boundless ambition 
could desire. He was appointed [July 26], governor, captain-general, and 
adelantado of all the country which he had discovered, and hoped to con- 
quer, with supreme authority, civil as well as military ; and with full right 
to all the privileges and emoluments usually granted to adventurers in the 
New World. His jurisdiction was declared to extend two hundred leagues 
along the coast to the south of the river St. Jago ; to be independent oi the 
governor of Panama ; and he had power to nominate all the officers who 
were to serve under him. In return for those concessions, which cost the 
court of Spain nothing-, as the enjoyment of them depended upon the success 
of Pizarro's own efforts, he engaged to raise two hundred and fifty men, 
and to provide the ships, arms, and warlike stores requisite towards sub- 
jecting to the crown of Castile the country of which the government was 
allotted him. 

1529.] Inconsiderable as the body of men was which Pizarro had un- 
dertaken to raise, his funds and credit were so low that he could hardly 
complete half the number ; and after obtaining his patents from the crown, 
he was obliged to steal privately out of the port of Seville, in order to 
elude the scrutiny of the officers, who had it in charge to examine whether 
he had fulfilled the stipulations in his contract.* Before his departure, 
however, he received some supply of money from Cortes, who having 
returned to Spain about this time, was willing to contribute his aid towards 
enabling an ancient companion, with whose talents and courage he was 
well acquainted, to begin a career of glory similar to that which he himselt 
had finished.! 

He landed at Nombre de Dios, and marched across the isthmus to 
Panama, accompanied by his three brothers Ferdinand, Juan, and Gon- 
zalo, of whom the first was born in lawful wedlock, the two latter, like 
himself, were of illegitimate birth, and by Francisco de Alcantara, his 
mother's brother. They were all in the prime of life, and of such abilities 
and courage as fitted them to take a distinguished part in his subsequent 
transactions. 

1530.] On his arrival at Panama, Pizarro found Almagro so much exas- 
perated at the manner in which he had conducted his negotiation, that he 
not only refused to act any longer in concert with a man by whose perfidy 
he had been excluded from the power and honours to which he had a just 
claim, but laboured to form a new association, in order to thwart or to 
rival his former confederate in his discoveries. Pizarro, however, had 
more Avisdom and address than to suffer a rupture so fatal to all his schemes, 
to become irreparable. By offering voluntarily to relinquish the office of 
adelantado, and promising to concur in soliciting that title, with an inde- 
pendent government for Almagro, he gradually mitigated the rage of an 
open-hearted soldier, which had been violent, but was not implacable. 
Luque, highly satisfied with having been successful in all his own preten- 
sions, cordially seconded Pizarro's endeavours. A reconciliation was 
effected, and the confederacy renewed on its original terms, that the enter- 
prise should be carried on at the common expense of the associates, and 
the profits accruing from it should be equally divided among them. J 

Even after their reunion, and the utmost efforts of their interest, three 
small vessels, with a hundred and eighty soldiers, thirty-six of whom were 
horsemen, composed the armament Avhich they were able to fit out. But 
the astonishing progress of the Spaniards in America had inspired them 
with such ideas of their own superiority, that Pizarro did not hesitate to 
sail with this contemptible force, [Feb. 1531] to invade a great empire. 
Almagro was left at Panama, as formerly, to follow him with what rein- 

• Henera, dec. 4. lib. vil. c. 9. t Ibid. lib. vii. c. 10. *, Ibid. dec. 4. lib. vii. o. 9. Zwat 
Ub. L c. 3. Vega, a. lib. i. c. 14. 



AMERICA. 267 

forcement of men he should be able to muster. As the season for embarking 
was properly chosen, and the course of navigation between Panama ana 
Peru was now better known, Pizarro completed the voyage in thirteen 
days ; though by the force of the winds and currents he was carried above 
a hundred leagues to the north of Tumbez, the place of his destination, 
and obliged to land his troops in the bay of Saint 3Iatthew. Without 
'osing a moment, he began to advance towards the south, taking care, how- 
ever, not to depart far from the seashore, both that he might easily effect a 
junction with the supplies which he expected from Panama, and secure a 
retreat in case of any disaster, by keeping as near as possible to his ships. 
But as the country in several parts on the coast of Peru is barren, unhealth- 
f'ul, and thinly peopled ; as the Spaniards had to pass all the rivers near 
their mouth, where the body of water is greatest ; and as the imprudence 
of Pizarro, in attacking the natives when he should have studied to gain 
their confidence, had forced them to abandon their habitations ; famine, 
fatigue, and diseases of various kinds brought upon him and his followers, 
calamities hardly inferior to those which they had endured in their former 
expedition. What they now experienced corresponded so ill with the 
alluring description of the country given by Pizarro, that many began to 
reproach him, and every soldier must have become cold to the service, if 
even in this unfertile region of Peru, they had not met with some appear- 
ances of wealth and cultivation, which seemed to justify the report of 
their leader. At length they; reached the province of Coaque [April 14] ; 
and having surprised the principal settlement of the natives, they seized 
their vessels and ornaments of gold and silver, to the amount of thirty 
thousand pesos, with other booty of such value as dispelled all their doubts, 
and inspired the most desponding with sanguine hopes.* 

Pizarro himself was so much delighted with this rich spoil, which he 
considered as the first fruits of a land abounding with treasure, that he 
instantly despatched one of his ships to Panama with a large remittance to 
Almagro ; and another to Nicaragua with a considerable sum to several 
persons of influence in that province, in hopes of alluring adventurers by 
this early display of the wealth which he had acquired. Meanwhile, he 
continued his march along the coast, and disdaining to employ any means 
of reducing the natives but force, he attacked them with such violence in 
their scattered habitations, as compelled them either to retire into the inte- 
rior country, or to submit to his yoke. This sudden appearance of invaders, 
whose aspect and manners were so strange, and whose power seemed to 
be so irresistible, made the same dreadful impression as in other parts of 
America. Pizarro hardly met with resistance until he attacked the island 
of Puna in the bay of Guayaquil. As that was better peopled than the 
country through which he had passed, and its inhabitants fiercer and less 
civilized than those of the continent, they defended themselves with sucli 
obstinate valour, that Pizarro spent six months in reducing them to sub- 
jection. From Puna he proceeded to Tumbez, where the distempers 
which raged among his men compelled him to remain for three months.! 

While he was thus employed, he began to reap advantage from his 
attention to spread the fame of his first success to Coaque. Two dif- 
ferent detachments arrived from Nicaragua [1532], which, though neither 
exceeded thirty men, he considered as a reinforcement of great consequence 
to his feeble band, especially as the one was under the command of Sebas- 
tian Benalcazar, and the other of Hernando Soto, officers not inferior in 
merit and rejiutation to any who had served in America. From Tumbez 
he proceeded to the river riura [May 16], and in an advantageous station 
near the mouth of it he established the first Spanish colony in Peru; to 
which he gave the name of St. Michael. 

* Herrera, dec. 4. lib. rii. c. 9. lib. ii. c. 1. Xeicz, 182, f P. Sancho ap Ramus, iii. p. 371. F. 
Herrera, dec. 4. lib. vii. c. 18. lib. ix. c. 1. Zarate, lib. ii. c. 2, 3. Xcrez, p. 182, &c. 



S68 HISTORY OF LBook VI. 

As Pizarro continued to advance towards the centre of the Peruvian 
empire, he gradually received more full information concerning its extent 
and policy, as well as the situation of its affairs at that juncture. Without 
some knowledge of these, he could not have conducted his operations with 
propriety ; and without a suitable attention to them, it is impossible to 
account for the progress which the Spaniards had already made, or to 
unfold the causes of their subsequent success. 

At the time when the Spaniards invaded Peru, the dominions of its 
sovereigns extended in length, from north to south, above fifteen hundred 
miles along the Pacific Ocean. Its breadth, from east to west, was much 
less considerable ; being uniibrmly bounded by the vast ridge of the Andes, 
stretching from its one extremity to the other. Peru, like the rest of the 
New World, was originally possessed by small independent tribes, differing 
from each other in manners, and in their forms of rude policy. All, how- 
ever, were so little civilized, that, if the traditions concerning their mode 
of life, preserved among their descendants, deserve credit, they must 
be classed among the most unimproved savages of America. Strangers 
to every species of cultivation or regular industry, without any fixed 
residence, and unacquainted v/ith those sentiments and obligations which 
form the first bonds of social union, they are said to have loamed about 
naked in the forests, with which the country was then covered, more like 
wild beasts than like men. After they had struggled for several ages 
with the hardships and calamities which are inevitable in such a state, and 
when no circumstance seemed to indicate the approach of any uncommon 
effort towards improvement, we are told that there appeared, on the banks 
of the lake Titiaca, a man and woman of majestic form, clothed in decent 
garments- They declared themselves to be children of the Sun, sent by 
their beneficent parent, who beheld with pity the miseries of the human 
race, to instruct and to reclaim them. At their persuasion, enibrced by 
reverence for the divinity in whose name they were supposed to speak, 
several of the dispersed savages united together, and, receiving their com- 
mands as heavenly injunctions, followed them to Cuzco, where they settled, 
and began to lay the foundations of a city. 

Manco Capac and Mama Ocollo, for such were the names of those 
extraordinary personages, having thus collected some wandering tribes, 
formed that social union which, by multiplying the desires and uniting the 
efforts of the human species, excites industiy and leads to improvement. 
Manco Capac instructed the men in agriculture, and other uselul arts. 
Mama Ocollo taught the women to spin and to weave. By the labour of 
the one sex, subsistence became less precarious ; by that of the other, 
life was rendered more comfortable. After securing the objects of first 
necessity in an infant state, by providing food, raiment, and hai)itations for 
the rude people of whom he toolc charge, Manco Capac turned bis attention 
towards introducing such laws and policy as might perpetuate their happi- 
ness. By his institutions, which shall be more particularly explained 
hereafter, the various relations in private life were established, and the 
duties resulting from them prescribed with such propriety, as gradually 
formed a barbarous people to decency of manners. In public adminis- 
tration, the functions of persons in authority were so precisely defined, and 
the subordination of those under their jurisdiction maintained v\'ith such a 
steady hand, that the society in which he presided soon assumed the aspect 
of a regular and well governed state. 

Thus, according to the Indian tradition, was founded the empire of the 
Incas or Lords of Peru. At first its extent was small. The territor}' of 
Manco Capac did not reach above eight leagues from Cuzco. But within 
its narrow precincts he exercised absolute and uncontrolled authority. 
His successors, as their dominions extended, arrogated a similar jurisdiction 



AMERICA. 269 

over the new subjects which they acquired ; the despotism of Asia was 
not more complete. The Incas were not only obeyed as monarchs, but 
revered as divinities. Their blood was held to be sacred, and, by prohi- 
biting intermarriages with the people, was never contaminated by mixing 
with that of any other race. The family, thus separated from the rest of 
the nation, was distinguished by peculiarities in dress and ornaments, which 
it was unlawful for others to assume. The monarch himself appeared 
with ensigns of royalty reserved for him alone ; and received from his 
subjects marks of obsequious homage and respect which approached aknost 
to adoration. 

But, among the Peruvians, this unbounded power of their monarch 
seems to have been uniformly accompanied with attention to the good o 
their subjects. It Avas not the rage of conquest, if we may believe the 
accounts of their countrymen, that prompted the Incas to extend their 
dominions, but the desire of diffusing the blessings of civilization, and the 
knowledge of the arts which they possessed, among the barbarous people 
whom they reduced. During a succession of twelve monarchs, it is said 
that not one deviated from this beneficent character.* 

When the Spaniards first visited the coast of Peru, in the year one 
thousand five hundred and twenty-six, Huana Capac, the twelfth monarch 
from the founder of the state, was seated on the throne. He is represented 
as a prince distinguished not only for the pacific virtues peculiar to the race, 
but eminent for his martial talents. By his victorious arms the kingdom 
of Q,uito was subjected, a conquest of such extent and importance as almost 
doubled the power of the Peruvian empire. He was fond of residing in 
the capital of that valuable province which he had added to his dominions ; 
and notwithstanding the ancient and fundamental law of the monarchy 
against polluting the royal blood by any foreign alliance, he married the 
daughter ot" the vanquished monarch of Qiiito. She bore him a son named 
Atahualpa, whom, on his death at Qin'to, which seems to have happened 
about the year one thousand five hundred and twenty-nine, he appointed 
his successor in that kingdom, leaving the rest of his dominions to Huascar, 
his eldest son by another of the royal race. Greatly as the Peruvians 
revered the memory of a monarch who had reigned with greater reputation 
and splendour than any of his predecessors, the destination of Huana Capac 
concerning the succession appeared so repugnant to a maxim coeval with the 
empire, and founded en authority deemed sacred, that it was no sooner 
known at Cuzco than it excited general disgust. Encouraged by those sen- 
timents of his subjects, Huascar required his brother to renounce the govern- 
ment of Quito, and to acknowledge him as his lawful superior. But it had 
been the first care of Atahualpa to gain a large body of troops which had 
accompanied his father to Quito. These were the flower of the Peruvian 
warriors, to whose valour Huana Capac had been indebted for all his vic- 
tories. Relying on their support, Atahualpa first eluded his brother's 
demand, and then marched against him in hostile an-ay. 

Thus the ambition of two young men, the title of the one founded on 
ancient usage, and that of the other asserted by the veteran troops, involved 
Peru in a civil war, a calamity to which, under a succession of virtuous 
princes, it had hitherto been a stranger. In such a contest the issue was 
obvious. The force of arms triumphed over the authority of laws 
Atahualpa remained victorious, and made a cruel use of his victory. Con- 
scious of the defect in his own title to the crown, he attempted to exter- 
minate the royal race, by putting to death all the children of the Sun 
descended from Manco Capac, whom he could seize either by force or 
stratagem. From a political motive, the life of his unfortunate rival 
Huascar, who had been taken prisoner in a battle which decided the fate 

• Cieca de Leon, Chron. c. 44, Herrera, dec. 3. lib, x. c. 4. dec. 5, lib. iii. c. 17. 



270 HISTORY OF [Book VI 

of the empire, was prolonged for some time, that by issuing' orders in bn 
name, the usurper might more easily establish his own authority.* 

When Pizarro landed in the bay of St. Matthew, this civil war raged 
between the two brothers in its greatest fury. Had he made any hostile 
attempt in his former visit to Peru, in the year one thousand five hundred 
and twenty-seven, he must then have encountered the force of a powerful 
state, united under a monarch possessed of capacity as well as courage, 
and unembarrassed with any care that could divert him from opposing his 
progress. But at this time, the two competitors, though they received 
early accounts of the arrival and violent proceedings of the Spaniards, 
were so intent upon the operations of a war which they deemed more 
interesting, that they paid no attention to the motions of an enemy, too 
inconsiderable in number to excite any great alarm, and to whom it would 
be easy, as they imagined, to give a check when more at leisure. 

By this fortunate coincidence of events, whereof Pizarro could have no 
foresight, and of which, from his defective mode of intercourse with the 
people of the country, he remained long ignorant, he was permitted to 
carry on his operations unmolested, afld advanced to the centre of a great 
empire before one effort of its power was exerted to stop his career. 
During their progress, the Spaniards had acquired some imperfect know- 
ledge of this struggle between the two contending factions. The first 
complete information with respect to it they received Irom messengers 
whom Huascar sent to Pizarro, in order to solicit his aid against Atahualpa, 
whom he represented as a rebel and a usurper.! Pizarro perceived at 
once the importance of this intelligence, and foresaw so clearly all the 
advantages which might be derived from this divided state of the "kingdom 
which he had invaded, that without waiting for the reinforcement which 
he expected from Panama, he determined to push forward, while intestine 
discord put it out of the power of the Peruvians to attack him with their 
whole force, and while, by taking part, as circumstances should incline 
him, with one of the competitors, he might be enabled with greater ease 
to crush both. Enterprising as the Spaniards of that age were in all their 
operations against Americans, and distinguished as Pizarro was among his 
countrymen for daring courage, we can hardly suppose that, after having 
proceeded hitherto slowly, and with much caution, he would have changed 
at once his system of operation, and have ventured upon a measure so 
hazardous, without some new motive or prospect to justify it. 

As he was obliged to divide his troops, in order to leave a garrison in 
St. Michael, sufficient to defend a station of equal importance as a place of 
retreat in case of any disaster, and as a port for receiving any supplies 
which should come from Panama, he began his march with a very slender 
and ill-accoutred train of followers. They consisted of sixty- two horse- 
men [l28], and a hundred and two foot soldiers, of whom twenty were 
armed with cross bows, and three with muskets. He directed his course 
towards Caxamalca, a small town at the distance of twelve days' march 
from St. Michael, where Atahualpa was encamped with a considerable 
body of troops. Before he had proceeded far, an officer despatched by 
the Inca met him with a valuable present from that prince, accompanied 
with a proffir of his alliance, and assurances of a friendly reception at 
Caxamalca. Pizarro, according to the usual artifice of his countiymen in 
America, pretended to come as the ambassador of a very powerful monarch, 
and declaring that he was now advancing with an intention to offer 
Atahualpa his aid against those enemies who disputed his title to the 
throne. J 
As the object of the Spaniards in entering their country was altogether 

* Zarate, lib. i. c. 15. Vega, 1. lib. ix. c. 12. and 33 — 10. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. i. c. 2. lib. iii. C. 17, 
t Zarate, lib. ii. c. 3, t Ucrrera, dec. 5, nb. i. c. 3. Xerez, p. 189 



AMERICA. 271 

incomprehensible to the Peruvians, they had formed various conjectures 
concerning it without being able to decide whether they should consider 
their new guests as beings of a superior nature, who had visited them from 
some beneficent motive, or as formidable avengers of their crimes, and 
enemies to their repose and liberty. The continual professions of the 
Spaniards, that they came to enlighten them with the knowledge of truth, 
and lead them in the way of happiness, favoured the former opinion ; the 
outrages which they committed, their rapaciousness and cruelty, were 
awful confirmations of the latter. While in this state of uncertainty, 
Pizarro's declaration of his pacific intentions so far removed all the Inca's 
fears that he determined to give him a friendly reception. In consequence 
of this resolution, the Spaniards were allowed to march in tranquillity 
across the sandy desert between St. Michael and Motupe, where the most 
feeble effort of an enemy, added to the unavoidable distresses which they 
suffered in passing through that comfortless region, must have proved fatal 
to them [129]. From Motupe they advanced towards the mountains which 
encompassed the low country of Peru, and passed through a defile so 
narrow and inaccessible, that a few men might have defended it against a 
numerous army. But here likewise, from the same inconsiderate credulity 
of the Inca, the Spaniards met with no opposition, and took quiet possession 
of a fort erected for the security of that important station. As they now 
approached near to Caxamalca, Atahualpa renewed his professions of 
friendship ; and, as an evidence of their sincerity, sent them presents of 
greater value than the former. 

On entering Caxamalca, Pizarro took possession of a large court, on one 
side of which was a house which the Spanish historians call a palace of 
the Inca, and on the other a temple of the Sun, the whole surrounded with 
a strong rampart or wall of earth. When he had posted his troops in this 
advantageous station, he despatched his brother Ferdinand and Hernando 
Soto to the camp of Atahualpa, which was about a league distant from 
the town. He instructed tfiemifO confirm the declaration which he had 
formerly made of his pacific disposition, and to desire an interview with 
the Inca, that he might explain more fully the intention of the Spaniards 
in visiting his country. They were treated with all the respectful hospi- 
tality usual among the Peruvians in the reception of their most cordial 
friends, and Atahualpa promised to visit the Spanish commander next day 
in his quarters. The decent deportment of the Peruvian monarch, the 
order of his court, and the reverence with which his subjects approached 
his person and obeyed his commands, astonished those Spaniards who had 
never met in America with any thing more dignified than the petty cazique 
of a barbarous iribe. But their eyes were still powerfully attracted by 
the vast profusion of wealth which they observed in the Inca's camp. 
The rich ornaments worn by him and his attendants, the vessels of gold 
and silver in which the repast offered to them was served up, the multitude 
of utensils of every kind formed of those precious metals, opened prospects 
far exceeding any idea of opulence that a European of the sixteenth cen- 
tury could form. 

On their return to Caxamalca, while their minds were yet warm with 
admiration and desire of the wealth which they had beheld, they gave 
such a description of it to their countrymen as confirmed Pizarro in a re- 
solution which he had already taken. From his own observation of Ame- 
rican manners during his long service in the New World, as well as from 
the advantages which Cortes had derived from seizing Montezuma, he 
knew of what consequence it was to have the Inca in his power. For 
this purpose, he formed a plan as daring as it was perfidious. Notwith- 
standing the character that he had assumed of an ambassador from a power- 
ful monarch, who courted an alliance with the Inca, and in violation of the 
repeated oflfers which he had made to him of his own friendship and assist- 



272 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

ance, he determined to avail himself of the unsuspicious simplicity with 
which Atahualpa relied on his professions, and to seize the person of the 
Inca during the interview to which he had invited him. He prepared for 
the execution of his scheme with the same deliberate arrangement, and 
with as little compunction as if it had reflected no disgrace on himself or 
his country. He divided his cavalry into three small squadrons, under the 
command of his brother Ferdinand, Soto, and Benalcazar ; his infantry 
were formed in one body, except twenty of most tried courage, whom he 
kept near his own person to support him in the dangerous service, which 
he reserved for himself; the artillery, consisting of two iieldpieces,* and 
the cross bowmen, were placed opposite to the avenue by which Atnhu- 
alpa was to approach. All were commanded to keep within the square, 
and not to move until the signal for action was given. 

Early in the morning [Nov. 16] the Peruvian camp was all in motion. 
But as Atahualpa was solicitous to appear with the greatest splendour and 
magnificence in his first interview with the strangers, the preparations ibr 
this were so tedious that the dny was far advanced before he began his 
march. Even then, lest the order of the procession should be deranged, 
he moved so slowly, that the Spaniards became impatient, and apprehen- 
sive that some suspicion of their intention might be the cause of this delay. 
In order to remove this, Pizarro despatched one of his officers with fresh 
assurances of his friendly disposition. At length the Inca approached. 
First of all appeared four hundred men, in a uniform dress, as harbingers 
to clear the way before him. He himself, sitting on a throne or couch 
adorned with plumes of various colours, and almost covered with plates of 
gold and silver enriched with precious stones, was carried on the shoul- 
ders of his principal attendants. Behind him came some chief officers of 
his court, carried in the same manner. Several bands of singers and 
dancers accompanied this cavalcade ; and the whole plain was covered 
with troops, amounting to more than thirty thousand men. 

As the Inca drew near the Spanish quarters, Father Vincent Valverde, 
chaplain to the expedition, advanced with a crucifix in one hand, and a 
breviary in the other, and in a long discourse explained to him the doctrine 
of the creation, the fall of Adam, the incarnation, the sufferings and resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ, the appointment of St. Peter as God's vicegerent 
on earth, the transmission of his apostolic power by succession to the 
Popes, the donation made to the King of Castile by Pope Alexander of 
all the regions of the New World. In consequence of all this, he required 
Atahualpa to embrace the Christian faith, to acknowledge the supreme ju- 
risdiction of the Pope, and to submit to the King of Castile as his lawful 
sovereign; promising, if he complied instantly with this requisition, that 
the Castilian monarch would protect his dominions, and permit him to 
continue in the exercise of his royal authority ; but if he should impiously 
refuse to obey this summons, he denounced war against him in his master's 
name, and threatened him with the most dreadful effects of his vengeance. 

This strange harangue, unfolding deep mysteries, and alluding to unknown 
facts, of which no power of eloquence could have conveyed at once a dis- 
tinct idea to an American, was so lamely translated by an unskilful inter- 
preter, little acquainted with the idiom of the Spanish tongue, and incapa- 
ble of expressing himself with propriety in the language of the Inca, that 
its general tenour was altogether incomprehensible to Ataliualpa. Some 
parts in it, of more obvious meaning, filled him with astonishment and in- 
dignation. His reply, however, was temperate. He began with observing, 
that he was lord of the dominions over which he reigned by hereditary 
succession ; and added, that he could not conceive how a foreign priest 
should pretend to dispose of territories which did not belong to him ; that 

• Xerez, p. 194 



AMERICA. 273 

if* such a preposterous grant had been made, he, who vyas the rightful pos- 
sessor, refused to confirm it ; that he had no inclination to renounce the 
religious institutions established by his ancestors ; nor would he forsake 
the service of the Sun, the immortal divinity whom he and his people re- 
vered, in order to worship the God of the Spaniards, Avho was subject to 
death ; that with respect to other matters contained in his discourse, as he 
had never heard of them before, and did not now understand their mean- 
ing, he desired to know where the priest had learned things so extraordi 
nary. " In this book," answered Valverde, reaching out to him his bre- 
viary. The Inca opened it eagerly, and, turning over the leaves, lifted it 
to his ear : " This," says he, " is silent ; it tells me nothing;" and threw 
it with disdain to the ground. The enraged monk, running towards his 
countrymen, cried out, " To arms. Christians, to arms ; the word of God 
is insulted ; avenge this profanation on those impious dogs" [130]. 

Pizarro, who, during this long conference, had with difficulty restrained 
his soldiers, eager to seize the rich spoils of which they had now so near 
a view, immediately gave the signal of assault. At once the martial music 
struck up, the cannon and muskets began to fire, the horse sallied out 
fiercely to the charge, the infantry rushed on sword in hand. The Peru- 
vians, astonished at the suddenness of an attack which they did not expect, 
and dismayed with the destructive effect of the firearms, and the irresisti- 
ble impression of the cavalry, fled with universal consternation on every 
side, without attempting either to annoy the enemy, or to defend them- 
selves. Pizarro, at the head of his chosen band, advanced directly to- 
wards the Inca ; and though his nobles crowded around him with officious 
zeal, and fell in numbers at his feet, while they vied one with another in 
sacrificing their own lives, that they might cover the sacred person of 
their sovereign, the Spaniards soon penetrated to the royal seat ; and Pi- 
zarro, seizing the Inca by the arm, dragged him to the ground, and carried 
him as a prisoner to his quarters. The fate of the monarch increased ihe 
precipitate flight of his followers. The Spaniards pursued them towards 
every quarter, and with deliberate and unrelenting barbarity continued to 
slaughter wretched fugitives, who never once ofl'ered to resist. The car- 
nage did not cease until the close of day. Above four thousand Peru- 
vians were killed. Not a single Spaniard fell, nor was one wounded but 
Pizarro himself, whose hand was slightly hurt by one of his own soldiers, 
while struggling eagerly to lay hold on the Inca [l3l]. 

The plunder of the field was rich beyond any idea which the Spaniards 
had yet formed concerning the wealth of Peru ; and they were so trans- 
ported with the value of the acquisition, as well as the greatness of their 
success, that they passed the night in the extravagant exultation natural to 
mdigent adventurers on such an extraordinary change of fortune. 

At first the captive monarch could hardly believe a calamity which he 
so little expected to be real. But he soon felt all the misery of his fate, 
and the dejection into which he sunk was in proportion to the height of 
grandeur Irom which he had f^illen. Pizarro, afraid of losing all the ad- 
vantages which he hoped to derive from the possession of such a prisoner, 
laboured to console him with professions of kindness and respect, that cor- 
responded ill with his actions. By residing among the Spaniards, the Inca 
quickly discovered their ruling passion, which indeed they were nowise 
solicitous to conceal, and, by applying to that, made an attempt to recover 
his liberty. He offered as a ransom what astonished the Spaniards, even 
after all they now knew concerning the opulence of his kingdom. The 
apartment in which he was confined vvas twenty-two feet in length and 
sixteen in breadth ; he undertook to fill it with vessels of gold as high as 
he could reach. Pizarro closed eagerly with this tempting proposal, and 
a line was drawn upon the walls of the chamber, to mark the stipulated 
height to which the treasure was to rise. 

Vol. I.— 35 



274 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

Atahualpa, transported with having obtained some prospect of liberty, 
took measures instantly for fulfilling: his part of the agreement, by sending 
messengers to Ciizco, Quito, and other places, where gold had been amass- 
ed in largest quantities, either for adorning the temples of the gods, or the 
houses of the Inca, to bring what was necessary' for completing his ransom 
directly to Caxamalca. Though Atahualpa was noAv in the custody of his 
enemies, yet so much were the Peruvians accustomed to respect every 
mandate issued by their sovereign, that his orders were executed with the 
greatest alacrity. Soothed with hopes of recovering his liberty by this 
means, the subjects of the Inca were afraid of endangering his life by 
forming any other scheme for his relief; and though the force of the em- 
pire was still entire, no preparations were made, and no army assembled 
to avenge their own Avrongs or those of their monarch.* The Spaniards 
remained in Caxamalca tranquil and unmolested. Small detachments of 
their number marched into remote provinces of the empire, and, instead of 
meeting with any opposition, were every where received with marks of 
the most submissive respect [132]. 

Inconsiderable as those parties were, and desirous as Pizarro might be 
to obtain some knowledge of the interior state of the country, he could 
not have ventured upon any diminution of his main body, if he had not 
about this time [December], received an account of Almagro's having 
landed at St. Michael with such a reinforcement as would almost double the 
number of his followers.! The arrival of this long expected succour was 
not more agreeable to the Spaniards than alarming to the Inca. He saw 
the power of his enemies increase ; and as he knew neither the source 
whence they derived their supplies, nor the means by which they were 
conveyed to Peru, he could not foresee to what a height the inundation that 
poured in upon his dominions might rise [1533]. VVhile disquieted with 
such apprehensions, he learned that some Spaniards, in their way toCuzco, 
had visited his brother Huascar in the place where he kept him confined, 
and that the captive prince had represented to them the justice of his own 
cause, and, as an inducement to espouse it, had promised them a quantity 
of treasure greatly beyond that which Atahualpa had engaged to pay for his 
ransom. If the Spaniards should listen to this proposal, Atahualpa per- 
ceived his own destruction to be inevitable; and suspecting that their 
insatiable thirst for gold would tempt them to lend a favourable ear to it, 
he determined to sacrifice his brother's life that he might save his own ; 
and his orders for this purpose were executed, like all his other commands, 
with scrupulous punctual ity.j 

Meanwhile, Indians daily arrived at Caxamalca from different parts of 
the kingdom, loaded with treasure. A great part of the stipulated quantity 
was now amassed, and Atahualpa assured the Spaniards that the only thing 
which prevented the whole from being brought in, was the remoteness of 
the provinces where it was deposited. But such vast piles of gold 
presented continually to the view of needy soldiers, had so inflamed their 
avarice, that it v/as impossible any longer to restrain their impatience to 
obtain possession of this rich booty. Orders were given for melting down 
the whole, except some pieces of curious fabric reserved as a present for 
the emperor. After setting apart the fifth due to the crown, and a hundred 
thousand pesos as a donative to the soldiers which arrived with Almagro, 
there remained one million five hundred and twenty-eight thousand five 
hundred pesos to Pizarro and his followers. The festival of St. James 
[July 25], the patron saint of Spain, was the day chosen for the partition 
of this enormous sum, and the manner of conducting it strongly marks the 
strange alliance of fanaticism with avarice, which 1 have more than once 

• Xerez, 205. t Md. 204. Herrera. dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 1, 2. { Zarate, lib. ii. c. 6 

Gomara, Hist. c. 115. Ilerrcra, dec. 5. lib, iii. c. 2. 



AMERICA. 275 

had occasion to point out as a striking feature in the character of the con- 
querors of the Ivew World. Though assembled to divide the spoils of an 
innocent people, procured by deceit, e\tortion, and cruelty, the transaction 
began with a solemn invocation of (he name o( God,* as if they could have ex- 
pected the guidance of heaven in distributing those wages of iniquity. In this 
division above eight thousand pesos, at that time not inferior in efifective 
value to as many pounds steiling in the present century, fell to the share 
of each horseman, and half that sum to each foot soldier. Pizarro himself, 
and his officers, received dividends in proportion to the dignity of their rank. 

There is no example in history of such a sudden acquisition of wealth 
by militaiy service, nor was ever a sum so great divided among so small 
a number of soldiers. Many of them having received a recompense for 
their services far beyond their most sanguine hopes, were so impatient to 
retire from fatigue and danger, in order to spend the remainder of tbeir 
days in their native country in ease and opulence, that they demanded 
their discharge with clamoious importunity. Pizarro, sensible that from 
such men he could expect neither enterprise in action nor fortitude in 
suffering, and persuaded that wherever they went the display of their 
riches would allure adventurers, less opulent but more hardy, to his 
standard, granted their suit without reluctance, and permitted above sixty 
of them to accompany his brother Ferdinand, whom he sent to Spain with 
an account of his success, and the present destined for the emperor.t 

The Spaniards having divided among them the treasure amassed for the 
Inca's ransom, he insisted with them to fulfil their promise of setting him 
at liberty. But nothing was further from Pizarro's thoughts. During his 
long service in the New World, he had imbibed those ideas and maxims 
of his fellow-soldiers, which led them to consider its inhabitants as an 
inferior race, neither worthy of the name, nor entitled to the rights of 
men. In his compact with Atahualpa, he had no other object than to 
amuse his captive with such a prospect of recovering his liberty, as might 
induce him to lend all the aid of his authority towards collecting the wealth 
of his kingdom. Having now accomplished this, he no longer regarded 
his plighted faith ; and at the xery time when the credulous prince hoped 
to be replaced on his throne, he had secretly resolved to bereave him of 
life. Many circumstances seem to have concurred in prompting him to 
this action, the most criminal and atrocious that stains the Spanish name, 
amidst all the deeds of violence committed in carrying on the conquests 
of the New Worid. 

Though Pizarro had seized the Inca in imitation of Cortes's conduct 
towards the Mexican monarch, he did not possess talents Ibr carrying on 
'he same artful plan of policy. Destitute of the temper and address 
."equisite for gaining the confidence of his prisoner, he never reaped all 
ihe advantages which might have been derived from being master of his 
person and authority. Atahualpa was, indeed, a prince of greater abilities 
and disciirnmcnt than Montezuma, and seems to have penetrated more 
thoroughly into the character and intentions of the Spaniards. Mutual 
suspicion and distrust accordingly took place between them. The strict 
attention with which it was necessary to guard a captive of such import- 
ance, greitly increased the fatigue ot military duty. The utility of keep- 
ing him appeared inconsiderable ; and Pizarro felt him as an encumbrance, 
from which he wished to be delivered.! 

Almagro 'and his followers had made a demand of an equal share in 
the Inca's ransom ; and though Pizarro had bestowed upon the private 
men the large gratuity which I have mentioned, and endeavoured to soothe 
their leader by presents of great value, they still continued dissatisfied. 
They were apprehensive, that as long as Atahualpa remained a prisoner, 

* Hemua, rfoo. T). Mb. iii. c. 3. 1 lliiil dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 1. Vega, \>. 2. lib. i. c. 38. 

t Hervuia, ile.:. 3. lib. iii. c. 4. 



276 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

Pizarro's soldiers would apply whatever treasure should be acquired, to 
make up what was wanting- ot' the quantity stipulated for his ransom, and 
under that pretext exclude them from any part ui it. They insisted eagerly 
on putting- the Inca to death, that all the adventurers in Peru might there- 
after be on an equal looting.* 

Pizarro himself began to be alarmed with accounts of forces assembling 
in the remote provinces of the empire, and suspected Atahualpa of liaving 
issued orders tor that purpose. These fears r^nd suspicions were artfully 
increased by Philippillo, one of the Indians, whom Pizarro had carried 
off from Tumbez in the year one thousand five hundred and twenty-seven, 
and whom he e:nployed as an interpreter. The function which he 
performed admitting this man to familiar intercourse with the captive 
monarch, he presumed, notwithstanding the meanness of his birth, to raise 
his affections to a Coya, or descendant of the Sun, one of Atahualpa's 
wives; and seeing no prospect of gratifying that passion during the life 
of the monarch, he endeavoured to fill the ears of the Spaniards with such 
accounts of the Inca's secret designs and preparations, as might awaken 
their jealousy, and excite tlipm to cut him otf. 

While Almagro and his followers openly demanded the life of the Inca, 
and Philippillo laboured to ruin him by private machinations, that unhappy 

Erince inadvertently contributed to hasten his own fate. During his con- 
nement he had attached himself with peculiar aftection to Ferdinand 
Pizarro and Hernando Soto ; who, as they were persons of birth and 
education superior to the rough adventurers with whom they served, were 
accustomed to behave with more decency and attention to the captive 
monarch. Soothed with this respect from persons of such high rank, he 
delighted in their society. But in the presence of the governor he was 
always uneasy and overawed. This dread soon came to be mingled Avith 
contempt. Among all the European arts, what he admired most was that 
of reading and writing ; and he long deliberated with himself, whether he 
should regard it as a natural or acquired talent. In order to determine this, 
he desired one of the soldiers, who guarded him, to write the name of 
God on the nail of his thumb. This he showed successively to several 
Spaniards, asking its meaning ; and to his amazement, they all, without 
hesitation, returned the same answer. At length Pizarro entered ; and, 
on presenting it to him, he blushed, and with some confusion was obliged 
to acknowledge his ignorance. From that moment Atahualpa considered 
him as a mean person less instructed than his own soldiers ; and he had 
not address enough to conceal the sentiments wiUi which this discovery 
inspired him. To be the object of a barbarian's scorn, not only mortified the 
pride of Pizarro, but excited such resentment in his breast, as added force 
to all the other considerations which prompted him to put the Inca to 
death.t 

But in order to give some colour of justice to this violent action, and 
that he himself might be exempted from standing singly responsible for 
the commission of it, Pizarro resolved to try the Inca with all the loinialities 
observed in the criminal courts of Spain. Pizarro himself, and Almagro, 
with two assistants, were appointed judges, with iuU power to acquit or to 
condemn ; an attorney-gener.d was named to carry on the prosecution in 
the king's name ; counsellors were chosen to assist the prisoner in his 
defence ; and clerks were ordained to record the proceedings of court. 
Before this strange tribunal, a charge was exhibited still more amazing. 
It consisted of various articles ; that Atahualpa, though a bastard, had dis- 
possessed tlie rightful owner of the throne, and usurped the regal power; 
that he had put his brother and lawful sovereign to death ; that he was an 
idolater, and had not only permitted but commanded the oS'ering of human 

* Zarato, lib. ii. c. 7. Voga, p. 2. Vili. i. c. 7. Ht-rrera, tire. ?. lib. iji. c. 4. t Hcrrera, dec. 

5. lib. iii. c. 4. Vo(.'a, \<. 11. lib i. c. ;W. 



A M E R 1 C A. 277 

sacrifices ; that he had a great number of concubines ; that since his im- 
prisonment he had wasted and embezzled the royal treasures, which now 
belonged of right to the conquerors ; that he had incited his subjects to 
take arms against the Spaniards. On these heads of accusation, some of 
which are so ludicrous, others so absurd, that the effrontery of Pizarro, in 
making them the foundation of a serious procedure, is not less surprising 
than his injustice, did this strange court go on to try the sovereign of a 
great empire, over whom it had no jurisdiction. With respect to each of 
the articles, witnesses were examined ; but as they delivered their evidence 
in their native tongue, Fhilippillo had it in his power to give their words 
whatever turn best suited his malevolent intentions. To judges pre-de- 
teiinined in their opinion, this evidence appeared sufficient. They pro- 
nounced Atahualpa guilty, and condenmed him to be burnt alive. Friar 
Valverde prostituted the authority of his sacred function to confirm this 
sentence, and by his signature warranted it to be just. Astonished at his 
fate, Atahualpa endeavoured to avert it by tears, by promises, and by en- 
treaties that he mi^ht be sent to Spain, where a monarch would be the 
arbiter of his lot. But pity never touched the unfeeling heart of Pizarro. 
He ordered him to be led instantly to execution ; and what added to the 
bitterness of his last moments, the same monk who had just ratified his 
doom, offered to console and attempted to convert him. The most 
powerful argument Valverde employed to prevail with him to embrace 
the Christian faith, was a promise of mitigation in his punishment. The 
dread of a cruel death extorted from the trembling victim a desire of 
receiving baptism. The ceremony was performed ; and Atahualpa, instead 
of being buint, was strangled at the stake.* 

Happily for the credit of the Spanish nation, even among the profligate 
adventurers which it sent forth to conquer and desolate the New World, 
there were persons who retained some tincture of the Castilian generosity 
and honour. Though, before the trial of Atahualpa, Ferdinand Pizarro 
had set out for Spain, and Soto was sent on a separate command at a dis- 
tance from Caxamalca, this odious transaction was not carried on without 
censure and opposition. Several officers, and among those some of the 
greatest reputation and most respectable families in the service, not only 
remonstrated but protested against this measure of their general, as dis- 
graceful to their country, as repugnant to every maxim of equity, as a 
violation of public faith, and a usurpation of jurisdiction over an inde- 
pendent monarch, to which they had no title. But their laudable endeavours 
were vain. Numbers, and the opinion of such as held every thing to be 
lawful which they deemed advantageous, prevailed. History, however, 
records even the unsuccessful exertions of virtue with applause ; and the 
Spanish writers, in relating events where the valour of their nation is more 
conspicuous than its humanity, have not failed to preserve the names of 
those who made this laudable eflbrt to save their country from the infamy 
of having perpetrated such a crime. t 

On the death of Atahualpa, Pizarro invested one of his sons with the 
ensigns of royalty, hoping that a young man without experience might 
prove a more passive instrument in his hands than an ambitious monarch, 
who had been accustomed to independent command. The people of 
Cuzco, and the adjacent country, acknowledged Manco Capac, a brother 
of Huascar, as lnca.| But neither possessed the authority which belonged 
to a sovereign of Peru. The violent convulsions into which the empire 
had been thrown, first by the civil Avar between the two brothers, and then 
by the invasion of the Spaniards, had not only deranged the order of the 
Peruvian goveniment, but almost dissolved its frame. When they beheld 

* Zarate, lib. ii. c. 7, Xerez, p. 233. Vega, p. 11. lib. i. c 36, 37. Gomara Hist. c. 117. Herrera, 
dec. 3. lib. iii. c. 4. t Vega, p. 11. lib. I. c. 37. Xerez, i. 235. Herreia, dec. 5. lib. iu. c. S. 

I Vega, p. 11. Ub. II. o 7. 



278 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

their monarch a captive in the power of strangers, and at last suffering an 
ignominious death, the people in several provinces, as if they had been set 
free from every restraint of law and decency, broke out into the most 
licentious excesses.* So many descendants of the Sun, after being treated 
with the utmost indignity, had been cut off by Atahualpa, that not only 
their influence in the state diminished with their number, but the accus- 
tomed reverence for that sacred race sensibly decreased. In consequence 
of this stale of things, ambitious men in difl'erent parts of the empire 
aspired to independent authority, and usurped jurisdiction to which they 
had no title. The general who commanded tor Atahualpa in Quito, seized 
the brother and children of his master, put them to a cruel death, and, dis- 
claiming any connection with either Inca, endeavoured to establish a 
separate kingdom for himself t 

The Spaniards with pleasure beheld the spirit of discord diffusing itself, 
and the vigour of government relaxing among the Peruvians. They con- 
sidered those disorders as symptoms of a state hastening towards its dis- 
solution. Pizarro no longer hesitated to advance towards Cuzco, and he 
had received such considerable reinforcements, that he could venture, with 
little danger, to penetrate so far into tiie interior part of the countiy. The 
account ot the wealth acquired at Caxamalca operated as he had foreseen. 
No sooner did his brother Ferdinand, with the officers and soldiers to whom 
he had given their discharge after the partition of the Inca's ransom, arrive 
at Panama, and display their riches in the view of their astonished coun- 
trymen, than fame spread the account with such exaggeration through all 
the Spanish settlements on the South Sea, that tbe governors of Guatimala, 
Panama, and Nicaragua, could hardly restrain the peoj)le under their juris- 
diction, from abandoning their possessions, and crowding to that inexhaustible 
source of wealth which seemed to be opened in Peru. J In spite of every 
check and regulation, such numbers resorted thither, that Pizarro began 
his march at the head of five hundred men, after leaving a considerable 

garrison in St. Michael, under the command of Benalcazar. The Peruvians 
ad assembled some large bodies of troops to oppose his progress. Several 
fierce encounters happened. But they terminated like all the actions in 
America ; a fev/ Spaniards were killed or wounded ; the natives were put 
to flight with incredible slaughter. At length Pizarro forced his way to 
Cuzco, and took quiet possession of that capital. The riches found there, 
even after all that the natives had carried off and concealed, either from a 
superstitious veneration for the ornaments of their temples, or out of hatred 
to their rapacious conquerors, exceed in value what had been received as 
Atahualpa's ransom. But as the Spaniards were now accustomed to the 
wealth of the country, and it came to be parcelled out among a great 
number of adventurers, this dividend did not excite the same surprise, 
either from novelty, or the largeness of the sum that fell to the share of 
each individual [133], 

During the march to Cuzco, that son of Atahualpa whom Pizarro treated 
as Inca, died ; and as the Spaniards substituted no person in his place, the 
title of Manco Capac seems to have been universally recognised. § 

While his fellow-soldiers were thus employed, Benalcazar, governor of 
St. Michael, an able and enterprising officer, was ashamed of remaining 
inactive, and impatient to have his name distinguished among the dis- 
coverers and conquerors of tbe New World. Tlie seasonable arrival of a 
fresh body of recruits from Panama and Nicaragua put it in his power to 
gratifj^ this passion. Leaving a sufficient force to protect the infant settle- 
ment intrusted to his care, he" placed himself at the head of the rest, and 
set out to attempt the reduction of Quito, where, according to the report of 

* Ilerrera, dec. 5. lib. ii. c. 12. lib. iii. c. 5. t Zarate, lib. ii. c. 8. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 3, 4. 

t Gomara Hist. c. 125. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 1. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 5. $ Herreia, 

dee. 5. lib. ▼. c. 2. 



AMERICA. 279 

fee natives, AtaKualpa had left the greatest part of his treasure. Notwith- 
standing the distance of that city from St. Michaol, the difficulty of 
marching through a mountainous country covered with woods, and the 
frequent and fierce attacks of the best troops in Peru commanded by a 
skilful leader, the valour, good conduct, and perseverance of Benalcazar 
surmounted every obstacle, and he entered Qjuilo with his victorious troops. 
But they met with a cruel mortification there. The natives now acquainted 
to their sorrow with the predominant passion of their invaders, and knowing 
how to disappoint it, had carried off all those treasures, the prospect of 
which had prompted them to undertake this arduous expedition, and had 
supported tliem under all the dangers and hardships wherewith they had 
to struggle in carrying it on.* 

Benalcazar was not the only Spanish leader who attacked the kingdom 
of Q,uito. The fame of its riches attracted a more powerful enemy. 
Pedro de Alvarado, who had distinguished himself so eminently in the 
conquest of Mexico, having obtained the government of Guatimala as a 
recompense for his valour, soon became disgusted with a life of uniform 
tranquillity, and longed to be again engaged in the bustle of military 
service. The glory and w^ealtn acquired by the conquerors of Peru 
heightened this passion, and ^ave it a determined direction. Believing, or 
pretending to believe, that the kingdom of Q,uito did not lie within the 
limits of the province allotted to Pizarro, he resolved to invade it. The 
high reputation of the commander allured volunteers from every quarter. 
He embarked with five hundred men,-of whom above two hundred were 
of such distinction as to serve on horseback. He landed at Puerto Viejo, 
and without sufficient knowledge of the country, or proper guides to con- 
duct him, attempted to march directly to Q,uito, by following the course 
of the river Guayoquil, and crossing the ridge of the Andes towards its 
head. But in this route, one of the most impracticable in all America, his 
troops endured such fatigue in forcing their way through forests and 
marshes on the low grounds, and suffered so nmch from excessive cold 
when they began to ascend the mountains, that before they reached the 
plain of Q,uito, a fifth part of the men and half their horses died, and the 
rest were so much dispirited and worn out, as to be almost unfit for ser- 
vice [l"34]. There they met with a body, not of Indians, but of Spaniards, 
drawn in hostile array against them. Pizarro having received an account 
of Alvarado's armament, had detached Almagro with some troops to oppose 
this formidable invader of his jurisdiction ; and these were joined by Be- 
nalcazar and his victorious party. Alvarado, though surprised at the sight 
of enemies whom he did not expect, advanced boldly to the charge. But, 
by the interposition of some moderate men in each party, an amicable 
accommodation took place ; and the fatal period when Spaniards sus- 
pended their conquests to imbrue their hands in the blood of their coun- 
trymen, was postponed a few years. Alvarado engaged to return ^o his 
goverment, upon Almagro's paying him a hundred thousand pesos to defray 
the expense of his armament. JVIost of his followers remained in the 
country ; and an expedition, which threatened Pizarro and his colony with 
ruin, contributed to augment its strength t 

1534.] By this time Ferdinand Pizarro had landed in Spain. The im- 
mense quantities of gold and silver which he im.portcd [l^^sl filled the king- 
dom with no less astonishment than they had excited in Panama and the 
adjacent provinces. Pizarro was received by the emperor with the atten- 
tion due to the bearer of a present so rich as to exceed any idea which the 
Spaniards had formed concerning the value of their acquisitions in America, 

* Zarate, lib. ii. c. 9. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 9. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iv. c. 11, 12. lib. v. c. 2, 3 
lib. vi. c. 3. 1 Zarate, lib. ii. c. 10—13. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 1, 2. 9, &c. Gomara Hist. c. 

126, &c. Rcmesa. Hist. GuatUnal. lib. iii. c. 6. Herrera, dec. 5. lib, vi. c, 1, 2. 7, 8. 



280 II I S T O R Y O F [Book VI. 

even after they had been ten years masters of Mexico. In recompense of 
his brother's services, his authority was confinned with new powers and 
privileges, and the addition of seventy leagues, extending along the coast, 
to the southward of the territory granted in his former patent. Almagro 
received the honours which he had so long desired. The title of Adelan- 
tado, or governor, was conferred upon him, with jurisdiction over two hun- 
dred leagues of country, stretching beyond the southern limits of the province 
allotted to Pizarro. Ferdinand himself did not go unrewarded. He was 
admitted into the military order of St. Jago, a distinction always accepta 
ble to a Spanish gentleman, and soon set out on his return to Peru, accom 
panied by many persons of higher rank than had yet served in that 
country.* 

Some account of his negotiations reached Peru before he arrived there 
himself. Almagro no sooner learned that he had obtained the royal grant 
of an independent government, than pretending that Cuzco, the imperial 
residence of the Incas, lay within its boundaries, he attempted to render 
himself master of that important station. Juan and Gonzalez Pizarro pre- 
pared to oppose him. Each of the contending parties was supported by 
powerful adherents, and the dispute was on the point of being terminated 
by the sword, when Francis Pizarro arrived in the capital. The recon- 
ciliation between him and Almagro had never been cordial. The treachery 
of Pizarro in engrossing to himself all the honours and emoluments, which 
ought to have been divided with his associate, was always present in both 
their thoughts. The former, conscious of his own perfidy, did not expect 
forgiveness ; the latter feeling, that he had been deceived, was impatient 
to be avenged ; and though avarice and ambition had induced them not 
only to dissemble their sentiments, but even to act in concert while in pur- 
suit of wealth and power, no sooner did they obtain possession of these, 
than tbe same passions which had formed this temporary union, gave rise 
to jealousy and discord. To each of them was attached a small band of 
interested dependants, who, with the malicious art peculiar to such men, 
heightened their suspicions, and magnified every appearance of offence. 
But with all those seeds of enmity in their minds, and thus assiduously 
cherished, each was so thoroughly acquainted with the abilities and 
courage of his rival, that they equally dreaded tlie consequences of an open 
rupture. The fortunate arrival of Pizarro at Cuzco, and the address min- 
gled with firmness which be manifested in his expostulations with Almagro 
and his partisans, averted that evil for the present. A new reconciliation 
took place ; the chief article of which was, that Almagro should attempt 
the conquest of Chili ; and if he did not find in that province an establish- 
ment adequate to his meiit and expectations, Pizarro, by way of indemni 
fication, should yield up to him a part of Peru. This new agreement, 
though confirmed [June 12] with the same sacred solemnities as their first 
contract, was observed with as little fidelity.! 

Soon after he concluded this important transaction, Pizarro marched 
back to the countrier. on the seacoast ; and as he now enjoyed an interval 
of tranquillity undisturbed by any enemy, either Spaniard or Indian, he 
applied himself with that persevering ardour, which distinguishes his cha- 
racter, to introduce a form of regular government into the extensive pro- 
vinces subject to his authority. Though ill qualified by his education 
to enter into any disquisition concerning the principles of civil policy, and 
little accustomed by his former habits of life to attend to its arrangements, 
his natural sagacity supplied the want both of science and experience. He 
distributed the country into various districts ; he appointed proper magis- 
trates to preside in each ; and established regulations concerning the ad- 

• Zarate, lib. iii. c. 3. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 19, Herrera, Uec. 5. lib. vi. c. 13. fZa- 

rate, lib. ii. c. 13. V«ga, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 19. Benzo, lib. iii. c. C. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vii. c. 8. 



A M E R I C A. 28; 

ministration of justice, the collection of the royal revenue, the working of 
the mines, and the treatment of the Indians, extremely simple, but well 
calculated to promote the public prosperity. But though, for the present, 
he adapted his plan to the infant state of his colony, his aspiring mind 
looked forward to it3 future grandeur. He considered himself as laying 
the foundation of a great empire, and deliberated long, and with much soli- 
citude, in what place he should fix the seat of government. Cuzco, the 
imperial city of the Incas, was situated in a corner of the empire, above 
four hundred miles from the sea, and much further from Q,uito, a province 
of whose value he had formed a high idea. No other settleinent of the 
Peruvians was so considerable as to merit the name of a town, or to allure 
the Spaniards to fix their residence in it. But in marching through the 
country, Pizarro had been struck with the beauty and fertility of the val- 
ley of Riraac, one of the most extensive and best cultivated in Peru. 
There, on the banks of a small river of the same name with the vale which 
it Avaters and enriches, at the distance of six miles from Callao, the most 
commodious harbour in the Pacific Ocean, he founded a city which he 
destined to be the capital of his government [Jan. 18, 1535]. He gave it 
the name of Ciudad de los Reyes, either from the circumstance of having 
laid the first stone at that season when the church celebrates the festival of 
the Three Kings, or, as is more probable, in honour of Juana and Charles, 
the joint sovereigns of Castile. This name it still retains among the • 
Spaniards, in all legal and formal deeds ; but it is better known to 
foreigners by that o^ Lima, a corruption of the ancient appellation of the 
valley in which it is situated. Under his inspection, the buildings advanced 
with such rapidity, that it soon assumed the form of a city, which, by a mag- 
nificent palace that he erected for himself, and by the stately houses built 
by several of his officers, gave, even in its infancy, some indication of its 
subsequent grandeur.* 

In consequence of what had been agreed with Pizarro, Almagro began 
his march towards Chili ; and as he possessed in an eminent degree the 
virtues most admired by soldiers, boundless liberality and fearless courage, 
his standard was followed by five hundred and seventy men, the greatest 
body of Europeans that had hitherto been assembled in Peru. From im- 
patience to finish the expedition, or from that contempt of hardship and 
danger acquired by all the Spaniards who had served long in America^ 
Almagro, instead of advancing along the level country on the coast, chose 
to march across the mountains by a route that was shorter indeed, but 
almost impracticable. In this attempt his troops were exposed to every 
calamity which men can suffer, from fatigue, from famine, and from the 
rigour of the climate in those elevated regions of the torrid zone, where the 
degree of cold is hardly inferior to what is felt within the polar circle. 
Many of them perished ; and the survivors, when they descended into the 
fertile plains of Chili, had new difficulties to encounter. They found there 
a race of men very different from the people of Peru, intrepid, hardy, in- 
dependent, and in their bodily constitution, as well as vigour of spirit, 
nearly resembling the warlike tribes in North America. Though filled 
with wonder at the first appearance of the Spaniards, and still more 
astonished at the operations of their cavalry and the effects of their fire- 
arms, the Chilese soon recovered so far from their surprise, as not only to 
defend themselves with obstinacy, but to attack their new eneniies with 
more determined fierceness than any American nation had hitherto dis- 
covered. The Spaniards, however, continued to penetrate into the coun- 
try, and collected some consideral)le quantities of £2:old ; but were so far 
from thinking of making any settlement amidst such tormidable neighbours, 
that, in spite of all the experience and valour of their leader, the final issue 

* Herrera, dec. 5, lib. vi. c. 12. lib. vii. c. 13. Calancho, Coronica, lib. i. & 37. Banicuvo, Lima 
fuudata, ii. 204. 

Vol. I.— 36 14 



S82 HISTORY- OF [Book VI. 

of the expedition still remained extremely dubious, when they were recalled 
from it by an unexpected revolution at Peru.* The causes of this impor- 
tant event I shall endeavour to trace to their source. 

So many adventurers had flocked to Peru from every Spanish colony in 
America^ and all with such high expectations of accumulating independent 
fortunes at once, that, to men possessed with notions so extravagant, any 
mention of acquiring wealth gradually, and by schemes of patient industry, 
would have been not only a disappointment, but an insult. In order to find 
occupation for men who could not with safety be allowed to remain in- 
active, Pizarro encouraged some of the most distinguished officers who had 
lately joined him, to invade different provinces of the empire, which the 
Spaniards had not hitherto visited. Several large bodies were formed lor 
ttiis purpose ; and about the time that Almagro set out for Chili, they 
marched into remote districts of the country. No sooner did Manco Capac, 
the Inca, observe the inconsiderate security of the Spaniards in thus dis- 
persing their troops, and that only a handful of soldiers remained in Cuzco, 
under Juan and Gonzalez Pizarro, than he thought that the happy period 
was at length come for vindicating his own rights, for avenging the wrongs 
of his country, and extirpating its oppressors. Though strictly watched 
by the Spaniards who allowed him to reside in the palace of his ancestors 
at Cuzco, he found means of communicating his scheme to the persons 
who were to be intrusted with the execution of it- Among people accus- 
tomed to revere their sovereign as a divinity, every hint of his will carries 
the authority of a command ; and they themselves were now convinced, 
by the daily increase in the number of their invaders, that the fond hopes 
which they had long entertained of their voluntary departure were alto- 
gether vain. All perceived that a vigorous effort of the whole nation was 
requisite to expel them, and the preparations for it were carried on with 
the secrecy and silence peculiar to Americans. 

After some unsuccessful attempts of the Inca to make his escape, Ferdi- 
nand Pizarro happening to arrive at that time in Cuzco [1536], he obtained 
permission from him to attend a great festival which was to be celebrated a 
lew leagues from the capital. Under pretext of that solemnity, the great 
men of the empire were assembled. As soon as the Inca joined them, the 
standard of war was erected ; and in a short time all the fighting men, 
from the confines of Quito to the frontier of Chili, were in arms. Many- 
Spaniards, living securely on the settlements allotted them, were massacred. 
Several detachments, as they marched carelessly through a country which 
seemed to be tamely submissive to their dominion, were cut off to a man. 
An army amounting (if we may believe the Spanish writers) to two hun- 
dred thousand men, attacked Cuzco, which the three brothers endeavoured 
to defend with only one hundred and seventy Spaniards. Another formi- 
dable body invested Lima, and kept the governor closely shut up. There 
was no longer any communication between the two cities ; the numerous 
forces of the Peruvians spreading over the country, intercepted every 
messenger ; and as the parties in Cuzco and Lima were equally unacquaint- 
ed with the fate of their countrymen, each boded the worst concerning 
the other, and imagined that they themselves were the only persons who 
had survived the general extinction of the Spanish name in Peru.t 

^ It was at Cuzco, where the Inca commanded in person, that the Peru- 
^nans made their chief efforts. During nine months they carried on the 
siege with incessant ardour, and in various forms ; and though they dis- 
played not the same undaunted ferocity as the Mexican warriors, they con- 
ducted some of their operations in a manner which discovered greater 
sagacity, and a genius more susceptible of improvement in the military 

• Zarate, lib. iii. c. 1. Gomara Hist. c. 131. Vega, p. 2, lib. ii. c. 20. Ovale Hist, de Chile, lib. 
IV. 0. 15, Sec. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 9. lib. x. c. 1, &c. f Vega, p. 11, lib. ii. c. 38. Zarate, 
lib. iii. c. 3 . Cieca de Leon, c. 83. Gomara Hist c. 135. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. viii. c. 5. 



AMERICA. 283 

art* They not only observed the advantages which the Spaniards derived 
from their discipline and their weapons, but they endeavoured to imitate 
the ibrmer, and turned the latter against them. They armed a considera- 
ble body of their bravest warriors witli the swords, the spears, and buck- 
lers, which they had taken from the Spanish soldiers whom they had cut 
oflf in different parts of the country. These they endeavoured to marshal 
in that regular compact order, to which experience had taught them that 
the Spaniards were indebted for their irresistible force in action. Some 
appeared in the field with Spanish muskets, and had acquired skill and 
resolution enough to use them. A few of the boldest, among whom was 
the Inca himselt', were mounted on the horses which they had taken, and 
advanced briskly to the charge like Spanish cavaliers, with their lances in 
the rest. It was more by their numbers, however, than by those imper- 
fect essays to imitate European arts and to employ European arms, that 
the Peruvians annoyed the Spaniards [l36]. In spite of the valour, 
heightened by despair, with which the three brothers defended Cuzco, 
Manco Capac recovered possession of one-half of his capital ; and in their 
various efforts to drive him out of it, the Spaniards lost Juan Pizarro, the 
best beloved of all the brothers, together with some other persons of note. 
Worn out with the fatigue of incessant duty, distressed with want of pro- 
visions, and despairing of being able any longer to resist an enemy whose 
numbers daily increased, the soldiers became impatient to abandon Cuzco, 
in hopes either of joining their countrymen, if any of them yet survived, 
or of forcing their way to the sea, and finding some means of escaping 
from a country which had been so fatal to the Spanish name.* While they 
were brooding over those desponding thoughts, which their officers labour- 
ed in vain to dispel, Almagro appeared suddenly in the neighbourhood of 
Cuzco. 

The accounts transmitted to Almagro concerning the general insurrection 
of the Peruvians, were such as would have induced him, without hesitation, 
to relinquish the conquest of Chili, and hasten to the aid of his country- 
men. But in this resolution he was confirmed by a motive less generous, 
but more interesting. By the same messenger who brought him intelli- 
gence of the Inca's revolt, he received the royal patent creating him go- 
vernor of Chili, and defining the limits of his jurisdiction. Upon consi- 
dering the tenor of it, he deemed it manifest beyond contradiction, that 
Cuzco lay within the boundaries of his government, and he was equally 
solicitous to prevent the Peruvians from recovering possession of their 
capital, and to wrest it out of the hands of the Pizarros. From impatience 
to accomplish both, he ventured to return by a new route ; and in march- 
ing through the sandy plains on the coast, he suffered from heat and drought, 
calamities of a new species hardly inferior to those in which he had been 
involved by cold and famine on the summits of the Andes. 

1537.] His arrival at Cuzco was in a critical moment. The Spaniards 
and Peruvians fixed their eyes upon him with equal solicitude. The 
former, as he did not study to conceal his pretensions, were at a loss whe- 
ther to welcome him as a deliverer, or to take precautions against him as 
an enemy. The latter, knowing the points in contest between him and 
his countrymen, flattered themselves that they had more to hope than to 
dread from his operations. Almagro himself, unacquainted with the detail 
of the events which had happened in his absence, and solicitous to learn 
the precise posture of affairs, advanced towards the capital slowly, and 
with great circumspection. Various negotiations with both parties were 
set on foot. The Inca conducted thein on his part with much address. 
At first he endeavoured to gain the friendship of Almagro ; and after many 
fruitless overtures, despairing of any cordial union with a Spaniard, he 

♦ Herrera, dec. 5. lib. viii. c. 4. 



a84 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

attacked him by surprise with a numerous body of chosen troops. But the 
Spanish discipline and valour maintained their wonted superiority. The 
Peruvians were repulsed with such slaughter that a great part of their 
army dispei-sed, and Almagro proceeded to the gates of Cuzco without 
interruption. 

_ The Pizarros, as they had no longer to make head against the Peru- 
vians, directed all their attention towards their new enemy, and took mea- 
sures to obstruct his entry into the capital. Prudence, however, restrained 
both parties for some time from turning their arms agaiiist one another, 
while surrounded by common enemies, who would rejoice in the mutual 
slaughter. Different schemes of accommodation were proposed. Each 
endeavoured to deceive the other, or to corrupt his followers. The gene- 
rous, open, affable temper of Almagro gained many adherents of the 
Pizarros, who were disgusted with their harsh, domineeiing manners. 
Encouraged by this detection, he advanced towards the city by night, sur- 
prised the sentinels, or was admitted by them, and, investing the house 
where the two brothers resided, compelled them, after an obstinate defence, 
to surrender at discretion. Almagro's claim of jurisdiction over Cuzco 
w^as imiversally acknowledged, and a form of administration established in 
his name.* 

Two or three persons only were killed in this first act of civil hostility ; 
but it was soon followed by scenes more bloody. Francisco Pizarro 
having dispersed the Peruvians who had invested Lima, and received 
some considerable reinforcements from ffispaniola and Nicaragua, ordered 
five hundred men, under the command of Alonzo de Alvarado, to march 
to Cuzco, in hopes of relieving his brothers, if they and their garrison 
were not already cut off by the Peruvians. This body, which at that 
period of the Spanish power in America must be deemed a considerable 
force, advanced near to the capital before they knew that they had any 
enemy more formidable than Indians to encounter. It was with astonish- 
ment that they beheld their countrymen posted on the banks of the river 
Abancay to oppose their progress. Almagro, however, wished rather to 
gain than to conquer them, and by bribes and promises, endeavoured to 
seduce their leader. The fidelity of Alvrrado remained unshaken ; but 
his talents for war were not equal to his virtue. Almagro amused him 
with various movements, of which he did not comjirehend the meaning, 
while a large detachment of chosen soldiers passed the river by night 
[July 12], fell upon his camp by surprise, broke his troops before they had 
time to form, and took him prisoner, together with his principal oflicers.f 

By the sudden rout of this body, the contest between the tv/o rivals 
must have been decided, if Almagro had known as well how to improve 
as how to gain a victory. Rodrigo Orgognez, an oflicer of great abilities, 
who having served under the Constable Bourbon, when he led the imperial 
army to Rome, had been accustomed to bold and decisive measures, ad- 
vised him instantly to issue orders for putting to death Ferdinand and Gon- 
zalo Pizarros, Alvarado, and a few other persons whom he could not hope 
to gain, and to march directly with his victorious troops to Lima, before 
the governor had time to prepare for his defence. But Almagro, though 
he discerned at once the utility of the counsel, and though he had courage 
to have carried it into execution, suffered himself to be influenced by sen- 
timents unlike those of a soldier of fortune grown old in service, and by 
scruples which suited not the chief of a party who had drawn his sword 
in civil war. Feelings of humanity restrained him from shedding the blood 
of his opponents ; and the dread of being deemed a rebel deterred him 
from entering a province which the King had allotted to another. Though 

♦ Zarate, lib. iii. c. 4. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 29. 31. Gomara Hist. c. 134. Herrera, dec. C. lib. 
li. c. 1—5. t Zarate, Ub. iii. c. C. Gom. Hist. c. 138. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 32. 34. Herrera, 
dec. 6. lib. ii. c. 9. 



AMERICA. 286 

he knew that arms must terminate the dispute between him and Pizarro, 
and resolved not to shun that mode of decision ; yet, with a timid delicacy, 
preposterous at such a juncture, he was so solicitous that his rival should 
be considered as the aggressor, that he marched quietly back to Cuzco, to 
wait his approach.* 

Pizarro was still unacquainted with all the interesting events which had 
happened near Cuzco. Accounts of Almagro's return, of tiie loss of the 
capital, of the death of one brother, of the imprisonment of the other two, 
and of the defeat of Alvarado> were brought to him at once. Such a tide 
of misfortunes almost overwhelmed a spirit which had continued firm and 
erect under the rudest shocks of adversity. But the necessity of attending 
to his own safety, as well as the desire of revenge, preserved him from 
sinking under it. He took measures for both with his wonted sagacity. 
As he had the command of the seacoast, and expected considerable sup- 
plies both of men and mili'tary stores, it was no less his interest to gain 
time, and to avoid action, than it was that of Almagro to precipitate ope- 
rations, and bring the contest to a speedy issue. Pte had recourse to arts 
which he had formerly practised with success ; and Almagro was again 
weak enough to suffer himself to be amused with a prospect of terminating 
their differences by some amicable accommodation. By varying his over- 
tures, and shifting. his ground as often as it suited his purpose, sometimes 
seeming to yield to every thing which his rival could desire, and then 
retracting all that he had granted, Pizarro dexterously protracted the ne- 
gotiation to such a length, that, though every day was precious to Almagro, 
several months elapsed without coming to any final agreement. While 
the attention of Almagro. and of the officers with whom he consulted, was 
occupied in detecting and eluding the fraudulent intentions of the governor, 
Gonzalo Pizarro and Alvarado found means to corrupt the soldiers to whose 
custody they were committed, and not only made their escape themselves, 
but persuaded sixty of the men who formerly guarded them to accompany 
their flight.! Fortune having thus delivered one of his brothers, the 
governor scrupled not at one act of perfidy more to procure the release of 
the other. He proposed that ever}' point in controversy between Almagro 
and himself should be submitted to the decision of their sovereign; that 
until his award was known, each should retain undisturbed possession of 
whatever part of the country he now occupied; that Ferdinand Pizarro 
shou-ld be set at liberty, and return instantly to Spain, together with the 
officers whom Almngro purposed to send thither to represent thejustice of 
his claims. Obvious as the design of Pizarro was in those propositions, 
and familiar as his artifices might now have been to his opponent, Almagro, 
with a credulity approaching to infatuation, relied on his sincerity, and 
concluded an agreement on these terms. J 

The moment that Ferdinand Pizarro recovered his liberty, the governor, 
no longer fettered in his operations by anxiety about his brother's life, 
threw off every disguise which his concern for it had obliged him to assume. 
The treaty was forgotten ; pacific and conciliating measures were no more 
mentioned; it was in the field he openly declared, and not in the cabinet, 
— by arms and not by negotiation, — that it must now be determined who 
should be master of Peru. The rapidity of his preparations suited such a 
decisive resolution. Seven hundred men were soon ready to march towards 
Cuzco. The command of these was given to his two brothers, in whom 
he could perfectly confide for the execution of his most violent schemes, 
as they were urged on, not only by the enmity flo-\ving from tlie rivalship 
between their family and Almagro, but animated with the desire of ven- 
geance, excited by recollection of their own recent disgrace and sufferings. 

* Herrcra, dec. C. lib. ii. c. 10, 11. t Zarate, lib. iii. c. 8. Ilerrera, dec. 6. lib. il, c. 14. 

t Herrera, dec. 6. lib. iii. c. 9. Zarale, lib: iii. c. 9. Gomara Hist. c. 140. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c, 35 



286 HISTORY OF [BookVL 

After an unsuccessful attempt to cross the mountains in the direct road be- 
tween Lima and Cuzco, they marched towards the south along the coast 
as far as Nasca, and then turning to the left, penetrated through the defiles 
in that branch of the Andes which lay between them and the capital. 
Almagro, instead of hearkening to some of his officers, who advised him 
to attempt the defence of those ditficult passes, waited the approach of 
the enemy in the plain of Cuzco. Two reasons seem to have indu-ced 
him to take this resolution. His followers amounted hardly to five hundred, 
and he was afraid of weakening such a feeble body by sending any de- 
tachment towards the mountains. His cavalry far exceeded that of the 
adverse party, both in number and discipline, and it was only in an open 
country that he could avail himself of that advantage. 

The Pizarros advanced v/ithout any obstruction, but what arose from 
the nature of the desert and horrid regions through which they marched. 
As soon as they reached the plain, both factions were equally impatient to 
bring this long protracted contest to an issue. Though countrymen and 
friends, the subjects of the same sovereign, and each with the royal 
standard displayed ; and though they beheld the mountains that surrounded 
the plain in which they were drawn up, covered with a vast multitude of 
Indians assembled to enjoy the spectacle of their mutual carnage, and 
prepared to attack whatever party remained master of the field ; so fell 
and implacable was the rancour which bad taken possession of every 
breast, that not one pacific counsel, not a single overture towards accom- 
modation proceeded from either side. Unfortunately for Almagro, he was 
so worn out with the fiitigues of service, to which his advanced age was 
unequal, that, at this crisis of his fate, he could not exert his wonted activity . 
and he was obliged to commit the leading his troops to Orgognez, who, 
though an officer of great merit, did not possess the same ascendant either 
over the spirit or affections of the soldiers, as the chief whom they had 
long been accustomed to follow and revere. 

The conflict was fierce, and maintained by each party with equal 
courage [April 26]. On the side of Almagro were more veteran soldiers, 
and a larger proportion of cavalry ; but these were counterbalanced by 
Pizarro's superiority in numbers, and by two companies of well disciplined 
musketeers, which, on receiving an account of the insurrection of the 
Indians, the emperor had sent from Spain.* As the use of fire-arms was 
not frequent among the adventurers in America,! hastily equipped for ser- 
vice, at their own expense, this small band of soldiers regularly trained 
and armed, was a novelty in Peru, and decided the fate of the day. 
Wherever it advanced, the weight of a heavy and well sustained fire 
bore down horse and foot before it ; and Oi-gognez, while he endeavoured 
to rally and animate his troops, having received a dangerous wound, the 
route became general. The barbarity of the conquerors stained the glory 
which they acquired by this complete victoiy. The violence of civil rage 
hurried on some to slaughter their countrymen with indiscriminate cruelty; 
the meanness of private revenge instigated others to single out individuals 
as the objects of their vengeance. Orgognez and several officers ot dis- 
tinction were massacred in cold blood ; above a hundred and forty soldiers 
fell in the field ; a large proportion, where the number of combatants was 
i'ew, and the heat of the contest soon over. Almagro, though so feeble 
that he could not bear the motion of a horse, had insisted on being carried 
in a litter to an eminence which overlooked the field of battle. From 
thence, in the utmost agitation of mind, he viewed the various movements 
of both parties, and at last beheld the total deteat of his own troops, with 
all the passionate indignation of a veteran leader long accustomed to 

* Herrera, dec. 6. lib. iii. c. 8. f Zarate, lib. iU. c 8> 



AMERICA. 287 

victory. He endeavoured to save himself by flight, but was taken prisoner, 
and guarded with the strictest vig-ilance.* 

The Indians, instead of executing the resolution which they had fornned, 
retired quietly after the battle Avas over; and in the history of the New 
World, there is not a more striking instance of the wonderful ascendant 
which the Spaniards had acquired over its inhabitants, than that, after 
seeing one of the contending parties ruined and dispersed, and the other 
weakened and fatigued, they had not courage to fall upon their enemies, 
when fortune presented an opportunity of attacking them with such ad- 
vantage.! 

_ Cuzco was pillaged by the victorious troops, who found there a con- 
siderable booty, consisting partly of the gleanings of the Indian treasures, 
and partly of the wealth amassed by their antagonists from the spoils of 
Peru and Chili. But so far did this, and whatever the bounty of their 
leader could add to it, fail below the high ideas of the recompense which 
they conceived to be due to their merit, that Ferdinand Pizarro, unable to 
gratify such extravagant expectations, had recouse to the same expedient 
which his brother had employed on a similar occasion, and endeavoured 
to tind occupation ibr this turbulent assuming spirit, in order to prevent it 
from breaking out into open mutiny. With this view, he encouraged his 
most active olficers to attetnpt the discovery and reduction of various pro- 
vinces which bad not hitherto submitted to the Spaniards. To every 
standard erected by the leaders who undertook any of those new expe- 
ditions, volunteers resorted with the ardour and hope peculiar to the age. 
Several of Almagro's soldiers joined them, and thus Pizarro had the satis- 
faction of being delivered both from the importunity of his discontented 
friends, and the dread of his ancient enemies. J 

Alraagro himself remained tor several months in custody, under all the 
anguish of suspense. For although his doom was determined by the 
Pizarros from the moment that he fell into their hands, prudence con- 
strained them to defer gratifying their vengeance, until the soldiers who 
had served under him, as well as several of their own followers in whom 
they could not perfectly confide, had left Cuzco. As soon as they set out 
upon their diiferent expeditions, Almagro was impeached of treason, 
formally tried, and condemned to die. The sentence astonished him; and 
though he had often braved death with undaunted spirit in the field, its 
approach under this ignominious form appalled him so much, that he had 
recourse to abject supplications unworthy of his former fame. He be- 
sought the Pizarros to remember the ancient friendship between their bro- 
ther and him, and how much he had contributed to the prosperity of their 
family; he reminded them of the humanity with which, in opposition to 
the repeated remonstrances of his own most attached friends, he had 
spared their lives when he had them in his power ; he conjured them to 
pity his age and infirmities, and to suffer him to pass the wretched re- 
mainder of his days in bewailing his crimes, and in making his peace with 
Heaven. The entreaties, says a Spanish historian, of a man so much be- 
loved touched many an unfeeling heart, and drew tears from many a stern 
eye. But the brothers remained inflexible. As soon as Almagro knew 
his fate to be inevitable, he inet it with the dignity and fortitude of a 
veteran. He vvas strangled in prison, and aftei^wards publicly beheaded. 
He suffered in the seventy-fift-h year of his age, and left one son by an 
Indian woman of Panama, v/hom, though at that time a prisoner in Lima, 
he named as successor to his government, pursuant to a power which the 
emperor had granted him.§ 

* Zarate, lib. iii. r. 11, 12. Veca, p. IMib. ii. c. 36— 39. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. iii. c.lO— 12. lib. iv. 
c. 1—6. t Zarate, lib, iii. c. 11, Vega, p. 11. lib. il. c. 38. ; Zarate, iib. iii. c. 12: 

Gomara Hist. c. 141. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. iv. c. 7. 6 Zarate, lib. iii. c. 12. Goinara Hisu c, 

14J. Vega, p. 11. lib. U, c. 39. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. Iv. c. d. lib. v. c. 1. 



«88 H I S T O R Y OF [Book VI, 

1539.] As, during the civil dissensions in Peru, all intercourse with Spain 
was suspended, the detail of the extraordinary transactions there did not 
soon reach the court. Unfortunately for the victorious faction, the first 
intelligence was brought thither by some of Almagro's officers, who left the 
country upon the ruin of their cause ; and they related what had happened, 
with every circumstance, unfavourable to Pizarro and his brothers. Their 
ambition, their breach of the most solemn engagements, their violence and 
cruelty, were painted with all the malignity and exaggeration of party 
hatred. Ferdinand Pizarro, who arrived soon after, and appeared in court 
with extraordinary splendour, endeavoured to efface the impression which 
their accusations had made, and to justify his brother and himself by repre- 
senting Almagro as the aggressor. The emperor and his mmisters, though 
they could not pronounce which of the contending factions was most 
criminal, clearly discerned the iatal tendency of their dissensions. It was 
obvious, that while the leaders, intrusted ivith the conduct of two infant 
colonies, employed the arms which should have been turned against the 
common enemy, in destroying one another, all attention to the public good 
must cease, and there was reason to dread that the Indians might improve 
the advantage which the disunicrj of the Spaniards presented to them, 
and extirpate both the victors and vanquished. But the evil was more 
apparent than the remedy. Where the information which had been 
received was so defective and suspicious, and the scene of action so remote, 
it was almost impossible to chalk out the line of conduct that ought to be 
foJlowed ; and before any plan that should be approved of in Spain could 
be carried into execution, the situation of the parties, and the circumslances 
of affairs, might alter so entirely as to render its effects extremely 
pernicious. 

Nothing therefore remained, but to send a person to Peru, vested with 
extensive and discretionary power, who, after viewing deliberately the pos- 
ture of affairs with his own eyes, and inquiring upon the spot into the con- 
duct of the different leaders, should be authorized to establish the govern 
ment in that foxm whicii he deemed most conducive to the interest of the 
parent state, and the welfare of the colony. The man selected for this 
important charge was Christoval Vaca de Castro, a judge in the court of 
royal audience at Valladolid ; and his abilities, integrity, and firnmess justi- 
fied the choice. His instructions, though ample, were not such as to fetter 
him in his operations. According to the dilierent aspect of affairs, he had 
power to take upon him different characters. If he ibund the governor 
still alive, he was to assume only tlie title of judge, to maintain the appear- 
ance of acting in concert with him, and to guard against giving any just 
cause of offence to a man who had merited so highly of his country. But if 
Pizarro were dead, he was intrusted with a commission that he might then 
produce, by which he was appointed his successor in the government of 
Peru. This attention to Pizarro, however, seems to have flowed rather 
from dread of his power than from any approbation of his measures ; for, at 
the very time that the court seemed so solicitous not to irritate him, his 
brother Ferdinand was arrested at Madrid, and confined to a prison, where 
he remained above twentyj'ears.* 

154U.] While Vaca de Castro was preparing for his voyage, events of 
great moment happened in Peru. The governor, considering himself, upon 
the death of Almagro, as the unrivalled possessor of that vast empire, pro- 
ceeded to parcel out its territories among the conquerors ; and had this 
division been made with any degree of impartiality, the extent of countiy 
which he had to bestow was sufficient to have gratified his friends, and to 
have gained his enemies. But Pizarro conducted this transaction, not with 
the equity and candour of a judge attentive to discover and to reward 

* Gomara Hist. c. 142. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 40. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. viii. c. 10, 11. lib. i. c 1 



AMERICA. 2r{9 

merit, but with the illiberal spirit of a party leader. Large districts, in 
parts of the country most cultivated and populous, were set apart as his own 
property, or granted to his brothers, his adherents, and favourites. To 
others, lots less valuable and inviting were assigned. The followers of 
Almagro, amongst whom were many of the original adventurers to whose 
valour and perseverance Pizarro was indebted lor his success, were totally 
excluded from any portion in those lands, towards the acquisition of nhich 
Ibey had contributed so largely. As the vanity of every individual set 
an immoderate value upon his own services, and the idea of each concern- 
ing the recompense due to tiiem rose gradually to a more exorbitant height 
in proportion as their conquests extended, ail who were disappointed in 
their expectations exclaimed loudly against the rapaciousness and partiality 
of the governor. The partisans ol Almagro murmured in secret, and medi- 
tated revenge.* 

Rapid as the progress of the Spaniards in South America had been since 
Pizarro landed in Peru, their avidity of dominion was not yet satisfied. 
The otficers to whom Ferdinand Pizarro gave the command of different 
detachments, penetrated into several new provinces ; and though some of 
them were exposed to great hardships in the cold and barren regions of the 
Andes, and others suffered distress not inferior amidst the woods and marshes 
of the plains, they made discoveries and conquests which not only extended 
their knowledge of the country, but added considerably to the territories 
of Spain and the New World. Pedro de Valdivia reassumed Almagro's 
scheme of invading Chili, and notwithstanding the fortitude of the natives 
in defending their possessions, made such progress in the conquest of the 
country, that he founded the city of St. Jago, and gave a beginning to the 
establishment of the Spanish dominion in that province.! Put of all the 
enterprises undertaken about this period, that of Gonzalo Pizarro was the 
most remarkable. The governor, who seems to have resolved that no 
person in Peru should possess any station of distinguished eminence or au- 
thority but those of his own family, had deprived Benalcazar, the conqueror 
of Quito, of his command in that kingdom, and appointed his brother Gon- 
zalo to take the government of it. He instructed him to attempt the 
discovery and conquest of the country to the east of the Andes, which, 
according to the information of the Indians, abounded with cinnamon and 
other valuable spices. Gonzalo, not inferior to any of his brothers in 
courage, and no less ambitious of acauiring distinction, eagerly engaged in 
this difficult service. He set out from Quito at the head of three hundred 
and forty soldiers, near one half of wnom were horsemen ; with four thou- 
sand Indians to carry their provisions. In forcing their way through the 
defiles, or over the ridges of the Andes, excess of cold and fatigue, to 
neither of which they were accustomed, proved fatal to the greater part of 
their wretched attendants. The Spaniards, though more robust, and inured 
to a variety of climates, suffered considerably, and lost some men : but 
when they descended into the low country, their distress increased. During 
two months it rained incessantly, without any interval of fair weather long 
enough to dry their clothes.;}; The immense plains upon which they were 
now entering, either altogether without inhabitants, or occupied by the 
rudest and least industrious tribes in the New World, yielded little subsist- 
ence. They could not advance a step but as they cut a road through woods, 
or made it through marshes. Such incessant toil, and continual scarcity of 
food, seem more than sufficient to have exhausted and dispirited any troops. 
But the fortitude and perseverance of the Spaniards in the sixteenth cen- 
tury were insuperable. Allured by frequent but false accounts of rich 
countries before them, they persisted In struggling on, until they reached 

• Vega, p. H. lib. iii. c. 3. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. viii. c. 9. f Zarato, lib. ill. c. 13. OvalI«, 

lib. ii. c. 1 , &c. { Zarata, lib. f v. c. 2. . 

Vol. I.— 137 



290 ~ HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

the banks of the Coca or Nape, oiie of the large rivers whose waters pour 
into the Maragnon, and contribute to its grandeur. There, with infinite 
labour, they built a bark, which they expected would prove of great utility 
in conveying them over rivers, in procuring provisions, and in exploring the 
country. '1 his was manned with fifty soldiers, under the command of 
Francis Orellana, the officer next in rank to Pizarro. The stream carried 
them down with such rapidity, that they were soon far ahead of their 
countrymen, who followed slowly and with difficulty by land. 

At this distance from his commander, Orellana, a young man of an aspi- 
ring mind, began to i'ancy himself independent ; and transported with the 
predominant passion of the age, he formed the scheme of distinguishing 
himself as a discoverer, by following the course of the Maragnon until it 
joined the ocean, and by surveying the vast regions through which it flows. 
This scheme of Orellana's was as bold as it was treacherous. For, if he be 
chargeable with the guilt of having violated his duty to his commander, and 
with having abandoned his fellow soldiers in a pathless desert, where they 
had hardly any hopes of success, or even of safety, but what were founded 
on the service which they expected from the bark ; his crime is in some 
measure balanced bj^ the gloiy of having ventured upon a navigation of 
rjear two thousand leagues, through unknown nations, in a vessel hastily con- 
structed, with green timber, and by very unskilful hands, without pro- 
visions, wiihout a compass, or a pilot. But his courage and alacrity supplied 
every detect. Committing himself fearlessly to the guidance of the stream, 
the Napo bore him along to the south, until he reached the great channel of 
the Maragnon. Turning with it towards the coast, he held on his course 
in that direction. He made frequent descents on both sides of the river, 
sometimes seizing by force of arms the provisions of the tierce savages 
seated on its banks ; and sometimes procuring a supply of food by a friendly 
intercourse with more gentle tribes. After a long series of dangers, which 
he encountered with amazing fortitude, and of distresses which he sup- 
ported with no less magnanimity, he reached the ocean [137], where new 
perils awaited him. These he likewise surmounted, and got safely to the 
Spanish settlement in the island of Cubagua ; from thence he sailed to 
Spain. The vanity natural to travellers who visit regions unknown to the 
rest of mankind, and the art of an adventurer solicitous to magnify his own 
merit, concurred in prompting him to mingle an extraordinary proportion 
of the marvellous in the narrative of his voyage. He pretended to have dis- 
covered nations so rich that the roofs of their temples were co\ered with 
f)lates of gold ; and described a republic of women so warlike and power- 
ul, as to have extended their dominion over a considerable tract of the fertile 
plains which he had visited. Extravagant as those tales were, they gave rise 
to an opinion, that a region abounding with gold, distinguished by the name 
of El i)orada, and a community of Amazons, were to be found in this part 
of the world; and such is the propensity of mankind to believe what is 
wonderful, that it has been slowly and with difficulty that reason and ob- 
servation have exploded those fables. The voyage, however, even when 
stripped of every romantic embellishment, deserves to be recorded not 
only as one of the most memorable occurrences in that adventurous age, 
but as the first event which led to any certain knowledge of the extensive 
countries that stretch eastward from the Andes to the ocean.* 

No words can describe the consternation of Pizarro, when he did not 
find the bark at the confluence of the Napo and Maragnon, where he had 
ordered Orellana to wait tor him. He would not allow himself to suspect 
that a man, whom he had intrusted with such an important command, 
could be so base and so unfeeling as to desert him at such a juncture. 
But imputing his absence from the place of rendezvous to some unknown 

♦ Zar.iie, lib. iv. c. 4. Gomara Hist. c. 86. Vega, p. 11 lib. lil. c. 4. Henera, dec 0. lib, si. c 
S — 5. Rodriguez el Maragnon y Amazonas, lib. i. c. 3. 



AMERICA. 291 

accident, he advanced above fifty leagues along the banks of the Maragnon, 
expecting every moment to see the hark appear with a supply of provi- 
sions [l34lj. At length he came up with an officer whom Orellana had 
lett to perish in the desert, because he had the courage to remonstrate 
against his perfidy. From him he learned the extent of Drellana's crime, 
and his followers perceived at once their own desperate situation, when 
deprived of their only resource. The spirit of the stoutest hearted vete- 
ran sunk within him, and all demanded to be led back instantly. Pizarro, 
though he assumed an appearance of tranquillity, did not oppose their in- 
clination. But he was now twelve hundred miles from Quito ; and in that 
long march the Spaniards encountered hardships greater than those which 
they had endured in their progress outward, without the alluring hopes 
which then soothed and animated them under their sufferings. Hunger 
compelled them to feed on roots and berries, to eat all their dogs and 
horses, to devour the most loathsome reptiles, and even to gnaw the leather 
of their saddles and swordbelts. Four thousand Indians, and two hundred 
and ten Spaniards, perished in this wild disastrous expedition, which con- 
tinued near two years ; and as fifty men were aboard the bark with Orel- 
lana, only fourscore got back to Q,uito. These were naked like savages, 
and so emaciated with famine, or worn out with fatigue, that they had more 
the appearance of spectres than of men.* 

But, instead of returning: to enjoy the repose Avhich his condition re- 
quired, Pizarro, on entering Quito, received accounts of a fatal event that 
threatened calamities more dreadful to him than those through which he 
had passed. From the time that his brother made that partial division of 
his conquests which has been mentioned, the adherents of Almagro, con- 
sidering themselves as proscribed by the party in power, no longer enter- 
tained any hope of bettering their condition. Great numbers in despair 
resorted to Lima, where the house of young Almagro was always open to 
them, and the slender portion of his father's fortune, which the governor 
allowed him to enjoy, was spent in affording them subsistence. The warm 
attachment with which every person who had served under the elder Al- 
magro devoted himself to his interests, was quickly transferred to his son, 
who was now grown up to the age of manhood, and possessed all the 
qualities which captivate the affections of soldiers. Of a graceful appear- 
ance, dexterous at all martial exercises, bold, open, generous, he seemed to 
be formed for command ; and as his father, conscious of his own inferiority 
from the total want of education, had been extremely attentive to have 
him instructed in every science becoming a gentleman ; the accomplish- 
ments which he had acquired heightened the respect of his followers, as 
they gave him distinction and eminence among illiterate adventuiers. In 
ibis young man the Almagrians found a point of union which they wanted, 
and, looking up to him as their head, were ready to undertake any thing 
for his advancement. Nor was affection for Almagro their only incite- 
ment; they were urged on by their own distresses. Many of them, des- 
titute of common necessaries [l3B], and weaiy of loitering away life, a 
burden to their chief, or to such of their associates as had saved some 
remnant of their fortune from pillage and confiscation, longed impatiently 
for an occasion to exert their activity and courage, and began o deliberate 
how they might be avenged on the author of all their misery. Their fre- 
quent cabals did not pass unobserved ; and the governor was warned to 
be on his guard against men who meditated some desperate deed, and had 
resolution to execute it. But either from the native intrepidity of his 
mind, or from contempt of persons whose poverty seemed to render their 
machinations of little consequence, he disregarded the admonitions of his 
friends. " Be in no pain," said he carelessly, " about my life ; it is per- 

* Zarate, lib. iv. c 2—5- Vc-ga, p. U. Jih. iii. c. 3, 4, 5. U. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. vlii. c. 7, a 
lib. \x, c. 2-^. dee. 7. lib. iij c. 14. Pizar. Varonos Illust. 348, &.c. 



292 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

fectly safe, as long as every man in Peru knows that 1 can in a moment 
cut off any head which dares to harbour a thought against it." This secu- 
rity gave the Almagrians full leisure to digest and ripen every part of 
their scheme ; and Juan de Herrada, an officer of great abilities, who had 
the charge of Almagro's education, took the direction of their consulta- 
tions with all the zeal which this connection inspired, and with all the au- 
thority which the ascendant that he was known to have over the mind of 
his pupil gave him. 

On Sunday the twenty-sixth of June, at mid-day, the season of tran- 
quillity and repose in all sultry climates, Herrada, at the head of eighteen 
of the most deteniiined conspirators, sallied out of Almagro's house, in 
complete armour; and, drawing their swords, as they ad\anced hastily 
towards the governor's palace, cried out, " Long live the King, but let the 
tyrant die !" Their associates, warned of their motions by a signal, were 
in arms at different stations ready to support them, Thcugh Pizarro was 
usually surrounded by such a numerous train of attendants as suited the 
magnificence of the most opulent subject of the age in which he lived ; 
yet as he was just risen from table, and most of his domestics had retired 
to their own apartments, the conspirators passed through the Uvo outer 
courts of the palace unobserved. They were at the bottom of the stair- 
case before a page in waiting could give the alarm to his master, who was 
conversing with a few friends in a large hall. The governor, whose steady 
mind no form of danger could appal, starting up, called for arms, and 
commanded Francisco de Chaves to make fast the door. But that officer, 
who did not retain so much presence of mind as to obey this prudent 
order, running to the top of the staircase, wildly asked the conspirators 
what they meant, and whither they were going? Instead of answering, 
they stabbed him to the heart, and burst into the hall. Some of the per- 
sons who were there threw themselves fiom the windows ; others attempt- 
ed to fly ; and a few drawing their swords followed their leader into an 
inner apartment. The conspirators, animated with having the object of 
their vengeance now in view, rushed forward after them. Pizarro, with 
no other arms than his sword and buckler, defended the entry ; and, sup- 
ported by his half brother Alcantara, and his little knot of friends, he 
maintained the unequal contest with intrepidity worthy of his past exploits, 
and with the vigour of a youthful combatant. " Courage," cried he, 
"companions! we are yet enow to make those traitors repent of their au- 
dacity." But the armour of the conspirators protected them, while every 
thrust they made took effect. Alcantara fell dead at his brother's feet ; 
his other defenders were mortally wounded. The governor, so weary 
that he could hardly wield his sword, and no longer able to pariy the many 
weapons furiously aimed at him, received a deadly thnast full in his throat, 
sunk to the ground, and expired. 

As soon as he was slain, the assassins ran out into the streets, and, waving 
their bloody swords, proclaimed the death of the tyrant. Above two 
hundred of their associates having joined them, they conducted young Al- 
magro in solemn procession through the city, and, assembling the magis- 
trates and principal citizens, compelled them to acknowledge bim as lawful 
successor to his father in his government. The palace of Pizarro, to";ether 
with the houses of several of his adherents, was pillaged by the soldiers, 
who had the satisfaction at once of being avenged on their enemies, and 
of enriching themselves by the spoils of those through v/hose hands all the 
wealth of Peru had passed.* 

The boldness and success of the conspiracy, as well as the name and 
popular qualities of Almagro, drew many soldiers to his standard. Every 
adventurer of desperate fortune, all who were dissatisfied with Pizarro 

* Zarate, lib. iv. c. 6—8. Gomara Hist. c. 144, 145. Vega, p. 11. lib. jii. c, 5—7. Herrera, dec 
6. Ub. X. c. 4—7. PizaiTo Var. lUust. p. 183. 



AMERICA. 293 

(and from the rapaciousness of bis government in the latter years of his 
hfe the number of malecontents was considerable), declared without hesi- 
tation in i'avour of Alraugro, and he was soon at the head of eight hundred 
of the most gallant veterans in Peru. As his youth and inexperience dis- 
qualified him from taking the command of them himself, he appointed 
Herrada to act as general. But though Almagro speedily collected such 
a respectable force, the acquiescence in his government was far from being 
general. Pizarro had left many friends to whom his memory was dear ; 
the barbarous assassination of a man to whom his country was so highly 
indebted, filled every impartial person with horror. '1 he ignominious 
birth of Almagro, as well as the doubtful title on which he founded his 
pretensions, led others to consider him as a usurper. The officers who 
commanded in some provinces refused to recognise his authority until it 
was confirmed by the emperor. In others, particularly at Cuzco, the royal 
standard was erected, and preparations were begun in order to revenge 
the murder of their ancient leader. 

Those seeds of discord, which could not have lain long dormant, acquired 
great vigour and activity when the arrival of Vaca de Castro was known. 
After a long and disastrous voyage, he was driven by stress of weather 
into a small harbour in the province of Popayan ; and proceeding from 
thence by land, after a journey no less tedious than difficult, he reached 
Quito. In his way he received accounts of Pizarro's death, and of the 
events which ibllowed upon it. He immediately produced the royal 
commission appointing him governor of Peru, with the same privileges and 
authority ; and his jurisdiction w^as acknowledged without hesitation by 
Benalcazar, adelantado or lieutenant-general for the emperor in Popayan, 
and by Pedro de Puelles, who, in the absence of Gonzalo Pizarro, had 
the command of the troops left in Q,uito. Vaca de Castro not only assumed 
the supreme authority, but showed that he possessed the talents which the 
exercise of it at that juncture required. By his influence and address he 
soon assembled such a body of troops, as not only to set him above all 
fear of being exposed to any insult from the a^iverse party, but enabled 
him to advance irom Q,uito with the dignity which became his character. 
By despatching persons of confidence to the different settlements in Peru 
with a formal notification of his arrival and of his commission, he commu- 
nicated to his countrymen the royal pleasure with respect to the govern- 
ment of the country. By private emissaries, he excited such officers as 
had discovered their disapprobation of Almagro's proceedings, to manifest 
their duty to their sovereign by supporting the person honoured with his 
commission. Those measures were productive of great effects. En- 
couraged by the approacli of the new governor, or prepared by his 
machinations, the loyal were confirmed in their principles, and avowed 
them with greater boldness ; the timid ventured to declare their sentiments; 
the neutral and wavering, finding it necessary to choose a side, began 
to lean to that which now appeared to be the safest as well as the most 
just.* 

Almagro observed the rapid progress of this spirit of disaffection to his 
cause ; and in order to give an effectual check to it before the arrival of 
Vaca de Castro, he set out at the head of his troops for Cuzco [1542], 
where the most considerable body of opponents had erected the royal 
standard, under the command of Pedro Alvarez Holguin. During his 
march thither, Herrada, the skilful guide of his youth and of his counsels, 
died ; and from that time his measures were conspicuous for their violence, 
but concerted with little sagacity, and executed with no address. Holguin, 
who, with forces far inferior to those of the opposite party, was descend- 

* Benzon, lib. iiL o. 9. Zarata, lib. iv. o. 11. Gomara, o. 149, 147 Herrera, de<k 6. lib. x. «• L 
S, 9. 7, &<y. 



29<i HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

Ing to^^a^ds the coast at the very time that Almagro was on his way to 
Cuzco, deceived his inexperienced adversaiy by a very simple stratagem, 
avoided an engagement, and efiecled a junction with Alvarado, an oflicei 
of note, wIjo had been the first to declare against Almagro as a usurper. 

Soon after, Vaca de Castro entered their camp with the troops wiiicb 
he brought Irom Q,uilo ; and erecting tlie royal standard belbre his own 
tent, he declared that, as governor, he would discharge in person ali 
the functions of general of their combined forces. Though lornied by 
the tenor of his past life to the habits of a sedentary and pacific profession,- 
he at once assumed the activity and discovered the decision of an otficei 
long accustomed to command. Knowing his strength to be now far supe- 
rior to that of the enemy, he was impatient to terminate the contest by a 
battle. Nor did the followers of Almagro, who had no hopes of obtaining 
a pardon for a crime so atrocious as the murder of the governor, decline 
that mode of decision. They met at Chupaz [Sept. 16], about two hun 
dred miles from Cuzco, and fought with all the fierce animosity inspired 
by the violence of civil rage, the rancour of private enmity, the eagerness 
of revenge, and the last elibrts of despair. Victoiy, after remaining long 
doubtful, declared at last tor Vaco de Castro. The superior numljer ol 
his troops, his own intrepidity, and the martial talents ot Francisco de 
Carvajal, a veteran olhcer formed under the great captain in the wars of 
Italy, and who on that day laid the foundation of his future fame in Peru, 
triumphed over the bravery of his opponents, though led on by young 
Almagro with a gallant spirit worthy of a better cause, and deserving 
another fate. The carnage was great in proportion to the number of tlie 
combatants. Many of the vanquished, especially such as were conscious 
that they might be charged with being accessary to the assassination ot 
Pizarro, rushing on the swords of the enemy, chose to fall like soldiers 
rather than wait an ignominious doom. Ot fourteen hundred men, the 
total amount of combatants on both sides, five hundred lay dead on the 
field, and the number of the wounded was still greater.* 

If the military talents displayed by Vaca de Castro, both in the council 
and in the field, surprised the adventurers in Peru, they were still more 
astonislied at his conduct after the victory. As he was by nature a rigid 
dispenser of justice, and persuaded that it required examples of extraor- 
dinary severity to restrain the licentious spirit of soldiers so far removed 
from the seat of government, he proceeded directly to try his prisoners as 
rebels. Forty were condemned to suffer the death of traitors, others Avere 
banished from Peru. Their leader, who made his escape from Ijie battle, 
being betrayed by some of his officers, was publicly beheaded in Cuzco ; 
and in him the name of Almagro, and tlie spirit of the party, was extinct.f 

During those violent convulsions in Peru, the emperor and his ministers 
■were intently employed in preparing regulations, by which they hoped not 
•only to re-establish tranquillity there, but to introduce a more perfect system 
of internal policy into all their settlements in the New World. It is 
manifest from all the events recorded in the history of America, that, 
rapid and extensive as the Spanish conquests there had been, they were 
not carried on by any regular exertion of the national force, but by the 
occasional efforts of private adventurers. After fitting out a few of the 
first armaments for discovering new regions, the court of Spain, during the 
busy reigns of Ferdinand and Charles V., the former the most intriguing 
prince of the age, and the latter the most ambitious, was encumbered with 
such a multiplicity of schemes, and involved in war with so many nations 
.of Europe, tliat he bad not leisure to attend to distant and less interesting 

* Zaratc, Tib. iv. c. 13—19. Gomara, c. 148. Vega, p. 11. lib. iii. c. 11—18. Herreira, dec. 7. 
lib. i. c 1, 2, 3. lib. iii. c. 1—11. t ZaraXe, lib. iv. c, 21. Gomara, c. 150. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. iii 
«. 12. lib. vi. c. 1. 



AMERICA. 296 

objects. The care of prosecuting discovery, or of attempting conquest, 
was abandoned to individuals ; and with such ardour did men push forward in 
this new career, on which novehy, the spirit of adventure, avarice, ambition, 
and the hope of meriting heaven, prompted them with combined influence 
to enter, that in less than half a century almost the whole of that extensive 
empire which Spain now possesses in the New World, was suhjected to 
its dominion. As the Spanish court contributed nothing towards the various 
expeditions undertaken in America, it was not entitled to claim much from 
their success. The sovereignty of the conquered provinces, with the fifth 
of the gold and silver, was reserved for the crown ; every thing else was 
seized by the associates in each expedition as their own right. The 
plunder of the countiies which they invaded served to indemnity them for 
what they had expended in equipping themselves for the service, and the 
conquered territory was divided among them, according to rules which 
custom had introduced, as permanent establishments which their successful 
valour merited. In the infancy of those settlements, when their extent as 
well as their value was unknown, many irregularities escaped observation, 
and it was found necessary to connive at many excesses. The conquered 
people were frequently pillaged with destructive rapacity, and their country 
parcelled out among its new masters in exorbitant shares, far exceeding 
the highest recompense due to their services. The rude conquerors of 
America, incapable of forming their establishments upon any general or 
extensive plan of policy, attentive only to private interest, unwilling to 
forego present gain from the prospect of remote or public benefit, seem to 
have had no object but to amass sudden wealth, without regarding what 
might be the consequences of the means by which they acquired it. But 
when time at length discovered to the Spanish court the importance of its 
American possessions, the necessity of new-modelling their whole frame 
became obvious, and in place of the maxims and practices prevalent 
among militaiy adventurers, it was found requisite to substitute the insti- 
tutions of regular government. 

One evil in particular called for an immediate remedy. The conquerors 
of Mexico and Peru imitated the fatal example of their countrymen settled 
in the islands, and employed themselves in searching for gold and silver 
with the same inconsiderate eagerness. Similar effects followed. The 
natives employed in this labour by masters, who in imposing tasks had no 
regard either to what they felt or to what they were able to perform, pined 
away and perished so fast, that there was reason to apprehend that Spain, 
instead of possessing countries peopled to such a degree as to be suscep- 
tible of progressive improvement, would soon remain proprietor only of a 
vast uninhabited desert. 

The emperor and his ministers were so sensible of this, and so solicitous 
to prevent the extinction of the Indian race, which threatened to render 
their acquisitions of no value, that from time to time various laws, which 
I have mentioned, had been made for securing to that unhappy people 
more gentle and equitable treatment. But the distance of America from 
the seat of empire, the feebleness of government in the new colonies, the 
avarice and audacity of soldiers unaccustomed to restraint, prevented these 
salutary regulations from operating with any considerable influence. The 
evil continued to grow, and at this time the emperor found an interval of 
leisure from the affairs of Europe to take it into attentive consideration. 
He consulted not only with his ministers and the members of the council 
of the Indies, but called upon several persons Avho had resided long in the 
New World to aid them with the result of their experiencs and observa- 
tion. Fortunately for the people of America, among these was Bartholo- 
mew de las Casas, who happened to be then at Madrid on a mission from 
a Chapter of his order at Chiapa.* Though since the miscarriage of his 

• Ilemeeal Hint, de Cliiapa, p. 146. 



S95 HISTORY OF * [Book VI. 

former schemes for the relief of the Indians, he had continued shut up in 
hJs cloister, or occupied in religious functions, his zeal in behalf of the 
former objects of his pity was so far from abating, that, from an increased 
knowledge of their .sufferings, its ardour had augmented. He seized 
eagerly this opportunity of reviving his favourite maxims concerning the 
ireatment of the Indians. "With the moving eloquence natural to a man 
on whose mind tbe scenes which he had beheld had made a deep impres- 
sion, he described the irreparable waste of the human species in the Kew 
World, the Indian race almost totally swept away in the islands in less 
than fifty years, and hastening to extinction on the continent with the same 
rapid decay. With the decisive tone of one strongly prepossessed with 
the truth of his own system, he imputed all this to a single cause, to the 
exactions and cruelty of his countiymen, and contended that nothing could 
prevent the depopulation of America, but the declaring of its natives to be 
fieeinen, and treating them as subjects, not as slaves. Nor did he confide 
for the success of this proposal in the powers of his oratory alone. In 
order to cntorce them, he composed his famous treati.'^e concerning the 
destruction of Atnerica,* in which he relates, with many horrid circum- 
stances, but with apparent marks of exaggerated description, the devasta- 
tion of every province which had been visited bj' the Spaniards. 

The emperor was deeply afflicted with the recital ot so many actions 
shocking to humanity. But as his views extended far beyond those of Las 
Casas, be perceived that relieving the Indians from oppression was but one 
step towards rendering his possessions in the New World a valuable acqui- 
sition, and would be of little avail, unless he could circumscribe the power 
and usurpations of his own subjects there. The conquerors of America, 
however great their merit had been towards their country, were mostly 
persons of such mean birth, and of such an abject rank in society, as gave no 
distinction in the eye of a monarch. The exorbitant wealth with which 
some of them returned, gave umbrage to an age not accustomed to see men 
in inferior condition elevated above their level, and rising to emulate or to 
.surpass the ancient nobility in splendour. The territories which their 
leaders had appropriated to themselves were of such enormous extent [139], 
that, if the country should ever be improved in proportion to the fertility 
of the soil, they must grow too wealthy and too powerful for subjects. It 
appeared to Charles that this abuse required a remedy no less than the 
ether, and that the regulations concerning both must be enforced by a mode 
of government more vigorous than had yet been introduced into America. 

With this view he Iramed a body of laws, containing many salutary 
appointments with respect to the constitution and powers of the supreme 
council of the Indies; concerning the station and jurisdiction of the royal 
audiences in different parts of America ; the administration of justice ; the 
order of government, both ecclesiastical and civil. These were approved 
of by all ranks of men. But together with them Avere issued the following 
regulations, which excited universal alarm, and occasioned the most violent 
convulsions : " That as the repariimhntos or shares of land seized by several 
persons appeared to be excessive, the royal audiences are empowered to 
reduce them to a moderate extent : That upon the death of any conqueror 
or planter, the lands and Indians granted to him shall not descend to his 
widow or children, but return to the crown : That the Indians shall hence- 
forth be exempt from personal service, and shall not be compelled to carry 
the baggage of travellers, to labour in the mines, or to dive in the pearl 
fisheries : That the stated tribute due by them to their superior shall be 
ascertained, and they shall be paid as servants for any work they voluntarily 
perform : That all persons who are or have been in public offices, all 
ecclesiastics of every denomination, all hospitals and monasteries, shall be 
deprived of the lands and Indians allotted to them, and these be annexed 

• Rcnicsal, p. 132. 109. 



AMERICA. 29T 

♦o the crown : That every person in Peru, who had any criminal concern 
in the contest between Pizarro and Almagro should forfeit his lands and 
Indians."* 

All the Spanish ministers who had hitherto been intrusted with the 
direction of American affairs, and who were best acquainted with the state 
of the country, remonstrated against those regulations as ruinous to their 
infant colonies. They represented, that the number of Spaniards who 
had hitherto emigrated to the New World was so extremely small, that 
nothing could be expected from any effort of theirs towards improving the 
vast regions over which they were scattered ; that the success of every 
scheme for this purpose must depend upon the ministry and service of the 
Indians, whose native indolence and aversion to labour, no prospect of 
benefit or promise of reward could surmount ; that the moment the right of 
imposing a task, and exacting the performance of it, was taken from their 
masters, every work of iwd-ustry must cease, and all the sources from which 
wealth began to pour in upon Spain must be stopped for ever. But Charles, 
tenacious at all times of his own opinions, and so much impressed at present 
with the view of the disorders Avhich reigned in America, that he was 
willing to hazard the application even of a dangerous remedy, persisted in 
his resolution of publishing the laws. That they might be carried into 
execution with greater vigour and authority, he authorized Francisco Telle 
de Sandoval to repair to Mexico as Visiiador^ or superintendent of that 
country, and to co-operate with Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy, in en- 
forcing them. He appointed Blasco Nugnez Vela to be governor of 
Peru, with the title of viceroy ; and in order to strengthen his adminis- 
tration, he established a court of royal audience in Lima [1543], in which 
four lawyers of eminence were to preside as judges.! 

The viceroy and superintendent sailed at the same time ; and an account 
of the laws which they were to enforce reached America before them. 
The entry of Sandoval into Mexico was viewed as the prelude of general 
ruin. The unlimited grant of liberty to the Indians affected every Spaniard 
in America without distinction, and there was hardly one who might not on 
some pretext be included under the other regulations, and suffer by them. 
But the colony in New Spain had now been so long accustomed to the 
restraints of law and authority under the steady and prudent administration 
of Mendoza, that, how much soever the spirit of the new statutes was de- 
tested and dreaded, no attempt was made to obstruct the publication of 
them by any act of violence unbecoming subjects. The magistrates and 
principal inhabitants, however, presented dutiful addresses to the viceroy 
and superintendent, representing the fatal consequences of enforcing them. 
Happily for them Mendoza, by long residence in the country, was so tho- 
roughly acquainted with its state, that he knew what was for its interest as 
well as what it could bear; and Sandoval, though new in office, displayed 
a degree of moderation seldom possessed by persoiis just entering upon the 
exercise of power. They engaged to suspend, for some time, the execution 
of what was offensive in the new laws, and not only consented that a depu- 
tation of citizens should be sent to Europe to lay before the emperor the 
apprehensions of his subjects in New Spain with respect to their tendency 
and effects, but they concurred with them in supporting their sentiments. 
Charles, moved by the opinion of men whose abilities and integrity entitled 
them to decide concerning what iell immediately under their own view, 
granted such a relaxation of the rigour of the laws as re-established the 
colony in its former tranquillity.J 

Id Peru the storm gathered with an aspect still more fierce and threaten- 

• Herrera, dec. 7. lib. vi. c. 4. Fernandez IFist. lib. i. c. 1, 2. 1 Zaratc, lib. iii. c. 24. Go- 

mara. c. 151. Vega, p. 2. lib. iii. c. 20. 1 Fernandez Kisl. lib. i. c. 3, 4, 5. Vega, )). 11. lib. ilL 

c. 21, 22. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. v. c. 7. lib. vii. c. 14, 15. Torquem. Mond. Ind. lib. v. c. 13. 

Vol. I.— 38 



298 HISTORY OP ^ookVI. 

mg, and was not so soon dispelled. The conquerors of Peru, of a rank 
much inferior to those who had subjected Mexico to the Spanish crown, 
further removed from the inspection of the parent state, and intoxicated 
■with the sudden acquisition oi wealth, carried on all their operations with 
greater license and irregularity than any body of adventurers in the New 
World. Amidst the general subversion of law and order, occasioned by 
two successive civil wars, when each individual was at liberty to decide 
for himself, without any guide but his own interest or passions, this turbulent 
spirit rose above all sense of subordination. To men thus corrupted by 
anarchy, the introduction of regular government, the power of a viceroy, 
and the authority of a respectable court of judicature, would of themselves 
have appeared formidable restraints, to which they would have submitted 
with reluctance. But they revolted with indignation against the idea of 
complying with laws, by which they were to be stripped at once of all 
they had earned so hardly during many years of service and suffering. As 
the account of the new laws spread successively through the different settle- 
ments, the inhabitants ran together, the women in tears, and the men 
exclaiming against the injustice and ingratitude of their sovereign in de- 
priving them, unheard and unconvicted, of their possessions. " Is this," 
cried they, " the recompense due to persons, who, without public aid, at 
their own expense, and by their own valour, have subjected lo the crown of 
Castile territories of such immense extent and opulence ? Are these the 
rewards bestowed for having endured unparalleled distress, for having 
encountered every species of danger in the service of their country ? Whose 
merit is so great, whose conduct has been so irreproachable, that he may 
not be condemned by some penal clause in regulations, conceived in terms 
as loose and comprehensive, as if it had been intended that all should be 
entangled in their snare ? Every Spaniard of note in Peru has held some 
public office, and all, without distinction, have been constrained to take an 
active part in the contest between the two rival chief's. Were the former 
to be robbed of their property because they had done their duty ? Were the 
latter to be punished on account of what they could not avoid ? Shall the 
conquerors of this great empire, instead of receiving marks of distinction, 
be deprived of thrj natural consolation of providing for their widows and 
children, and leave them to depend for subsistence on the scanty supply 
they can extort from unfeeling courtiers ?* We are not able now," continued 
they, "to explore unknown regions in quest of more secure settlements; 
our constitutions debilitated with age, and our bodies covered with w-ounds, 
are no longer tit for active service ; but still we possess vigour suflicient to 
assert our just rights, and we will not tamely suffer them to be wrested 
from us."t 

By discourses of this Sort, uttered with vehemence, and listened to with 
universal approbation, their passions were inflamed to such a pitch that 
they were prepared for the most violent m.casures ; and began to hold con- 
sultations in different places, how they might oppose the entrance of the 
viceroy and judges, and prevent not only the execution but the promulga- 
tion of the new laws. From this, however, they were diverted by the 
address of Vaca de Castro, who flattered them with hopes, that, as soon as 
the viceroy and judges should arrive, and had leisure to examine their pe- 
titions and remonstrances, they would concur with them in endeavouring 
to procure some mitigation in the rigour of laws which had been framed 
without due attention either to the state of the country, or to the senti- 
ments of the people. A greater degree of accommodation to these, and 
even some concessions on tlie part of government, were now become requi- 
site to compose the present ferment, and to soothe the colonists into sub- 

* llenera, dsc. 7. lib. \-ii. c. 14, 15. f Gomara, c. 152. Hcrrera, dec. 7, lib. vl. o. 10, il. 

Vi'ga, p. n. lib. iii. c. 20. 22. lib. iv. c. 3, 4. 



AMERICA. 299 

mission, by inspiring them with confidence in their superiors. But without 
profound aiscernment, conciliating- manners, and flexibility of temper, such 
a plan could not be carried on. The viceroy possessed none of these. 
Of all the qualities that fit men for high command, he was endowed only 
with integrity and courage ; the former harsh and uncomplying, the latter 
bordering so frequently on rashness or obstinacy, that, in his situation, they 
were defects rather than virtues. From the moment that he landed at 
Tumbez [March 4], Nugnez Vela seems to have considered himself 
merely as an executive ofKcer, without any discretionary power; and, re- 
gardless of whatever he observed or heard concerning the state of the 
country, he adhered to the letter of the regulations with unrelenting rigour. 
In all the towns through which he passed, the natives were declared to 
be free, every person in public office was' deprived of his lands and ser- 
vants ; and as an example of obedience to others, he would not suffer a 
single Indian to be employed in carrying his own baggage in his march to- 
wards Lima. Amazement and consternation went before him as he ap- 
proached ; and so little solicitous was he to prevent these from augmenting, 
that, on entering the capital, he openly avowed that he came to obey the 
orders of his sovereign, not to dispense with his laws. This harsh decla- 
ration was accompanied with what rendered it still more intolerable, 
haughtiness in deportment, a tone of arrogance and decision in discourse, 
and an insolence of office grievous to men little accustomed to hold civil 
authority in high respect. Every attempt to procure a suspension or miti- 
gation of the new laws, the viceroy considered as flowing from a spirit of 
uisafTection that tended to rebellion. Several persons of rank were con- 
fined, and some put to death, without any form of trial. Vaca de Castro 
was arrested ; and notwithstanding the dignity of his former rank, and his 
merit, in having prevented a general insurrection in the colony, he was 
loaded with chains, and shut uj) in the common jail.* 

But however general the indignation was against such proceedings, it is 
probable the hand of authority would have been strong enough to suppress 
it, or to prevent it bursting out with open violence, if the malecontents had 
not been provided with a leader of credit and eminence to unite and to 
direct their efforts. From the time that the purpoi't of the new regulations 
was known in Peru, every Spaniard there turned his eyes towards Gon- 
zajo Pizarro, as the only person able to avert the ruin Avith which they 
threatened the colony. From all quarters, letters and addresses were sent 
to him, conjuring him to stand forth as their common protector, and ofl'er- 
ing to support him in the attempt with their lives and fortunes. Gonzalo, 
though inferior in talents to his other brothers, was equally ambitious, and 
of courage no less daring. The behaviour of^ an ungrateful court towards 
his brothers and himself dwelt continually on his mind. Ferdinand a state 
prisoner in Europe, the children of the governor in custody of the viceroy, 
and sent aboard his fleet, himself reduced to the condition of a private 
citizen in a country for the discovery and conquest of which Spain was in- 
debted to his family — these thoughts prompted him to seek for vengeance, 
and to assert the rights of his family, of which he now considered himself 
as the guardian and the heir. But as no Spaniard can easily surmount that 
veneration for his sovereign which seems to be interwoven in his frame, 
the idea of marching in arms against the royal standard filled him with 
horror. He hesitated long, and was still unresolved, when the violence of 
the viceroy, the universal call of his countrymen, and the certainty of be- 
coming soon a victim himself to the severity of the new laws, moved him 
to quit his residence at Chuquisacade la Plata, and repair to Cuzco. All 
the inhabitants went out to meet him, and received him with transports of 

• Zaratp, lib. iv. c. 23, »J, 25. Gomara, c. 153—155. Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 4, 5. Fernandez, 
lib. i. c. 0-10. 



300 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

joy as the deliverer of the colony. In the fervour of their zeal, they elect- 
ed him procurator-general of the Spanish nation in Peru, to solicit the re- 
peal of the late regulations. They empowered him to lay their remon- 
strances before the royal audience in Lima, and, upon pretext of danger 
from the Indians, authorized him to march thither in arms [1544]. Under 
sanction of this nomination Pizarro took possession of the royal treasure, 
appointed officers, levied soldiers, seized a large train of artillery which 
Vaca de Castro had deposited in Gumanga, and set out for Lima as if he 
had been advancing against a public enemy. Disaffection having now as- 
sumed a regular form, and being united under a chief of such distinguish- 
ed name, many persons of note resorted to his standard ; and a considerable 
part of the troops, raised by the viceroy to oppose his progress, deserted 
to him in a body.* 

Before Pizarro reached Lima, a revolution had happened there, which 
encouraged him to proceed with almost certainty of success. The violence 
of the viceroy's administration was not more formidable to (he Spaniards 
of Peru than his overbearing haughtiness Avas odious to his associates, the 
judges of the royal audience. During their voyage from Spain, some symp- 
toms of coldness between the viceroy and them began to appear. t But 
as soon as they entered upon the exercise of their respective offices, both 
parties were so much exasperated by frequent contests, arising from inter- 
lerence of jurisdiction and contrariety of opinion, that their mutual disgust 
soon grew into open enmity. The judges thwarted the viceroy in every 
measure, set at liberty prisoners whom he had confined, justified the male- 
contents, and applauded their remonstrances. At a time when both de- 
partments of government should have united against the approaching 
enemy, they were contending with each other for superiority. The 
judges at length prevailed. The viceroy, universally odious, and abandon- 
ed even by his own guards, was seized in his palace [Sept. 18], and carried 
to a desert island on the coast, to be kept there until he could be-sent home 
to Spain. 

The judges, in consequence of this, having assumed the supreme direc- 
tion of affairs into their own hands, issued a proclamation suspending the 
execution of the obnoxious laws, and sent a message to Pizarro, requiring 
him, as they had already granted whatever he could request, to dismiss 
his troops, and to repair to Lima with fifteen or twenty attendants. They 
could hardly expect that a man so daring and ambitious would tamely 
comply with this requisition. It was made, probably, with no such inten- 
tion, but only to throw a decent veil over their own conduct ; for Cepeda, 
the president of the court of audience, a pragmatical and aspiring lawyer, 
seems to have held a secret correspondence with Pizarro, and had already 
formed the plan, which he afterwards executed, of devoting himself to 
his service. The imprisonment of the viceroy, the usurpation of the 
judges, together with the universal confusion and anarchy consequent upon 
€vents so singular and unexpected, opened new and vast prospects to Pi- 
zarro. He now beheld the supreme power within his reach. Nor did he 
want courage to push on towards the object which fortune presented to 
his view. Carvajal, the prompter of his resolutions, and guide of .all his 
actions, had long fixed his eye upon it as the only end at which Pizarro 
ought to aim. Instead of the inferior function of procurator for the Span- 
ish settlements in Peru, he openly demanded to be governor and captain- 
general of the whole province, and required the court of audience to grant 
him a commission to that effect. At the head of twelve hundred men, 
within a mile of Lima, where there was neither leader nor army to oppose 
him, such a request carried with it the authority of a command. But the 

* Zarate, lib. v. c. 1. Goraara, c. 15G, 157. Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 4—12. Fernandez, lib. 1. 1 
12 — I., t.biiera, dec. 7. lib. vii. o. 18, &«. lib. viii. c. 1 — 5. t Gonwra, o. 171. 



AMERICA. 301 

judges, cither from unwillingness to relinquish power, or from a desire of 
preserving some attention to appearances, hesitated, or seemed to hesitate, 
about complying with what he demanded. Carvajal, impatient of delay, 
and impetuous in all his operations, marched inio the city by night, seized 
several ofiicers of distinction obnoxious to Pizarro, and hanged them with- 
out the formality of a trial. Next morning the court of audience issued 
a commission in the emperor's name, appointing Pizarro governor of Peru, 
with full powers, civil as well as military, and he entered the town that 
day with extraordinary pomp, to take possession of his new dignity.* 

Oct. 28.] But amidst the disorder and turbulence which accompanied 
this total dissolution of the frame of government, the minds of men, set 
loose from tiie ordinary restraints of law and authority, acted with such 
capricious irregularity, that events no less extraordinary than unexpected 
followed in a rapid succession. Pizarro had scarcely be^un to exercise 
the new powers with which he was invested, when he beheld tbrmidable 
enemies rise up to oppose him. The viceroy having been put on board a 
vessel by the judges of the audience, in order that he might be carried to 
Spain under custody of Juan Alvarez one of their own number ; as soon 
as they were out at sea, Alvarez, either touched with remorse, or moved 
by fear, kneeled down to his prisoner, declared him from that moment to 
be free, and that he himself, and every person in the ship, would obey hira 
as the legal representative of their sovereign. Nugnez Vela ordered the 
pilot of tne vessel to shape his course towards Tumbez, and as soon as he 
landed there, erected the royal standard, and resumed his functions of 
viceroy. Several persons of note, to whom the contagion of the seditious 
spirit which reigned at Cuzco and Lima had not reached, instantly avowed 
their resolution to support his authority.! The violence of Pizarro's go- 
vernment, who observed every individual with the jealousy natural to 
usurpers, and who punished every appearance of disaffection with unfor- 
giving severity, soon augmented the number of the viceroy's adherents, as 
it forced some leading men in the colony to fly to him for refuge. While 
he was gathering such strength at Tumbez, that his forces began to assume 
the appearance of what was considered as an army in America, Diego 
Centeno, a bold and active officer, exasperated by the cruelty and oppres- 
sion of Pizarro's lieutenant-governor in the province of Charcas, formed a 
conspiracy against his life, cut him off, and declared for the viceroy. J 

1545.] Pizarro, though alarmed with those appearances of hostility in 
the opposite extremes of the empire, was not disconcerted. He prepared 
to assert the authority, to which he had attained, with the spirit and con- 
duct of an officer accustomed to command, and marched directly against 
the viceroy as the enemy who was nearest as well as most formidable. 
As he was master of the public revenues in Peru, and most of the military 
men were attached to his family, his troops were so numerous, that the 
viceroy, unable to face them, retreated towards Quito. Pizarro followed 
him ; and in that long march, through a wild, mountainous countiy, suffered 
hardships, and encountered difficulties, which no troops but those accus- 
tomed to serve in America could have endured or surmounted [140]. The 
viceroy had scarcely reached Q,uito, when the vanguard of Pizarro's 
forces appeared, led by Carvajal, who, though near fourscore, was as 
hardy and active as any young soldier under his command. Nugnez Vela 
instantly abandoned a town incapable of defence, and, with a rapidity 
more resembling a flight than a retreat, marched into the province of Po- 

Eayan. Pizarro continued to pursue ; but, finding it impossible to overtake 
im, returned to Qjuito. From thence he despatched Carvaj'al to oppose 

• Zarate, lib. V. c. 8— 10. Vega, p. II. lib. iv. c. 13— 19. Gomara, c. 150— 103. Fernandez, lib. 

I. c. 18—25. Herrcra, dec. 7. lib. vlii. c. 10— 20. t Zarate, lib. v. c. 9. Gumara, c. 165. 

Fernandez, lib. i. c. 23. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 15. J Zarate, lib. v. c. IS. Gomara^ c. 
169. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. ix. c. 27. 



302 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

Centeno, who was growing formidable in the southern provinces of the, 
empire, and he himself remained there to make head against the viceroy * 

By his own activity, and the assistance of Benalcazar, Nugnez Vela 
soon assembled four hundred men in Popayan. As he retained, amidst all 
his disasters, the same elevation of mind, and the same high sense of his 
own dignity, he rejected with disdain the advice of some of his followers 
who urged him to make overtures of accommodation to Pizarro, declaiing 
that it was only by the sword that a contest with rebels could be decided. 
With this intention he marched back to Quito [1546]. Pizarro, relying on 
the superior number, and stilf more on the discipline and valour of his 
troops, advanced resolutely to meet him [Jan. 18]. The battle was fierce 
and bloody, both parties fighting like men who Knew that the possession 
of a great empire, the fate of their leaders, and their own future fortune, 
depended upon the issue of that day. But Pizarro's veterans pushed for- 
ward with such regular and well directed force, that they soon began to 
make impression on their enemies. The viceroy, by extraordinary exer- 
tions, in which the abilities of a commander and the courage of a soldier 
were equally displayed, held victory for some time in suspense. At length 
he fell, pierced with many Avounds ; and the route of his followers became 
general. They were hotly pursued. His head was cut off, and placed 
on the public gibbet in Quito, which Pizarro entered in triumph. The 
troops assembled by Centeno were dispersed soon after by Carvajal, and 
he himself compelled to fly to the mountains, where he remained for 
several months concealed in a cave. Every person in Peru, from the 
frontiers of Popayan to those of Chili, submitted to Pizarro ; and by his 
fleet, under Pedro de Hinojosa, he had not only the unrivalled command 
of the South Sea, but had taken possession of Panama, and placed a gar- 
rison in Nombre de Dios, on the opposite side of the isthmus, which rendered 
him master of the only avenue of communication between Spain and Peru, 
that was used at that period,! 

After this decisive victory, Pizarro and his followers remained for some 
^ime at Quito ; and during the first transports of their exultation, they ran 
^n^o every excess of licentious indulgence, with the riotous spirit usual 
among low adventurers upon extraordinary success. But amidst this dis- 
sipation, their chief and his confidants were obliged to turn their thoughts 
sometimes to what was serious, and deliberated with much solicitude con- 
cerning the part that he ought noAv to take. Carvajal, no less bold and 
decisive in council than in the field, had from the beginning warned Pizarro, 
that in the career on which he was entering, it was vain to think of holding 
a middle course ; that he must either boldly aim at all, or attempt nothing. 
From the time that Pizarro obtained possession of the government of 
Peru, he inculcated the same maxim with greater earnestness. Upon re- 
ceiving an account of the victory at Quito, he remonstrated with him in a 
tone still more peremptoiy. " You have usurped," said he, in a letter 
written to Pizarro on that occasion, " the supreme power in this country, 
in contempt of the emperor's commission to the viceroy. You ha^e 
marched in hostile array against the royal standard ; you have attacked 
the representative of your sovereign in the field, have defeated him, and 
cut off his head. Think not that ever a monarch will forgive such insults 
on his dignity, or that any reconciliation with him can be cordial or sincere. 
Depend no longer on the precarious favour of another. Assume yourself 
the sovereignty over a country to the dominion of which your family has 
a title founded on the rights both of discovery and conquest. It is in vour 
power to attach every Spaniard in Peru of any consequence inviolably to 

* Zarate, lib. v. c. 15, 16— 2-1. Gomara, c. 167. Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 25— 2tl. Fernaiulrz, iiiv. 
I. c. 34. 40. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 16. 20—27. t Zarate, lib. v. c. 31, :!2. Coiiiara, c. 

170. Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 33, 34. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 51—54, Herrera, dec. 7. lib. z c. 12. IS— 
S2. dec 8. lib. i. c. 1—3. Benzo, lib. iii. c. 12. 



AMERICA. 303 

your interest, by liberal grants of lands and of Indians, or by instituting 
ranks of nobility, and creating titles of honour similar to those which are 
courted with so much eagerness in Europe. By establishing orders of 
knighthood, with privileges and distinctions resembling those in Spain, you 
may bestow a gratification upon the officers in your service, suited to the 
ideas of military men. Nor is it to your countrymen only that you ought 
to attend; endeavour to gain the natives. By marrying the Coya or 
daughter of the Sun next in succession to the crown, you will induce the 
Indians, out of veneration for the blood of their ancient princes, to unite 
with the Spaniards in support of your authority. — Thus, at the head of the 
ancient inhabitants of Peru, as well as of the new settlers there, you may 
set at defiance the power of Spain, and repel with ease any feeble force 
which it can send at such a distance." Cepeda, the lavvyer, who was 
now Pizarro's confidential counsellor, warmly seconded Carvajal's ex- 
hortations, and employed whatever learning he possessed in demonstrating, 
that all the founders of great monarchies had been raised to pre-eminence, 
not by the antiquity of their lineage, or the validity of their rights, but by 
their o^vn aspiring valour and personal merit.* 

Pizarro listened attentively to both, and could not conceal the satisfaction 
with which he contemplate'd the object that they presented to his view. 
But, happily for the tranquillity of the world, few_ men possess that 
superior strength of mind, and extent of abilities, which are capable of 
forming and executing such dating schemes, as cannot be accomplished 
without overturning the established order of society, and violating those 
maxims of duty which men are accustomed to hold sacred. The medio- 
crity of Pizarro's talents circumscribed bis ambition within more narrow 
limits. Instead of aspiring at independent power, he confined his views 
to the obtaining from the court of Spain a confirmation of the authority 
which he now possessed ; and for that purpose he sent an officer of dis- 
tinction thither, to give such a representation of his conduct, and of the 
state of the country, as might induce the emperor and his ministers, either 
from inclination or from necessity, to continue him in his present station- 
While Pizarro was deliberating with respect to the part which he should 
take, consultations were held in Spain, with no less solicitude, concerning 
the measures which ought to be pursued in order to re-establish the em- 
peror's authority in Peru. Though unacquainted Avith the last excesses of 
outrage to which the malecontents had proceeded in that country, the 
court had received an account of the insurrection against the viceroy, ot 
his imprisonment, and the usurpation of the government by Pizarro. A 
revolution so alarming called lor an immediate interposition of the em- 
peror's abilities and authority. But as he was fully occupied at that time 
in Germany, in conducting the war against the famous league of Smalkalde, 
one of the most interesting and arduous enterprises in liis reign, the care 
of providing a remedy for the disorders in Peru devolved upon his son 
Philip, and the counsellors whom Charles had appointed to assist him in 
the government of Spain during his absence. At first view, the actions ot 
Pizarro and his adherents appeared so repugnant to the duty of subjects 
towards their sovereign, that the greater part of the ministers insisted on 
declaring them instantly to be guilty of rebellion, and on proceeding to 
punish them with exemplary rigour. But when the fervour of their zeal 
and indignation began to abate, innumerable obstacles to the execution of 
this measure presented themselves. The veteran bands of infantiy, the 
strength and glory of the Spanish armies, were then employed in Ger- 
many. Spain, exhausted of men and money by a long series of wars, in 
which she had been involved by the restless ambition of two successive 
monarchs, could not easily equip an armament of sufficient force to reduce 

• Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 40. Fernanda, lib I. c 34 lib. li c. 1. 19. Henera, dec 8, lib ii, c. 10. 



304 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

Pizarro. To transport any respectable body of troops to a country so 
remote as Peru, appeared almost impossible. While Pizarro continued 
master of the South Sea, the direct route by Nombre de Dios and Panama 
was impracticable. An attempt to march to Quito by land through the 
new kingdom of Granada, and the province of ropayan, across regions of 
prodigious extent, desolate, unhealthy, or inhabited by Jierce and hostile 
tribes, would be attended with insurmountable danger and hardships. The 
passage to the South Sea by the Straits of Magellan was so tedious, so un- 
certain, and so little known in that age, that no confidence could be placed 
in any effort carried on in a course ol navigation so remote and precarious. 
Nothing then remained but to relinquish the system which the ardour of 
their loyalty had first suggested, and to attempt by lenient measures what 
could not be effected by force. It was manifest from Pizarro's solicitude 
to represent his conduct in a favourable light to the emperor, that notwith- 
standing the excesses of which he had been guilty, he still retained senti- 
ments of veneration for his sovereign. By a proper application to these, 
together with some such concessions as should discover a spirit of mode- 
ration and forbearance in government, there was still room to hope that he 
might be yet reclaimed, or the ideas of loyalty natural to Spaniards might 
so far revive among his followers, that they would no longer lend their aid 
to uphold his usurped authority. 

The success, however, of this negotiation, no less delicate than it was 
important, depended entirely on the abilities and address of the person to 
whom it should be committed. After weighing with much attention the 
comparative merit of various persons, the Spanish ministers fixed with 
unanimity of choice upon Pedro de la Gasca, a priest in no higher station 
than that of counsellor to the Inquisition. Though in no public office, he 
had been occasionally employed by government in affairs of trust and con- 
sequence, and had conducted them with no less skill than success ; dis- 
play jng a gentle and insinuating temper, accompanied with much firmness ; 
probity, superior to any feeling of private interest ; and a cautious cir- 
cumspection in concerting measures, followed by such vigour in executing 
them as is rarely found in alliance with the other. These qualities marked 
him out for the function to which he was destined. The empeior, to 
whom Gasca was not unknown, warmly approved of the choice, and 
communicated it to him in a letter containing expressions of good will and 
confidence, no less honourable to the prince who wrote, than to the subject 
who received it. Gasca, notwithstanding his advanced age and feeble 
constitution, and though, from the apprehensions natural to a man, who, 
during the course of his life, had never been out of his own country, he 
dreaded the effects of a long voyage, and of an unhealthy climate,* did 
not hesitate a moment about complying with the will of his sovereign. 
But as a proof that it was from this principle alone he acted, he refused a 
bishopric w^hich was offered to him in order that he might appear in Peru 
with a more dignified character ; he would accept of no higher title than 
that of President of the Court of Audience in Lima; and declared that he 
would receive no salary on account of his discharging the duties of that 
office. All he required was, that the expense of supporting his family 
should be defrayed by the public ; and as he was to go like a minister of 
peace with his gown and breviary, and without any retinue but a few 
domestics, this would not load the revenue with any enormous burden.j 

But while he discovered such disinterested moderation with respect to 
whatever related personally lo himself, he demanded his oiScial powers in 
a very diflerent tone. He insisted, as he was to be employed in a country 
so remote from the seat of government, where he could not have recourse 
to his sovereign fjr new instructions on every emergence ; and as the whole 

• Femandsz, lib. ii. c. 17. t Zaraie, lib. vi.c. 6. Gnmara, c. 174. Femnndez, lib. ii.c 

14—16. Vcja, J), a. lib. v. c. 1. Herrera, dec. 8. lib. i. c. 4, Slc, 



AMERICA. 305 

success of his negotiations must depend upon the confidence which the 
people with whom he had to treat could place in the extent of his powers, 
that he ought to be invested with unlimited authority ; that his jurisdiction 
must reach to all persons and to all causes ; that he must be empowered 
to pardon, to punish, or to reward, as circumstances and the behaviour oi^ 
different men might require ; that in case of resistance from the malecon- 
tents, he might be authorized to reduce them to obedience by force of 
arms, to levy troops for that purpose, and to call for assistance from the 
governors of all the Spanish settlements in America. These powers, 
though manifestly conducive to the great objects of his mission, appeared 
to ttae Spanish ministers to be inalienable prerogatives of royalty, which 
ought not to be delegated to a subject, and they refused to grant them. 
But the emperor's views were more enlaiged. As, from the nature of his 
employment, Gasca must be intrusted with discretionary power in several 
points, and all his efforts might prove ineffectual if he was circumscribed 
in any one particular, Charles scrupled not to invest him wit* authority to 
the full extent that he demanded. Highly satisfied with this fresh proof of 
his master's confidence, Gasca hastened his departure, and, without either 
money or troops, set out to quell a formidable rebellion.* 

On his arrival at Nombre de Dios [July 27], he found Hennan Mexia, 
an officer of note posted there, by order of Pizarro, with a considerable 
body of men, to oppose the landing of any hostile forces. But Gasca ap- 
peared in such pacific guise, with a train so little formidable, and with a 
title of no such dignity as to excite terror, that he was received with much 
respect. From Nombre de Dios he advanced to Panama, and met with a 
similar reception from Hinojosa, whom Pizarro had intrusted with the 
government of that town, and the command of his fieet stationed there. 
In both places he held the same language, declaring that he was sent by 
their sovereign as a messenger of peace, not as a minister of vengeance ; 
that he came to redress all their grievances, to revoke the laws which had 
excited alarm, to pardon past offences, and to re-establish order and justice 
in the government of Peru. His mild deportment, the simplicity of his 
manners, the sanctity of his profession, and a winning appearance of can- 
dour, gained credit to his declarations. The veneration due to a person 
clothed with legal authority, and acting in virtue of a royal commission, 
began to revive among men accustomed for some time to nothing more 
respectable than a usurped jurisdiction. Hinojosa, Mexia, and several other 
officers of distinction, to each of whom Gasca applied separately, were 
gained over to his interest, and waited only for some decent occasion of 
declaring openly in his favour.t 

This the violence of Pizarro soon afforded them. As soon as he heard 
of Gasca's arrival at Panama, though he received, at the same time, an 
account of the nature of his commission, and was informed of his offers not 
only to render every Spaniard in Peru easy concerning what was past, by 
an act of general oblivion, but secure with respect to the future, by re- 
pealing the obnoxious laws ; instead of accepting with gratitude his sove- 
reign's gracious concessions, he was so much exasperated on finding that 
he was not to be continued in his station as governor of the country, that 
he instantly resolved to oppose the president's entry into Peru, and to pre- 
vent his exercising any jurisdiction there. To this desperate resolution he 
added another highly preposterous. He sent a new deputation to Spain 
to justify this conduct, and to insist, in name of all the communities in 
Peru, for a confirmation of the government to himself during lite, as the 
only means of preserving tranquillity there. The persons intrusted with 
this strange commission, intimated the intention of Pizarro to the president, 
and required him, in his name, to depart from Panama and return to Spain. 

• Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 16—18. t Il>id. lib. ii. c. 21, &.c, Zarate, lib. vi c. 6, 7. Comara, 

c. I7.S. Vcja, p. n. lib. V. c. 3 

Vol. I.— 39 15 



306 H I rf T O R Y O F [Book VI. 

They carried likewise secret instructions to Hinqjosa, directing him to offer 
Gasca a present of fifty thousand pesos, if he would comply voluntarily 
with what was demanded of him ; and if he should continue obstinate, to 
cut him off, either by assassination or poison.* 

Many circumstances concurred in pushing on Pizarro to those wild mea- 
sures. Having been once accustomed to supreme command, he could not 
bear the thoughts of descending to a private station. Conscious of his 
own demerit, he suspected that the emperor studied only to deceive him, 
and would never pardon the outrages which he had committed. His chief 
confidants, no less guihy, entertained the same apprehensions. The ap- 
proach of Gasca without any military force excited no terror. There 
were now above six thousand Spnniards settled in Peru ;t and at the head 
of these he doubted not to maintain his own independence, if the court of 
Spain should refuse to grant what he required. But he knew not that a 
spirit of defection had already begun to spread among those whom he 
trusted most. Hinojosa, amazed at Pizarro's precipitate resolution of setting 
himself in opposition to the emperor's commission, and disdaining to be 
his instrument in perpetrating the odious crimes pointed out in his secret 
instructions, publicly recognised the title of the president to the supreme 
authority in Peru. The officers under his command did the same. Such 
was the contagious mfluence of the example, that it reached even the de 
puties who had been sent tVom Peru ; and at the time when Pizarro ex- 
pected to hear either of Gasca's return to Spain, or of his death, he 
received an account of his beinj^^ master of the fleet, of Panama, and of 
the troops stationed there. 

1547.] Irritated almost to madness by events so unexpected, he openly 
prepared for war ; and in order to give some colour of justice to his arms, 
he appointed the court of audience in Lima to proceed to the trial of 
Gasca, for the crimes of having seized his ships, seduced his officers, and 
prevented his deputies from proceeding in their voyage to Spain. Cepeda, 
though acting as a judge in virtue of the royal commission, did not scruple 
to prostitute the dignity of his function by finding Gasca guilty of treason, 
and condemning him to death on that account.;}; Wild and even ridiculous 
as this proceeding was, it imposed on the low illiterate adventurers, with 
whom Peru was filled, by the semblance of a legal sanction warranting 
Pizarro to carry on hostilities against a convicted traitor. Soldiers accord- 
ingly resorted from every quarter to his standard, and he was soon at the 
head of a thousand men, the best equipped that had ever taken the field 
in Peru. 

Gasca, on his part, perceiving that force must be employed in order to 
accomplish the purpose of his mission, was no less assiduous in collecting 
troops I'rom Nicaragua, Carthagena, and other settlements on the conti- 
nent ; and with such success, that he was soon in a condition to detach a 
squadron of his fleet, with a considerable body of soldiers, to the coast of 
Peru [April], Their appearance excited a dreadful alarm: and though 
they did not attempt for some time to make any descent, they did more 
elfectual service by setting ashore in different places persons who dispersed 
copies of the act of general indemnity, and the revocation of the late 
edicts ; and who made known every where the pacific intentions, as well 
as mild temper, of the president. The effect of spreading this intbrina- 
tion was wonderful. All who were dissatisfied with Pizarro's violent 
administration, all who retained any sentiments of fidelity to their sovereign, 
Degau to meditate revolt. Some openly deserted a cause which they nov/- 
deemed to be unjust. Centeno, leaving the cave in which he lay concealed, 

• Zarate, lib. vl. c. 8. Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 33, 34. Herrera, dec. 8. lib. ii. c. 9, 1"). t Herrera, 
doc. 8. lib. iii. c. 1. i Femandez, lib. ii. c. 55. Vega, p. 11. lib. v. c. 7. Heirera, dec. 3 lib 

lil. c. 0. 



1 

AMERICA. 307 

assembled about fifty of his former adherents, and with this feeble half-armed 
band advanced boldly to Cuzco. By a sudden attack in the night-time, 
in which he displayed no less military skill than valour, he rendered him- 
self master of that capital, though defended by a garrison of five hundred 
men. Most of these having ranged themselves under his banners, he had 
soon the command of a respectable body of troops.* 

Pizarro, though astonished at beholding one enemy approaching by sea, 
and another by" land, at a time when he trusted to the union of all Peru 
in his favour, was of a spirit more undaunted, and more accustomed to the 
vicissitudes of fortune, than to be disconcerted or appalled. As the danger 
from Centeno's operations was the most urgent, he instantly set out to 
oppose him. Having provided horses for all his soldiers, he marched 
with amazing rapidity. But every morning he found his force diminished» 
by numbers who had left him during the night ; and though he became 
suspicious to excess, and punished without mercy ail whom he suspected, 
the rage of desertion was too violent to be checked. Before he got 
■within sight of the enemy at Huarina, near the lake of Titiaca, he could 
not muster more than four hundred soldiers. But these he justly con- 
sidered as men of tried attachment, on whom he might depend. They 
were indeed the boldest and most desperate of his followers, conscious, 
like himself, of crimes for which they could hardly expect forgiveness, 
and without any hope but in the success of their arms. With these he 
did not hesitate to attack Centeno's troops [Oct. 20], though double to 
his own in number. The royalists did not decline the combat. It was 
the most obstinate and bloody that had hitherto been fought in Peru. _ At 
length the intrepid valour of Pizarro, and the superiority of Carvajal's 
military talents, triumphed over numbers, and obtained a complete victoiy. 
The booty was immense [141], and the treatment of the vanquished cruel. 
By this signal success the reputation of Pizarro was re-established ; and 
being now deemed invincible in the field, his army increased daily in 
number.t 

But events happened in other parts of Peru, which more than counter- 
balanced the splendid victory at Huarina. Pizarro had scarcely left Lima, 
when the citizens, weary of his oppressive dominion, erected the royal 
standard, and Aldana, with a detachment of soldiers from the, fleet, took 
posses-iion of the town. About the same time,;}; oasca landed at Tu iibez 
with five hundred men. Encouraged by his presence, every settlement in 
the low country declared for the King. The situation of the two parties 
was njw perfectly reversed ; Cuzco and the adjacent provinces were 
possessed by Pizarro ; all the rest of the empire, from Quito south- 
ward, acknowledged the jurisdiction of the president. As his numbers 
augmented fast, Gasca advanced into the interior part of the country. 
His behaviour still continued to be gentle and unassuming ; he expressed, 
on every occasion, his ardent wish of terminating the contest without 
blood^iied. More solicitous to reclaim than to punish, he upbraided no 
man for past offences, but received them as a father receives penitent 
children returning to a sense of their duty. Though desirous of peace, 
he did not slacken his preparations for war. He appointed the general 
rendezvous of his troops in the fertile valley of Xauxa, on the road to 
Cuzco,§ There he remained for some months, not only that he might 
have tine to make another attempt towards an accommodation with 
Pizarro, but that he mi^ht train his new soldiers to the use of arms, and 
accustom them to the discipline of a camp, before he led them against a 
body of victorious veterans. Pizarro, intoxicated with the success which 

* Zaraio, lib. vi. c. 13— 16. Gomara, c. 180, 181. Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 28. 64, &c. 1 Zarafe, 
lib. vii. c. 2, d. Gomara, c. 181. Vega, p. 1 1. lib. v. c. lc>, <k.c. Fernandez, lib. M. c. 79. Herrera, 
dec. 8. lib. iv. c. 1, 3. i Zarate, lib. vi. d. 17. 6 Ibid. lib. \ii. c. 9. Fofnandcz, lib ii. C. 77. i^. 



808 HISTORY OF [Book VI. 

had hitherto accompanied his arms, and elated with having again near a 
thousand men under his command, refused to listen to any terms, although 
Cepeda. together with several of" his officers, and even Carvajal him- 
self [l42], gave it as their advice, to close with the president's olTpr of a 
general indemnity, and the revocation of the obnoxious laws.* Gasca, 
having tried in vain every expedient to avoid imbruing his hands in the 
blood of his countrymen, began to move towards Cuzco [Dec. 29] at the 
head of sixteen hundred men. 

Pizarro, confident of victory, suffered the royalists lo pass all the rivers 
which lie between Guamanga and Cuzco without opposition [l548], and 
to advance within four leagues of that capital, flattering himself that a 
defeat in such a situation as rendered escape impracticable would at once 
terminate the war. He then marched out to meet the enemy, and Carva- 
jal chose his ground, and made the disposition of the troops with the 
discerning eye and profound knowledge in the art of war conspicuous in 
all his operations. As the two armies moved forward slowly to the chaise 
[April 9], the appearance of each was singular. In that of Pizarro, 
composed of men enriched with the spoils of the most opulent country in 
America, every officer, and almost all the private men, were clothed in 
stuffs of silk, or brocade, eml)roidered with gold and silver ; and their 
horses, their arms, their standards, were adorned with all the pride of 
military pomp.t That of Gasca, though not so splendid, exhibited vyhat 
was no less striking. He himself, accompanied by the archbishop of Lima, 
the bishops of Quito and Cuzco, and a great number of ecclesiastics, 
marching along the lines, blessing the men, and encouraging them to a 
resolute discharge of their duty. 

When both armies were just readj to engage, Cepeda set spurs to his 
horse, galloped off, and surrendered hmiself to the president. Garcilasso de 
la Vega, and other officers of note, followed his example. The revolt of 
persons in such high rank struck all with amazement. The mutual con- 
fidence on which the union and strength of armies depend, ceased at once. 
Distrust and consternation spread from rank to rank. Some silently slipped 
away, others threw down their arms, the greatest number went over to 
the royalists. Pizarro, Carvajal, and some leaders, employed authority, 
threats, and entreaties, to stop them, but in vain. In less than half an 
hour, a body of men, which might have decided the fate of the Peruvian 
empire, was totally dispersed. Pizarro, seeing all irretrievably lost, cried 
out in amazement to a few officers who still faithfully adhered to him, 
"What remains for us lo do?" — "Let us rush," replied one of them, 
"upon the enemy's firmest battalion, and die like Romans." _ Dejected 
with such a reverse of fortune, he had not spirit to follow this soldierly 
counsel, and with a tameness disgraceful to his former fame he surrendered 
to one of Gasca's officers. Carvajal, endeavouring to escape, was over- 
taken and seized. 

Gasca, happy in this bloodless victory, did not stain it with cruelty. 
Pizarro, Carvajal, and a small number of the most distinguished or noto- 
rious offenders, were punished capitally. Pizarro was beheaded the day 
after he surrendered. He submitted to his fate with a composed dignity, 
and seemed desirous to atone by repentance for the crimes which he had 
committed. The end of Carvajal was suitable to his life. On his trial 
he offered no defence. When the sentence adjudging him to be hanged 
was pronounced, he carelessly replied, " One can die but once." During 
the interval between the sentence and execution, he discovered no sign 
either of remorse for the past, or of solicitude about the future ; scoffing 
at all who visited him, in his usual sarcastic vein of mirth, with the same 
quickness of repartee and gross pleasantry as at any other period of hia 

• Zarate, lib. vii. c. 6 Vega, p. U. lib. v c. 27. t Zarcte, lib. vi. c. U. 



A AI E R I C A. 309 

life. Cepeda, more criminal than either, ou^ht to have shared the same fate ; 
but the merit of having deserted his associates at such a critical moment, 
and with such decisive effect, saved him from immediate punishment. 
He was sent, however, as a prisoner to Spain, and died in confinement.* 

In the minute details which the contemporary historians have given of 
the civil dissensions that raged in Peru, with little interruption, during ten 
years, many circumstances occur so striking, and which indicate such an 
uncommon state of manners as to merit particular attention. 

Though the Spaniards who first invaded Peru were of the lowest order 
in society, and the greater part of those who afterwards joined them were 
persons of desperate fortune, yet in all the bodies of troops brought into 
the field by the different leaders who contended for superiority, not one 
man acted as a hired soldier, that follows his standard for pay. Every 
adventurer in Peru considered himself as a conqueror, entitled by his ser- 
vices, to an establishment in that country which had been acquired by his 
valour. In the contests between the rival chiets, each chose his siue as 
he was directed by his own judgment or affections. He joined his com- 
mander as a companion of his fortunes, and disdained to degrade himself 
by receiving the wages of a mercenary. It was to their sword, not to 
pre-eminence in office, or nobility of birth, that most of the leaders whom 
they followed were indebted for their elevation ; and each of their ad- 
herents hoped, by the same means, to open a way for himself to the po3 
session of power and wealth.! 

But though the troops in Peru served without any regular pay, they 
were raised at immense expense. Among men accustomed to divide the 
spoils of an opulent country, the desire of obtaining wealth acquired in- 
credible force. The ardour of pursuit augmented in proportion to the 
hope of success. Where all were intent on the same object, and under 
the dominion of the same passion, there was but one mode of gaining men, 
or of securing their attachment. Officers of name and influence, besides 
the promise of future establishments, received in hand large gratuities from 
the chief with whom they engaged. Gonzalo Pizarro, in order to raise a 
thousand men, advanced five hundred thousand pesos. J Gasca expended 
in levying the troops which he led against Pizarro nine hundred thousand 
pesos.§ The distribution of property, bestowed as the reward of services, 
was still more exorbitant. Cepeda, as the recompense of his perfidy and 
address, in persuading the court of royal audience to give the sanction of 
its authority to the usurped jurisdiction of Pizarro, received a grant oi 
lands which yielded an annual income of a hundred and fifty thousand 
pesos.ll Hinojosa, who by his early defection from Pizarro, and surrender 
of the fleet to Gasca, decided the fate of Peru, obtained a district of coun- 
try affording two hundred thousand pesos of yearly value. H While such 
rewards were dealt out to the principal officers, with more than royal mu- 
nificence, proportional shares were conferred upon those of inferior rank. 

Such a rapid change of fortune produced its natural effects. It gave 
birth to new wants and new desires. Veterans, long accustomed to hard- 
ship and toil, acquired of a sudden a taste for profuse and inconsiderate 
dissipation, and indulged in all the excesses of military licentiousne^. 
The riot of low debauchery occupied some ; a relish for expensive luxuries 
spread among others.** The meanest soldier in Peru would have thought 
himself degraded by marching on foot ; and at a time when the prices of 
horses in that country were exorbitant, each insisted on being furnished 
with one before he would take the field. But though less patient under 
the fatigue and hardships of service, they were ready to face danger and 

• Zarate, lib. vii. c. 6, 7, 8. Goinara, c. 1P5, 1F6. Vega, p. 11. lib. v. c. 30, &c. Fernandez, 
Jib. ii. c. 8G, &c. Herrera, dec. 8. lib. iv. c. 14, &c. t Vena, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 38. 41. J Fer- 
nandez, lib. ii. c. 54. § Zarate, lib. vii. c. 10. Herrera, dec. 8. lib. v. c. 7. || Gomara, c. 164. 
IT V^a, p. 11. lib. vi. c. 3. •* Uerrera, dec. 5. lib. ii. c. 3. dec. 8. lib. viii. o. 10. 



310 HISTORY OF [EooKrVI. 

death with as much intrepidity as ever ; and animated by the hope of 
new rewards, they never tailed, on the day of battle, to display ail their 
ancient valour. 

Together with their courage, they retained all the ferocity by which 
they were originally distinguished. Civil discord never raged with a more 
fell spirit than among the Spaniards in Peru. To all the passions which 
usually envenom contests among countrymen, avarice was added, and ten- 
dered their enmity more rancorous. Eagerness to seize the valuable for- 
feitures, expected upon the death of every opponent, shut the door against 
mercy. To be wealthy was of itself sufficient to expose a man to accu- 
sation, or to subject him to punishment. On the slightest suspicions, Pi- 
^arro condemned many of the most opulent inhabitants in Peru to death. 
Carvajal, without searching for any pretext to justify his cruelty, cut off 
many more. The number of those who suffered by the hands of the exe- 
cutioner was not much inferior to what fell in the field [l 43]; and the 
greater part was condemned without tlie formality of any legal trial. 

The violence with which the contending parties treatea their opponents 
was not accompanied with its usual attendants, attachment and fidelity to 
those with whom they acted. The ties of honour, which ought to be 
held sacred among soldiers, and the principle of integrity, interwoven as 
thoroughly in the Spanish character as in that of any nation, seem to have 
been equally forgotten. Even regard for decency, and the sense of 
shame, were totally lost. During their dissensions, there was hardl}"- a 
Spaniard in Peru who did not abandon the party which he had originally 
espoused, betray the associates with whom he had united, and violate the 
engagements under which he had come. The viceroy Nugnez Vela was 
ruined by the treachery of Cepeda and the other judges of the royal au- 
dience, who were bound by the duties of their function to have supported 
his authority. The chief advisers and companions of Gonzalo Pjzarro's 
revolt were the first to forsake him, and submit to his enemies. His fleet 
was given up to Gasca by the man whom he had singled out among his 
officers to intrust with that important comirtand. On the day that was to 
decide his fate, an army of veterans, in sight of the enemy, threw down 
their arms without striking a blow, and deserted a leader who had often 
conducted them to victory. Instances of such general and avowed con- 
tempt of the principles and obligations which attach man to man, and bind 
them together in social union, rarely occur in history. It is only where 
men are far removed from the seat ot government, where the restraints of 
law and order are little felt, where the prospect of gain is unbounded, and 
where immense wealth may cover the crimes by which it is acquired, 
that we can find any parallel to the levity, the rapaciousness, the perfidy, 
and corruption prevalent among the Spaniards in rera. 

On the death of Pizano, the malecontents in every corner of Peru laid 
down their arms, and tranquillity seem.ed to be perfectly re-established. 
But two very interesting objects still remained to occupy the president's 
attention. The one was to find immediately such employment for a mul- 
titude of turbulent and daring adventurers with which the country was 
filled, as might prevent them from exciting new commotions. The other, 
to bestow proper gratifications upon those to whose loyalty and valour he 
had been indebted for his success. The former of these was in some 
measure accomplished, by appointing Pedro de Valdivia to prosecute the 
conquest of Chili ; and by empowering Diego Centeno to undeilake the 
discovery of the vast regions bordering on the river De la Plata. The re- 
putation of those leaders, together with the hopes of acquiring wealth, and 
of rising to consequence in some unexplored countrj', alluring man}^ of the 
most indigent and desperate soldiers to follow their standards, drained off 
no inconsiderable portion of that mutinous spirit which Gasca dreaded. 

The latter was an affair of greater difficulty and to be adjusted with a 



AMERICA. 311 

more attentive and delicate hand. The reparttmientos, or allotments of 
lands and Indians which fell to be distributed, in consequence of the death 
or forfeiture of the former possessors, exceeded two millions of pesos of 
yearly rent.* Gasca, when now absolute master of this immense property, 
retained the same disinterested sentiments which he had originally pro- 
fessed, and refused to reserve the smallest portion of it for himselt. _ But 
the number of claimants was great ; and whilst the vanity or avarice of 
every individual fixed the value of his own services, and estimated the 
recompense which he thought due to him, the pretensions of each were so 
extravagant that it was impossible to satisfy all.' Gasca listened to them 
one by one, with the most patient attention ; and that he might have 
leisure to weigh the comparative merit of their several claims with accu- 
racy, he retired, with the archbishop of Lima and a single secretary, to a 
village twelve leagues from Cuzco. There he spent several days in allot- 
ting to each a district of lands and number of Indians, in proportion to his 
idea of their past services and future importance. But that he might get 
beyond the reach of the fierce storm of clamour and rage, which he fore- 
saw would burst out on the publication of his decree, notwithstanding the 
impartial equity with which he had framed it, he set out for Lima, leaving 
the instrument of partition sealed up, with orders not to open it for some 
days after his departure. 

The indignation excited by publishing the decree of partition [Aug. 24] 
was not less than Gasca had expected. Vanity, avarice, emulation, envy, 
shame, rage, and all the other passions which most vehemently agitate the 
minds of men when both their honour and their interest are deeply affect- 
ed, conspired in adding to its violence. It broke out with all the fury of 
military insolence. Calumny, threats, and curses, were poured out openly 
upon the president. He was accused of ingratituae, of partiality, and of 
injustice. Among soldiers prompt to action, such seditious discourse would 
have been soon followed by deeds no less violent, and they already began 
to turn their eyes towards some discontented leaders, expecting them to 
stand forth in redress of their wrongs. By some vigorous interpositions of 
government, a timely check was given to this mutinous spirit, and the dan- 
ger of another civil war was averted for the present.! 

1549.1 Gasca, however, perceiving that the flame was suppressed, 
rather than extinguished, laboured with the utmost assiduity to soothe the 
malecontents, by bestowing large gratuities on some, by promising repar- 
timientos, when they fell vacant, to others, and by caressing and flattering 
all. But that the public security might rest on a foundation more stable 
than their good affection, he endeavoured to strengthen the hands of his 
successors in office, by re-establishing the regular administration of justice 
in every part of the empire. He introduced order and simplicity into the 
mode of collecting the royal revenue. He issued regulations concerning 
the treatment of the Indians, well calculated to protect them from oppres- 
sion, and to provide for their instruction in the principles of religion, with- 
out depriving the Spaniards of the benefit accruing from their labour. 
Having now accomplished every object of his mission, Gasca, longing to 
return again to a private station, committed the government of Peru to 
the court of audience, and set out for Spaiii [Feb. 1, 1550]. As, during 
the anarchy and turbulence of the four last years, there had been no remit- 
tance made of the royal revenue, he carried with him thirteen hundred 
thousand pesos of public money, which the economy and order of his ad- 
ministration enabled him to save, after paying all the expenses of the 
war. 

He was received in his native country with universal admiration of his 

• Vega, p. 11. lib. vl. c. 4. t Zarate, lib. vii. c. 9. Gomara, c. 187. Vega, p. 11. lib. vii. & 
*" "^""-"dez, IK 11. lib. t c. 1, &c. Herrera, dec. 8. lib. iv, c. 17, Slc. 



312 HISTORY OF LBookVI. 

abilities and of his virtue. Both were, indeed, highly conspicuous. With- 
out army, or fleet, or public funds ; with a train so simple, that only three 
thousand ducats were expended in equipping him,* he set out to oppose a 
formidable rebellion. By his address and talents he supplied all those 
defects, and seemed to create instruments for executing his designs. He 
acquired such a naval force as gave him the command of the sea. He 
raised a body of men able to cope with the veteran bands which gave law 
to Peru. He vanquished their leader, on whose arms victory had hitherto 
attended, and in place of anarchy and usurpation, he estabhshed the 
government of laAvs, and the authority of the rightful sovereign. But the 
praise bestowed on his abilities was exceeded by that which his virtue 
merited. After residing in a country where wealth presented allurements 
which had seduced every person who had hitherto possessed power there, 
he returned from that trying station with integrity not only untainted but 
unsuspected. After distributing among his countrymen possessions of 
greater extent and value than had ever been in the disposal of a subject in 
any age or nation, he himself remained in his original state of poverty ; and 
at the very time when he brought such a large recruit to the royal treasury, 
he -was obliged to apply by petition for a small sum to discharge some 
petty debts which he had contracted during the course of his service.! 
Charles was not insensible to such disinterested merit. Gasca was re- 
ceived by him with the most distinguishing marks of esteem ; and being 
promoted to the bishopric of Palencia, he passed the remainder of his days 
in the tranquillity of retirement, respected by his country, honoured by his 
sovereign, and beloved by all. 

Notwithstanding all Gasca's wise regulations, the tranquillity of Peru 
was not of long continuance. In a country where the authority of 
government had been almost forgotten during the long prevalence of 
anarchy and misrule, where there were disappointed leaders ripe tor re- 
volt, and seditious soldiers ready to follow them, it was not difficult to 
raise combustion. Several successive insurrections desolated the country 
for some years. But as those, though fierce, were only transient storms, 
excited rather by the ambition and turbuIeiKc of particular men, than by 
general or public motives, the detail of them is not the object of this his- 
tory. These commotions in Peru, like every thing of extreme violence 
either in the natural or political body, were not of long duration ; and by 
carrying off the corrupted humours which had given rise to the disorders, 
they contributed in the end to strengthen the society which at first they 
threatened to destroy. During their fierce contests, several of the first 
invaders of Peru, and many of those licentious adventurers Avhom the fame 
of their success had allured thither, fell by each other's hands. Each of 
the parties, as they alternately prevailed in the struggle, graduallj^ cleared 
the country of a number of turbulent spirits, by executing, proscribing, or 
banishing their opponents. Men less enterprising, less desperate, and 
more accustomed' to move in the path of sober and peaceable industry, 
settled in Peru ; and the royal authority was gradually established as 
firmly there as in other Spanish colonies. 

• Fernandez, lib, ii. c. 18. t MS. penes me. 



AMERICA. 313 



BOOK VII. 



As the conquest of the two great empires of Mexico and Peru forms tne 
most splendid and interesting period in the history of America, a view of 
their political institutions, and a description of their national manners, will 
exhibit the human species to the contemplation of intelligent observers in 
a very singular stage of its progress. [144] 

When compared with other parts of the New World, Mexico and Peru 
may be considered as polished states. Instead of small, independent, hos- 
tile tribes, struggling for subsistence amidst woods and marshes, strangers 
to industry and" arts, unacquainted with subordination, and almost without 
the appearance of regular government, we find countries of great extent 
subjected to the dominion of one sovereign, the inhabitants collected together 
in cities, the wisdom and foresi2;ht of rulers employed in providing for the 
maintenance and security of the people, the empire of laws in some 
measure established, the authority of religion recognised, many of the arts 
essential to life brought to some degree of maturity, and the dawn of such 
as are ornamental beginning to appear. 

But if the comparison be made with the people of the ancient continent, 
the inferiority of America in improvement will be conspicuous, and neither 
the Mexicans nor Peruvians will be entiUed to rank with those nations 
which merit the name of civilized. The people of both the great empires 
in America, like the rude tribes around them, wej'e totally unacquainted 
with the useful metals, and the progress which they had made in extend- 
ing their dominion over the animal creation was inconsiderable. The 
Mexicans had gone no further than to tame and rear turkeys, ducks, a 
species of small dogs, and rabbits.* By this feeble essay of ingenuity, the 
means of subsistence were rendered somewhat more plentiful and secure 
than when men depend solely on hunting ; but they had no idea of at- 
tempting to subdue the more robust animals, or of deriving any aid from 
their ministry in carrying on works of labour. The Peruvians seem to 
have neglected the inferior animals, and had not rendered any of ihem 
domestic except the duck ; but they were more fortunate in taming the 
Llama, an animal peculiar to their country, of a form which /)ears some 
resemblance to a deer, and some to a camel, and is of a size somewhat 
larger than a sheep. Under the protection of man, this species multiplied 
greatly. Its wool furnished the Peruvians with clothing, its flesh with 
food. It was even employed as a beast of burden, and carried a moderate 
load with much patience and docility. t It was never used for draught ; 
and the breed being confined to the mountainous country, its service, if we 
may judge by incidents which occur in the early Spanish writers, was not 
very extensive among the Peruvians in their original state. 

In tracing the line by which nations proceed towards civilization, tlie 
discovery of the useful metals, and the acquisition of dominion over the 
animal creation, have been marked as steps of capital importance in their 
progress. In our continent, long after men had attained both, society con- 
tinued in that state which is denominated barbarous. • Even with all that 
command over nature which these confer, many ages elapse before indus- 
try becomes so regular as to render subsistence secure, before the acts 
which supply the wants and furnish the accommodations of life are brought 
to any considerable degree of perfjction, and before any idea is conceived 
of various institutions requisite in a well ordered society. The Mexicans 

* Herrera, dec. 11. lib. vii. c. 12. f Vega, p. ]. lib. viii c. r>. Zarate, lib. 1. c. 14. 

Vol. I. — ^10 



314 HISTORY OF [BookVII. 

and Peruvians, without knowledge of the useful metals, or the aid of domestic 
animals, laboured under disadvantages which must have greatly retarded 
their progress, and in their highest state of improvement their power was 
so limited, and their operations so fieeble, that they can hardly be con- 
sidered as having advanced beyond the inl'ancy of civil life. 

After this general observation concerning the most singular and distin- 
guishing circumstance in the state of both ifie great empires in America, I 
shall endeavour to give such a view of the constitution of the interior 
police of each as may enable us to ascertain their place in the political 
scale, to allot them their proper station between the rude tribes in the 
New World, and tlie polished slates of the ancient, and to determine how 
far they had risen above the former, as well as how much they fell below 
the latter. 

Mexico was first subjected to the Spanish crown. But our acquaintance 
with its laws and manners is not, from that circumstance, more complete. 
What I have remarked concerning the defective and inaccurate informa- 
tion on which we must rely with respect to the condition and customs of 
the savage tribes in America, may be applied likewise to our knowledge 
of the Mexican empire. Cortes, and the rapacious adventurers who ac- 
companied him, had not leisure or capacity to enrich either civil or natu- 
ral history with new observations. They undertook their expedition in 
quest of one object, and seemed hardly to have turned their eyes towards 
any other. Or, if during some short interval of tranquillity, when the oc- 
cupations of war ceased, and the ardour of plunder was suspended, the 
institutions and manners of the people whom they invaded, drew their 
attention, the inquiries of illiterate soldiers were conducted with so little 
sagacity and precision, that the accounts given by them of the policy and 
order established in the Mexican monarchy are superficial, confused, and 
inexplicable. It is rather from incidents which they relate occasionally, 
than from their own deductions and remarks, that we are enabled to form 
some idea of the genius and manners of that people. The obscurity in 
which the ignorance of its conquerors involved the annals of Mexico, was 
augmented by the superstition of those who succeeded them. As the 
mem.ory of past events was preserved among the Mexicans by figures 
painted on skins, on cotton cloth, on a kind of pasteboard, or on the bark 
of trees, the early missionaries, unable to comprehend their meaning, and 
struck with their uncouth forms, conceived them to be monuments of 
idolatry, which ought to be destroyed in order to facilitate the conversion 
of the Indians. In obedience to an edict issued by Juan de Zummaraga, a 
Franciscan monk, the first bishop of Mexico, as many records of the ancient 
Mexican story as could be collected were committed to the flames. In 
consequence of this fanatical zeal of the monks who first visited New 
Spain (v/hich their successors soon began to lament), whatever knowledge 
ot remote events such rude monuments contained was almost entirely lost, 
and no information remained concerning the ancient revolutions and policy 
of the empire, but what was derived from tradition, or from some fragments 
of their historical paintings that escaped the barbarous researches of Zum- 
maraga.* From the experience of all nations it is manifest, that the 
memory of past transactions can neither be long preserved, nor be trans- 
mitted with any fidelity, by tradition. The Mexican paintings which are 
supposed to have served as annals of their empire, are few in number, and 
of ambiguous meaning. Thus, amidst the uncertainty of the former, and 
the obscurity of the latter, we must glean what intelligence can be col- 
lected from the scanty materials scattered in the Spanish writers.! 

• Acosta, lib. vi. c. 7. Torqucm. Proem, lib ii. lib. iii. c. 6. lib. xiv. c 6. 

t In the first edition, I observed tliat in consequence of the destru-Mion of the ancient Mexican 
paintinj?s, occasioned by the zeal of Zunimnraiia, whatever Itnowlcdse they might have conveyed 
wan entirely lost, Every cajiciid reader roust Ijave perceived that the exftreesioa was inaccurate ; 



AMERICA. 315 

According to the account of the Mexicans themselves, their empire was 
not of long duration. Their country, as they relate, was originally pos- 
sessed, rather than peopled, hy small independent tribes, whose mode of 
life and manners resembled those of the rudest savages which we have 
described. But about a period corresponding to the beginning of the 
tenth century in the Christian era, several tribes moved in successive mi- 
grations from unknown regions towards the north and north-west, and set- 
tled in diiferent provinces of Anahuac, the ancient name of New Spain. 
These, more civilized than the original inhabitants, began to form them to 
the arts of social life. At length, towards the commencement of the thir- 
teenth century, the Mexicans, a people more polished than any of the 
former, advanced from the border of the Californian gulf, and took pos- 
session of the plains adjacent to the great lake near the centre of the coun- 
try. After residing there about fitty years, they founded a town, since 
distinguished by the name of Mexico, which, from humble beginnings, 
soon grew to be the most considerable city in the New World. Tne 
Mexicans, long after they were established in their new possessions, con- 
tinued, like other martial tribes in America, unacquainted with regal 
dominion, and were governed in peace, and conducted in war, by such as 
were entitled to pre-eminence by their wisdom or their valour. But among 
them, as in other states whose power and territories become extensive, the 
supreme authority centred at last in a single person ; and when the Span- 
iards under Cortes invaded the countiy, Montezuma was the ninth monarch 
in order who had swayed the Mexican sceptre, not by hereditary right, 
but by election. 

Such is the traditional tale of the Mexicans concerning the progress of 
their own empire. According to this, its duration was very short. From 
the first inigration of their parent, tribe, they can reckon little more than 
three hundred years. From the establishment of monarchical government, 
not above a hundred and thirty years according to one account,* or a hun- 
dred and ninety-seven according to another computation,! had elapsed. 
It", on one hand, we suppose the Mexican state to have been of higher 
antiquity, and to have subsisted during such a length of time as the Span- 
ish accounts of its civilization would naturally lead us to conclude, it is 
difficult to conceive how, among a people who possessed the art of record- 
as in a few lines afterwards I mention some ancient paintings to be still extant. 51. Clavigero, not 
Batielied with laying liold of this inaccuracy, whicli 1 corrected in the subsequent editions, labours 
to render it more glaring by the manner in which he quotes the remaining part of the sentence. He 
reprehends witli great asperity the account which I gave of the scanty materials for writing the 
ancient history of Mexico. Vol. I. Account of Writers, p. xxvi. Vol. II. 380. My words, however, 
are almost the same with those of Torqueniada, who seems to liave been better acquainted with the 
ancient monuments of the Me.xicans than any Spanish author whose worlds 1 have seen. Lib. xiv. 
c 6. M. Clavigero himself gives a description of the destruction of ancient paintings in almost the 
same terms 1 have used ; and mentions as an additional reason of there being so small a number of 
ancient paintings known to the Spaniards, that the natives have become so solicitous to preserve 
and conceal them, that it is "difficult, if not impossible, to make them part with one of them." Vol. 
I. 407. II. 194. No point can be more ascertained than that few of the Mexican historical paintings 
have b<;en preserved. Though several Spaniards have carried on inquiries into the antiquities of 
the Mexican empire, no engravings from Mexican paintings have been communicated to the public, 
except those by Purchas, Gemelli C'arreri, and Lorenzana, It atiords me some satisfaction, that in 
the course of my researches I have discovered two collections of Mexican paintings which were 
unknown to former inquirers. The cutwhich 1 published is an exact copy of the original, and gives 
no high idea of the progress which tlie Mexicans liad made in the art of painting. I cannot conjec- 
ture what could induce M. Clavigero to express some dissali.'^faction with me for having published 
it without the same colourn it has in the original painting, p. xxix. He might have recollected, that 
neither Purchas, nor Gemelli Carreri, nor Lorcnzana, thought it necessary to colour the prints which 
they have published, and they have never been cen-'urrd on that account. He may rest assured, 
that though the colours in the paintings in the Imperial Library arc remarkably bright, they are laid 
on without art, and without "any of that regard to light and shade, or the rules of perspective," 
which M. Clavigero requires. Vol. H. 378. If the public express any desire to have the seven 

Saintings still in my po.ssession engraved, I am ready to comniuidcate them. The print published 
y Uemelli Carreri, of the route of the ancient Mexicans when they travelled towards the lake on 
which they built the capital of their empire, (Churchill, Vol. IV. p. 481.) is the most finished monu- 
ment of art brought from the New World, and yet a very slicht inspection of it will satisfy every 
one, that the annals of a naiion conveyed in this manner must be very meagre and imperfect. 
* Acost. Hist lib. vii. c. 8, &c. f Purchas Pilgr. lil. p. 10f;8, «cc. 



316 H I S T O R Y O F [Book Vll. 

ing events by pictures, and who considered it as an essential part of their 
national education, to teach their children to repeat the historical songs 
which celebrated the exploits of their ancestors,* the knowledge of past 
transactions should be so slender and limited. If, on the other hand, we 
adopt their own system with respect to the antiquities of their nation, it is 
no less difficult to account either for that improved state of society, or for 
the extensive dominion to which their empire had attained when first visit- 
ed by the Spaniards. The infancy of nations is so long, and, even when 
every circumstance is favourable to their progress, they advance so slowly 
towards any maturity of strength or policy, that the recent origin of the 
Mexicans seems to be a strong presumption of some exaggeration in the 
splendid descriptions which have been given of their government and 
manners. 

But it is not by theory or corijectures that history decides with regard to 
the state or character of nations. It produces facts as the foundation of 
every judgment which it ventures to pronounce. In collecting those which 
must regulate our opinion in the present inquiry, some occur that suggest 
an idea of considerable progress in civilization in the Mexican empire, 
and others which seem to indicate that it had advanced but little beyond 
the savage tribes around it. Both shall be exhibited to the view of the 
reader, that, from comparing them, he may determine on which side the 
evidence preponderates. 

In the Mexican empire, the right of private property was perfectly un- 
derstood, and established in its lull extent. Among several savage tribes, 
we have seen, that the idea of a title to the separate and exclusive pos- 
session of any object was hardly known ; and that among all it was 
extremely limited and ill defined. But in Mexico, where agriculture and 
industry had made some progress, the distinction between property in land 
and property in goods had taken place. Both might be transferred from 
one person to another by sale or barter ; both might descend by inherit- 
ance. Every person who could be denominated a freeman had property 
in land. This, however, they held by various tenures. Some possessed 
it in full right, and it descended to their heirs. The title of others to 
their lands was derived from the office or dignity which they enjoyed ; 
and when deprived of the latter, they lost possession of the former. Both 
these modes of occupying land were deemed noble, and peculiar to citi- 
zens of the highest class. The tenure by which the great body of the 
people held their property, was very different. In every district a certain 
quantity of land was measured out in proportion to the number of families. 
This was cultivated by the joint labour of the whole ; its produce was 
deposited in a common storehouse, and divided among them according to 
their respective exigencies. The members of the Calpullee, or associa- 
tions, could not alienate their share of the common estate ; it was an indi- 
visible permanent property, destined for the support of their families.! 
In consequence of this distribution of the territory of the stale, every man 
had an interest in its welfare, and the happiness of the individual was 
connected with the public security. 

Another striking circumstance, which distinguishes the Mexican empire 
from those nations in America we have already described, is the number 
and greatness of its cities. While society continues in a rude state, the 
wants of men are so few, and they stand so little in need of mutual as 
sistance, that their inducements to crowd together are extremety feeble. 
Their industry at the same time is so imperfect, that it cannot secure sub- 
sistence for any considerable number of families settled in one spot. 
They live dispersed, at this period, from choice, as well as from neces- 
sity, or at the utmost assemble in small hamlets on the banks of the river 

* Ilerrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 18. t Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 15. Torquem. Mon. Ind. lib. xiv 
C. 7. Coriia MS. 



AMERICA. 317 

which supph'es them with food, or on the border of some plain left open 
by nature, or cleared by their own labour. The Spaniards, accustomed 
to this mode of habitation among all the savage tribes with which they 
were hitherto acquainted, were astonished, on entering New Spain, to find 
the natives residing in towns of such extent as resembled those of Europe. 
In the first fervour of their admiration, they compared Zempoalla, though 
a town only of the second or third size, to the cities of greatest note in 
their own countiy. When, afterwards, they visited in succession Tlascala, 
Cholula, Tacuba, Tezeuco, and Mexico itself, their amazement increased 
so much, that it led them to convey ideas of their magnitude and popu- 
lousness bordering on what is incredible. Even when there is leisure for 
observation, and no interest that leads to deceive, conjectural estimates of 
the number of people in cities are extremely loose, and usually much 
exaggerated. It is not surprising, then, that Cortes and his companions, 
little accustomed to such computations, and powerfully tempted to mag- 
nify, in order to exalt the merit of their own discoveries and conquests, 
should have been betrayed into this common error, and have raised their 
descriptions considerably above truth. For this reason, some considerable 
abatement ought to be made from their calculations of the number of in- 
habitants in the Mexican cities, and we may fix the standard of their popu- 
lation much lower than they have done ; but still they will appear to be 
cities of such consequence as are not to be found but among people who 
have made some considerable progress in the arts of social life [145], 
From their accounts, we can hardly suppose Mexico, the capital of the 
empire, to have contained fewer than sixty thousand inhabitants. 

The separation of professions among the Mexicans is a symptom of im- 
provement no less remarkable. Arts, in the early ages of society, are so 
few and so simple, that each man is sufficiently master of them all, to 
gratify every demand of his own limited desires. The savage can form 
his bow, point his arrows, rear his hut, and hollow his canoe, without calling 
in the aid of any hand more skiltul than his own. Time must have 
augmented the wants of men, and ripened their ingenuity, before the pro- 
ductions of art became so complicated in their structure, or so curious in 
their fabric, that a particular course of education was requisite towards 
forming the artificer to expertness in contrivance and workmanship. In 
proportion as refinement spreads, the distinction of professions increases, 
and they branch out into more numerous and minute subdivisions. Among 
the Mexicans, this separation of the arts necessary in life had taken place 
to a considerable extent. The functions of the mason, the weaver, the 
goldsmith, the painter, and of several other crafts, were carried on by 
different persons. Each was regularly instructed in his calling. To it 
alone his industry was confined, and by assiduous application to one object, 
together with the persevering patience peculiar to Americans, their artisans 
attained to a degree of neatness and perfection in work, far beyond what 
could have been expected from the rude tools which they employed. 
Their various productions were brought into commerce ; and by the ex- 
change of them in the stated markets held in the cities, not only were 
their mutual wants supplied,* in such orderly intercourse as characterizes 
an improved state of society, but their industjy was daily rendered per 
severing and inventive. 

The distinction of ranks established in the Mexican empire, is the next cir- 
cumstance that merits attention. In surveying the savage tribes of America, 
we observed, that consciousness of equality, and impatience of subordi 
nation, are sentiments natural to man in the infancy of civil life. During 
peace, the authority of a superior is hardly felt among them, and even in 

• Cortes Relat. ap. Ramus, iii. 239, &c. Com. Cron. c. 79. Toroiucm. lib. xiii. c. 34. Herrera, 
dec. 2. lib. vii. c. 15, &.c. 



318 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

war it is but little acknowledged. Strangers to the idea of property, the 
difl'erence in condition resulting from the inequality of it is unknown. Birth 
or titles confer no pre-eminence ; it is only by personal merit and accom- 
plishments that distinction can be acquired. The form of society was 
very different among the Mexicans. I'he great body of the people was 
in a most humiliating state. A considerable number, known by the name 
of Mayeques, nearly resembled in condition those peasants who, under 
various denominations, were considered, during the prevalence of the 
feudal system, as instruments of labour attached to the soil. The Mayeques 
could not change their place of residence without permission of the supe- 
rior on whom they depended. They were conveyed, together with the 
lands on which they were settled, ironi one proprietor to another ; and 
were bound to cultivate the ground, and to pertorm several kinds of seivile 
work.* Others were reduced to the lowest tbrm of subjection, that of 
domestic servitude, and felt the utmost rigour of that wretched state. 
Their condition was held to be so vile, and their lives deemed of so little 
value, that a person who killed one of these slaves was not subjected to 
any punishment.! Even those considered as freemen were tieated by 
their haughty lords as beings of an inferior species. The nobles, possessed 
ot ample territories, were divided into various classes, to each of which 
peculiar titles of honour belonged. Some of these titles, like their lands, 
descended from father to son in perpetual succession. Others were annexed 
to particular offices, or conferred during life as marks of personal distinc- 
tion.! The monarch, exalted above all, enjoyed extensive power and 
supreme dignity. Thus the distinction of ranks was completely established, 
in a line of regular subordination, reaching from the highest to the lowest 
member of the community. Each of these knew what he could claim, 
and what he owed. The people, who were not allowed to wear a dress 
of the same fashion, or to dwell in houses of a form similar to those of the 
nobles, accosted them with the most submissive reverence. In the pre- 
sence of their sovereign, they durst not lift their eyes from the grouncl, or 
look him in the face.§ The nobles themselves, when admitted to an 
audience of their sovereign, entered barefooted, in mean garments, and, as 
his slaves, paid him homage approaching to adoration. I'his respect, due 
from inferiors to those above them in rank, was prescribed with such 
ceremonious accuracy, that it incorporated with the language, and influenced 
its genius and idiom. The Mexican tongue abounded in expressions of 
reverence and courtesy. The style and appellations used in the intercourse 
between equals would have been so unbecoming in the mouth of one in a 
lower sphere, when he accosted a person in higher rank, as to be deemed 
an insult [146]. It is only in societies, which time and the institution of 
regular government have moulded into form, that we tind such an orderly 
arrangement of men into different ranks, and such nice attention paid to 
their various rights. 

The spirit ot the Mexicans, thus familiarized and bended to subordina 
tion, was prepared for submitting to monarchical government. But the 
description of their policy and laws, by the Spaniards who overturned 
them, are so inaccurate and contradictory, that it is difficult to delineate 
the form of their constitution with any precision. Sometimes they repre- 
sent the raonarchs of Mexico as absolute, deciding according to their plea- 
sure with respect to every operation of the state. On other occasions, we 
discover the traces of established customs and laws, fratned in order to 
circumscribe the power of the crown, and we meet with rights and privi- 
leges of the nobles which seemed to be opposed as barriers against its 
encroachments. This appearance of inconsistency has arisen from inatten- 

• Hcrrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 17. Corita MS. t Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 7. J Ibid c, 15k 
Coriu MS. ^ Herrera, dec. 3. lib ii c. 14. 



AMERICA. 319 

tion to the innovations of Montezuma upon the Mexican policy. His 
aspiring ambition subverted the original system of government, and intro- 
duced a pure despotism. He disregarded the ancient laws, violated the 
f)rivilt;ges held most sacred, and reduced his subjects of every order to the 
evel of slaves.* The chiefs, or nobles of the tirst rank, submitted to the 
yoke with such reluctance that, from impatience to shake it off, and hope 
of recovering their rights, many of them courted the protection of Cortes, 
and joined a foreign power against their domestic oppressor.! It is not 
tlien under the dominion of Montezuma, but under the government of his 
predecessors, that we can discover what was the original form and genius 
of Mexican policy. From the foundation of the monarchy to the election 
of Montezuma, it seems to have subsisted with little variation. That body 
of citizens, which may be distinguished by the name of nobility, formed 
the chief and most respectable order in the state. They were of various 
ranks, as has been already observed, and their honours were acquired and 
transmitted in different manners. Their number seems to have been great. 
According to an author accustomed to examine with attention what he 
relates, there were in the Mexican empire thirty of this order, each of 
whom had in his territories about a hundred thousand people ; and subor- 
dinate to these, there were about three thousand nobles of a lower class.J 
The territories belonging to the chiefs of Tezeuco and Tacuba were hardly 
infeiior in extent to those of the Mexican monarch. § Each of these pos- 
sessed complete territorial jurisdiction, and levied taxes from their own 
vassals. But all followed the standard of Mexico in war, serving with a 
number of men in proportion to their domain, and most of them paid 
tribute to its monarch as their superior lord. 

In tracing those great lines of the Mexican constitution, an image of 
feudal policy, in its most rigid form, rises to vieAv, and we discern its three 
distinguishing characteristics, a nobility possessing almost independent 
authority, a people depressed into the lowest state of subjection, and a 
king intrusted with the executive power of the state. Its spirit and prin- 
ciples seem to have operated in the New World in the same manner as in 
the ancient. The jurisdiction of the crown was extremely limited. All 
real and effective authority was retained by the Mexican nobles in their 
own hands, and the shadow of it only left to the king. Jealous to excess 
of their own rights, they guarded with the most vigilant anxiety against 
the encroachments of their sovereigns. By a fundamental law ot the em- 
pire, it was provided that the king should not determine concerning any 
point of general importance without the approbation of a council com- 
posed of the prime nobility.il Unless he obtained their consent, he could 
not engage the nation in war, nor could he dispose of the most considera- 
ble branch of the public revenue at pleasure ; it was appropriated to cer- 
tain purposes from which it could not be diverted liy the regal authority 
alone. H In order to secure full effect to those constitutional restraints, the 
Mexican nobles did not permit their crown to descend by inheritance, but 
disposed of it by election. The right of election seems to have been 
originally vested in the VY^hole body of nobility, but was afterwards con) 
mitted to six electors, of whom the chiefs of Tezeuco and Tacuba were 
always two. From respect for the family of their mojiarchs, the choice 
fell generally upon some person sprung from it. But as the activity and 
valour of their prince were of greater moment to a people perpetually 
engaged in war, than a strict adherence to the order of birth, collaterals 
of mature age or of distinguished merit were often preferred to those 
•who were nearer the throne in direct descent.** To this maxim in their 

• Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 14. Torquem, lib. ii. c. 69. t Herrera, dec. 2. lib. v. c. 10, 11, 

Torquem. lib. iv. c. 49. i Herrera, dec. 2. lib. viii. c. 12. ^ Torquem. lib. ii. c. 57. 

Corita MS. U Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 19 lib. iv. c. 16. Corita MS. 1( Herrera, dec 

3. lib. iv. c. 17. ♦• Acosia, lib. vi. c. 24. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 13, Corita MS. 



320 H I S T O R Y O F [EooK VII. 

policy, the Mexicans appear to be indebted for such a succession of able 
and warlike princes, as raised their empire in a short period to that extra- 
ordinary height of power which it had attained when Cortes landed in 
New Spain. 

While the jurisdiction of the Mexican monarch continued to be lirfiited, 
it is probable that it was exercised wilh little ostentation. But as their 
authority became more extensive, the splendour of their government aug- 
mented. It was in this last state that the Spaniards beheld it ; and struck 
with the appearance of Montezuma's court, they describe its pomp at great 
length, and with much admiration. The number of his attendants, the 
order, the silence, and the reverence with which they served him ; the 
extent of his royal mansion, the variety of its apartments allotted to dif- 
ferent orticers, Mid the ostentation with which his grandeur was displayed, 
whenever he permitted his subjects to bi;hold him, seem to resen)ble the 
magnificence of the ancient monarchies in Asia, rather than the simplicity 
of the infant states in the New World. 

But it was not in the mere parade of royalty that the Mexican potentates 
exhibited their power ; they manifested it more beneficially in the order 
and regularity witli which they conducted the internal administration and 
police of their dominions. Complete jurisdiction, civil as well as criminal, 
over its own immediate vassals, was vested in the crown. Judges were 
appointed for each department ; and if we may rely on the account which 
the Spanish writers give of the maxims and laws upon which lliey founded 
their decisions with respect to the distribution of property and the punish- 
ment of crimes, justice was administered in the Mexican empire with a 
degree ot' order and equity resembling what takes place in societies highly 
civilized. 

Their attention in providing for the support of government was not 
less sagacious. Taxes were laid upon land, upon the acquisitions of in- 
dustry, and upon commodities of every kind exposed to sale in the public 
markets. These duties were considerable, but not arbitrary or unequal. 
They were imposed according to established rules, and each knew what 
share of the common burden he had to bear. As the use of money was 
unknown, all the taxes were paid in kind ; and thus not only the natural 
productions of all the different provinces in the empire, but every species 
of manufacture, and every work of ingenuity and art, were collected in 
the public storehouses. From those the emperor supplied his numerous 
train of attendants in peace, and his armies during war, with food, with 
clothes, and ornaments. People of inferior condition, neither possessing 
land nor engaged in commerce, were bound to the performance of various 
services. By their stated labour the crown lands were cultivated, public 
works were carried on, and (he various houses belonging to the emperor 
were built and kept in repair* [147]. 

The improved state of government among the Mexicans is conspicuous, 
not only in points essential to the being of a well-ordered society, but in 
several regulations of inferior consequence with respect to police. The 
institution which I have already mentioned, of public couriers, stationed 
at proper intervals, to convey intelligence iVoin one part of the empire to 
the other, was a refinement in police not introduced into any kingdom of 
Europe at that period. The structure of the capital city in a lake, with 
artificial dykes, and causeways of great length, which served as avenues 
to it from different quarters, erected in the water, with no less mgenuity 
than labour, seems to be an idea that could not have occurred to any 
but a civilized people. The same observation may be applied to the 
structure of the aqueducts, or conduits, by which they conveyed a stream 
of fresh water from a considerable distance, into the city, along one of the 

* Ilerrera, dec. 2. lib. vii. c. \3. dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 16, 17. 



AMERICA. S?l 

causeways [148]. The appointment of a number of persons to clean the 
streets, to light tnem by fires kindled in different places, and to patrol as 
watchmen during the night,* discovers a degree of attention which even 
polished nations are late in acquiring. 

The progress of the Mexicans in various arts is considered as the most 
decisive proof of their superior refinement. Cortes and the early Spanisn 
authors describe this with rapture, and maintain, that the most celebrated 
European artists could not surpass or even equal them in ingenuity and 
neatness of workmanship. They represented men, animals, and other 
objects, by such a disposition of various coloured feathers, as is said to 
have produced all the effects of light and shade, and to have imitated 
nature with truth and delicacy. Their ornaments of gold and silver have 
been described to be of a fabric no less curious. But in forming any idea, 
from general descriptions, concerning the state of arts among nations im- 
perfectly polished, we are extremely ready to err. In examining the 
works of people whose advances in improvement are nearly the same with 
our own, we view them with a critical and often with a jealous eye. 
Whereas, when conscious of our own superiority, we survey the arts of 
nations comparatively rude, we are astonishea at works executed by 
them under such manifest disadvantages, and, in the warmth of our admi- 
ration, are apt to represent them as productions more finished than they 
really are. To the influence of' this illusion, without supposing any inten- 
tion to deceive, we may impute the exaggeration of some Spanish authors, 
in their accounts of the Mexican arts. 

It is not from those descriptions, but from considering such specimens of 
their arts as are still preserved, that we must decide concerning their degree 
of merit. As the ship in which Cortes sent to Charles V. the most curious 
productions of the Mexican artisans, which were collected by the Spaniards 
when they first pillaged the empire, was taken by a French corsair,t the 
remains of their ingenuity are less numerous than those of the Peruvians. 
Whether any of their works with feathers, in imitation of painting, be still 
extant in Spain, I have not learned : but many of their ornaments in gold 
and silver, as well as various utensils employed in common life, are depo- 
sited in the magnificent cabinet of natural and artificial productions lately 
opened by the king of Spain ; and 1 am informed by persons on whose 
judgment and taste I can rely, that these boasted efiforts of their art are 
uncouth representations of common objects, or very coarse images of ihe 
human and some other forms, destitute of grace and propriety [l49]. The 
justness of these observations is confirmed by inspecting the wooden prints 
and copper plates of their paintings, which have been published by various 
authors. In thena every figure of men, of quadrupeds, or birds, as well as 
every representation of manimated nature, is extremely rude and awkward.J 

• Herrera, dec. 2. lib. viii. c. 4. Torribio MS. t Relat. de Cort. Ramus, iii. 294. F. 

t As a specimen of ihe spirit and style in which M. Clavigero majces his striclurcs upon my 
History of America, I shall publish his remarks upon this passage. " Thus far Robertson • to 
whom we answer, first, That there is no reason to believe that those rude works were really 
Mexican ; secondly, That neither do we know whether those persf.nsin whose judgment he confides 
may be persons fit to merit our faith, because we have observed that Roberuon trusts frequently to 
tlie teBliiuony of Gage, Correal, [bagnez, and other such authors, who are entirely undeserving of 
credit : thirdly, It is more probable that the arms of copper, believed by those intelligent judges to 
be certainly Oriental, are really Mexican." Vol. II. 391.— When an author, not entirely destitute 
of integrity or discernment, and who has some solicitude about his own character, asserts that he 
received hi* information concerning any particular point from persons "on whose judgment and 
taste he can rely ;" a very slender degree of candour, one should think, might induce the reader to 
believe that he docs not endeavour to impose upon the public by an appeal to testimony altogether 
unworthy of credit. My information concerning the Mexican works of art, deposited in the king 
of Spain's cabinet, was received from the late Lord Grantham, ambassador extraordinary from the 
court of London to Uiat of Madrid, and from Mr. Archdeacon Waddilove, chaplain to the embassy • 
and it was upon their authority that I pronnunrcd Ihe coat of armour, mentioned in the note, to be 
of Oriental fabric. As tJiey were both at Madrid in their public character, when the lint edition of 
the History of Aniirica was published, I thought it improper a! that time to mention their names 
Did their decision concerning a matter of taste, or their tentimony concerning a point of fact, stand 
in nred of confirmation, I niighl produce Uie evidence of an intelligoDt uaveller, who, in descrlbinj 
Vot. I.**— 41 



322 HISTORY OF [BookVII. 

The hardest Egyptian style, stiff and imperfect as it was, is more elegant. 
The scrawls of children delineate objects almost as accurately. 

But however low the Mexican paintings may be ranked, when viewed 
merely as works of art, a very different station belongs to them when con- 
sidered as the records of their country, as historical monuments of its policy 
and transactions ; and they become curious as well as interesting objects 
of attention. The noblest and most beneficial invention of which human 
ingenuity can boast, is that of writing. But the first essnys of this art, 
which hath contributed more than all others to the improvement of the 
species, were very rude, and it advanced towards perfection slowly, and by 
a gradual pr(^)gression. When the warrior, eager for fame, wished to 
transmit some knowledge of his exploits to succeeding ages ; when the 
gratitude of a people to their sovereign prompted them to hand down an 
account of his beneficent deeds to posterity ; the first method of accom- 
plishing this, which seems to have occurred to them, was to delineat' in 
the best manner they could, figures representing the action, of which mey 
were solicitous to preserve the memory. Of this, which has very pro- 
perly been called picture writing,^ we find traces among some of the most 
savage tribes of America. When a leader returns from the field, he strips 
a tree of its bark, and with red paint scratches up-^n it some uncouth figures 
which represent the order of his march, the number of his followers, the 
enemy whom he attacked, the scalps and captives which he brought home. 
To those simple annals he trusts for renown, and soothes himself with hope 
that tvy their means he shall receive praise from the warriors of future 
times.f 

Compared with those awkward essays of their savage countrymen, the 
paintings of the Mexicans may be considered as works of composition and 
design. They were not acquainted, it is true, with any other method of 
recording transactions than that of delineating the objects which they wished 
to represent. But they could exhibit a more complex series of events in 
progressive order, and describe, by a proper disposition of figures, the oc- 
currences of a king's reign from his accession to his death ; the progress of 
an infant's education from its birth until it attain to the years of maturity ; 
the different recompenses and marks of distinction conferred upon war- 
riors, in proportion to the exploits which they had performed. Some sin- 
gular specimens of this picture writing have been preserved, which are 
jusMy considered as the most curious monuments of art brought from the 
New World. The most valuable of these was published by Purchas in 
sixty-six plates. It is divided into three parts. The first contains the 
history of the Mexican empire under its ten monarchs. The second is a 
tribute roll, representing what each conquered town paid into the royal 
treasury. The third is a code of their institutions, domestic, political, and 
military. Another specimen of Mexican painting has been published in 
thirty-two plates, by the present archbishop of Toledo. To both is an- 
nexed a full explanation of what the figures were intended to represent, 
which was obtained by the Spaniards from Indians well acquainted with 
their own arts. The style of painting in all these is the same. They 

the royal cabinet of Madrid, takes notice tliat it contains " specimens of Mexican and Toruvian 
utensils, vases, &c. in earthenware, wretched both in taste and execution." Dillon's Travels 
•Jiroiisli Spain, p. 77. As Gage composed his Survey of New Spain with all tl)e ztal and acrimony 
of a new convert, I have paid little regard to his testimony with respect to points relating to religion. 
But as he resided in several provinces in New Spain, which travellers seldom visil. and as he seems 
to have observed their manners and laws with an intelligent eye, I have availed myself ol his 
information with respect to matters where religious opinion could liave little infiiience. Correal I 
have seldom quoted, and never rested upon his evidence alone. The station in whicli Ibagnez was 
employed in America, as well as the credit given to his veracity, by printing his Regno Jesuitico 
among the large collection of documents published (as I believe by autJiority) at Madrid, A.D. 1767, 
justifies me for appealing to his autliority. 

* Divine Legf... of Moses, iii. 73. f Sir W. Johnson, Philos. Transact, vol, Ixiii. p. H3. 

M^m. de la Hontan, ii. 191. Lafitau Mmurs de Sauv. il. 43. 



AMERICA. 323 

tepresent things, not words. They exhibit images to the eye, not ideas to 
the understanding. They may therefore be considered as the earhest and 
most imperfect essay of men in their progress towards discovering the art 
of writing. The defects in this mode of recording transactions must have 
been early felt. To paint every occurrence was from its nature a very 
tedious operation ; ana as affairs became more complicated, and events 
multiplied in any society, its annals must have swelled to an enormous 
bulk. Besides this, no objects could be delineated but those of sense ; the 
conceptions of the mind had no corporeal form ; and as long as picture 
writing could .lOt convey an idea of these, it must have been a very imper- 
fect art. The necessity of improving it must have roused and sharpened 
invention ; and the human mind, holding the same course in the New 
World as in the Old, might have advanced by the same successive steps, 
first, from an actual picture to the plain hieroglyphic ; next to the allego- 
rical symbol ; then to the arbitrary character ; until, at length, an alphabet 
of letters was discovered, capable of expressing all the various combinations 
of sounu employed in speech. In the paintings of the Mexicans we ac- 
cordingly perceive that this progress was begun among them. Upon an 
attentive inspection of the plates, which I have mentioned, we may observe 
some approach to the plain or simple hieroglyphic, where some principal 
part or circumstance in the subject is made to stand for the whole. In the 
annals of their kings, published by Purchas, the towns conquered by each 
are uniformly represented in the same manner by a rude delineation of a 
house ; but in order to point out the particular towns which submitted to their 
victorious arms, peculiar emblems, sometimes natural objects, and sometimes 
artificial figures, are employed. _ In the tribute-roll published by the Arch- 
bishop of Toledo, the house which was properly die picture of the town, is 
omitted, and the emblem alone is employed to represent it. The Mexicans 
seem even to have made some advances beyond this, towards the use of the 
more figurative and fanciful hieroglyphic. In order to describe a monarch 
who had enlai^ed his dominions by force of arms, they painted a target orna- 
mented with darts, and placed it between him and those towns which he 
subdued. But it is only in one instance, the notation of numbers, that we 
discern any attempt to exhibit ideas which had no corporeal form. The 
Mexican painters had invented artificial marks, or signs of convention, for 
this purpose. By means of these, they computed the years of their kings' 
reigns, as well as the amount of tribute to be paid into the royal treasury. 
The figure of a circle represented unit ; and in small numbers, the com- 
putation was made by repeating it. Larger numbers were expressed by a 
peculiar mark ; and they had such as denoted all integral numbers, from 
twenty to eight thousand. The short duration of their empire prevented 
the Mexicans from advancing further in that long course which conducts 
men from the labour of delineating real objects, to the simplicity and ease 
of alphabetic writing. Their records, notwithstanding some dawn of such 
ideas as might have led to a more perfect style, can be considered as little 
more than a species of picture-writing, so far improved as to mark their 
superiority over the savage tribes of America ; but still so defect''ve as to 
prove that they had not proceeded far beyond the first stage in that progress 
which must be completed before any people can be ranked among polished 
nations [150]. 

Their mode of computing time may be considered as a more decisive 
evidence of their progress in improvement. They divided their year into 
eighteen months, consisting of twenty days ; amounting in all to three hun- 
dred and sixty. But as they observed that the course of the sun was not 
completed in that time, they added five days to the year. These, which 
were properly intercalary driys, they tarmta supermimerary or waste ; and 
as they did not belong to any month, no work v.'as done, and no sacred rite 



324 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

performed on them ; they were devoted wholly to festivity and pastime.* 
This near approach to philosophical accuracy is a remarkable proof, that 
the Mexicans had bestowed some attention upon inquiries and speculations 
to which men in a very rude state never turn their thoughts.! 

Such are the most striking particulars in the manners and policy of the 
Mexicans, which exhibit them to view as a people considerably refined. 
But from other circumstances, one is apt to suspect that their character, 
and many of their institutions, did not differ greatly from those of the other 
inhabitants of America. 

Like the rude tribes around them, the Mexicans were incessantly en- 
gaged in war, and the motives which prompted them to hostility seem to 
have been the same. They fought in order to gratify their vengeance by 
shedding the blood of their enemies. In battle they were chiefly intent on 
taking prisoners ; and it was by the number of these that they estimated 
the glory of victory. No captive was ever ransomed or spared. All were 
sacrificed without mercy, and their flesh devoured with the same barbarous 
joy as among the fiercest savages. On some occasions it arose to even 
wilder excesses. Their principal warriors covered themselves with the 
skins of the unhappy victims, and danced about the streets, boasting of 
their own valour, and exulting over their enemies.J Even in their civil 
institutions we discover traces of that barbarous disposition which their 
system of war inspired. The four chief counsellors of the empire were 
distinguished by titles, which could have been assumed only by a people 
who delighted in blood [151]- This ferocity of character prevailed among 
all the nations of New Spain. The Tlascalans, the people of Mechoacan, 
and other states at enmity with the Mexicans, delighted equally in war, 
and treated their prisoners with the same cruelty. In proportion as man- 
kind combine in social union, and live under the influence of equal laws 
and regular policy, their manners soften, sentiments of humanity arise, and 
the rights of the species come to be understood. The fierceness of war 
abates, and even while engaged in hostility, men remember what they owe 
one to another. The savage fights to destroy, the citizen to conquer. The 
former neither pities nor spares, the latter has acquired sensibility which 
tempers his rage. To this sensibility the Mexicans seem to have been 
perfect strangers ; and am.ong them war was carried on with so much of 
its original barbarity, that we cannot but suspect their degree of civihza- 
tion to have been very imperfect. 

Their funeral rites were not less bloody than those of the most savage 
tribes. On the death of any distinguished personage, especially of the 
emperor, a certain number of his attendants were chosen to accompany 
him to the other world ; and those unfortunate victims were put to death 
without mercy, and buried in the same tomb.§ 

Though their agriculture was more extensive than that of the roving 
tribes w-lio trusted chiefly to their bow for food, it seems not to have sup- 
plied them with such subsistence as men require when engaged in efforts 
of active industry. The Spaniards appear not to have been struck with 
any superiority of the Mexicans over the other people of America in bodily 
vigour. Both, according to their observation, were of such a feeble frame 
as to be unable to endure fatigue, and the strength of one Spaniard ex- 
ceeded that of several Indians. This they imputed to their scanty diet, 
on poor fare, sufficient to preserve life, but not to give firmness to their 
constitution. Such a remark could hardly have been made with respect 
to any people furnished plentifully with the necessaries of life. The diffi- 

* Acosta, lib. vi. c. 2. 

t The Mexican mode of computing time, and every other particular relating to their chronology, 
have been considerably elucidated by M. Clavigero, vol. i. 288; vol. ii. 2-25, &c. The observations 
and theories of the Mexicans concerning those subjects discover a greater progress in speculative 
Bcience than we find among any people in the New World. % Herrera, dec, 3. lib. ii. c. 15. 

Com. Cron. c. 317. $ Herrera. dec. 3. lib. ii. c. IS. Gom. CroD. c. 202. 



AMERICA. 325 

culty which Cortes found in procuring subsistence for his small body of 
soldiers, who were often constrained to live on the spontaneous productions 
of the earth, seems to confirm the remark of the Spanish writers, and gives 
no high idea of the state of cultivation in the Mexican empire.* 

A practice that was universal in New Spain appears to favour this opi- 
nion. The Mexican women gave suck to their children for several years, 
and during that time they did not cohabit with their husbands.! This pre- 
caution against a burdensome increase of progeny, though necessary, as I 
have already observed, among savages, who from the hardships of their 
condition, and the precariousness of tneir subsistence, find it impossible to 
rear a numerous family, can hardly be supposed to have continued among 
a people who lived at ease and in abundance. 

The vast extent of the Mexican empire, which has been considered, and 
with justice, as the most decisive proof of a considerable progress in regu- 
lar government and police, is one of those facts in the history of the New 
World which seems to have been admitted without due examination or 
sufficient evidence. The Spanish historians, in order to magnify the valour 
of their countrymen, are accustomed to represent the dominion of Monte- 
zuma as stretching over all the provinces of New Spain from the Northern 
to the Southern Ocean. But a great part of the mountainous country was 
possessed by the Otamies, a fierce uncivilized people, who seem to have 
Deen the residue of the original inhabitants. The provinces towards the 
north and west of Mexico, were occupied by the Chichemecas, and other 
tribes of hunters. None of these recognised the Mexican monarch as their 
superior. Even in the interior and more level country, there were several 
cities and provinces which had never submitted to the Mexican yoke. 
Tlascala, thotigh only twenty-one leagues from the capital of the empire, 
was an independent and hostile republic. Cholula, though still nearer, 
had been subjected only a short time before the arrival of the Spaniards. 
Tepeaca, at the distance of thirty leagues from Mexico, seems to have 
been a separate state, governed by its own laws.j Mechoacan, the fron- 
tier of which extended within forty leagues of Mexico, was a powerful 
kingdom, remarkable for its implacable enmity to the Mexican name.§ 
By these hostile powers the Mexican empire was circumscribed on every 
quarter, and the high ideas which we are apt to form of it from the de- 
scription of the Spanish historians, should be considerably moderated. 

In consequence of this independence of several states in New Spain 
upon the Mexican empire, there was not any considerable intercourse be- 
tween its various provinces. Even in the interior country not far distant 
from the capital, there seems to have been no roads to facilitate the commu- 
nication of one district with another ; and when the Spaniards first attempt- 
ed to penetrate into its several provinces, they had to open their way 
through forests and marshes. |i Cortes, in his adventurous march from 
Mexico to Honduras, in 1525, met with obstructions, and endured hard- 
ships little inferior to those with which he must have struggled in the most 
uncivilized regions of America. In some places he could hardly force a 

fiassage through impervious woods, and plains overflowed with water, 
n others he found so little cultivation, that his troops were frequently in 
danger of perishing by famine. Such facts correspond ill with the pom- 
pous description which the Spanish writers give of Mexican police and 
mdustry, and convey an idea of a country nearly similar to that possessed 
by the Indian tribes in North America. Here and there a trading or a 
war path, as they are called in North America, led from one settlement to 
another ;1[ but generally there appeared no sign of any established com- 
munication, few marks of industry, and fewer monuments of art. 

♦ Relat. ap. Ramus, iii. 306. A. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 17. dec. 2. lib. vi. c. 16. t Gom. 

Croa. c. 203. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 16. t Herrera, dec. 3. lib. i. c. 15. 21. B. Diaz, c. 130. 
i Uerrera, dec. a. lib. ii. c. iO. H B. Diaz, c. 1G6. 170. US Utiiiera, dec. i. lib. vii. c. & 



326 HISTOIiY OF [BookVIL 

A proof of this imperfection in their commercial intercourse no less stri- 
king is their want of money, or some universal standard by which to esti- 
mate the value of commodities. The discovery of this is among- the 
steps of greatest consequence in the progress of nations. Until it has been 
made, all their transactions must be so awkward, so operose, and so limited, 
that we may boldly pronounce that they have advanced but a little way 
in their career. The invention of such a commercial standard is of such 
high antiquity in our hemisphere, and rises so far beyond the era of au- 
thentic history, as to appear almost coeval with the existence of society. 
The precious metals seem to have been early employed for this purpose ; 
and from their permanent value, their divisibility, and many other qualities, 
they are better adapted to serve as a common standard than any other sub- 
stance of which nature has given us the command. But in the New 
World, where these metals abound most, this use of them was not known. 
The exigencies of rude tribes, or of monarchies imperfectly civilized, did 
not call for it. All their commercial intercourse was carried on by barter , 
and their ignorance of any common standard by which to facilitate that 
exchange oi commodities which contributes so much towards the comfort 
of life, may be justly mentioned as an evidence of the infant state of their 
policy. But even in the New World the inconvenience of wanting some 
general instrument of commerce began to be felt, and some efforts were 
making towards supplying that defect. The Mexicans, among whom the 
number and greatness of their cities gave rise to a more extended com- 
merce than in any other part of America, had begun to employ a common 
standard of value, which rendered smaller transactions much more easy. 
As chocolate was the favourite drink of persons in every rank of life, the 
nuts or almonds of cacao, of which it is composed, were of such universal 
consumption, that, in their stated markets, these were willingly received 
in return for commodities of small price. Thus they came to be consider- 
ed as the instrument of commerce, and the value of what one wished to 
dispose of was estimated by the number of nuts of the cacao, which he 
might expect in exchange for it. This seems to be the utmost length 
which the Americans had advanced towards the discovery of any expe- 
dient for supplying the use of money. And if the want of it is to be held, 
on one hand, as a proof of their barbarity, this expedient for supplying 
that want should be admitted, on the other, as an evidence no less satis- 
fying of some progress which the Mexicans had made in refinement and 
civilization beyond the savage tribes around them. 

In such a rude state were many of the Mexican provinces when first 
visited by their conquerors. Even their cities, extensive and populous as 
they were, seem more fit to be the habitation of men just emerging from 
barbarity, than the residence of a polished people. The description of 
Tlascala nearly resembles that of an Indian village. A number of low 
straggling huts, scattered about irregularly, according to the caprice of 
each proprietor, built with turf and stone, and thatched with reeds, with- 
out any light but what they received by a door, so low that it could not 
be entered upright.* In Mexico, though, from the peculiarity of its situa- 
tion, the disposition of the houses was more orderly, the structure of the 
greater part was equally mean. Nor does the fabric of their temples, and 
other public edifices, appear to have been such as entitled them to the 
high praise bestowed upon them by many Spanish authors. Jis far as one 
can leather from their obscure and inaccurate descriptions, the great temple 
of Mexico, the most famous in New Spain, which has been represented as 
a magnificent building, raised to such a height, that the ascent to it was by 
a flight of a hundred and fourteen steps, was a solid mass of earth of a 
squaie form, taced partly with stone. Its base on each side extended 

♦ Herrera, dec. 2. lib. vi. e. 12. 



AMERICA. 327 

nioetT feet ; and decreasii^ graduallT as it advanced in height, it tenni- 
nated in a quadrai^le of alKHJt thirty feet, -where were pbced a shri;;e of 
the deity, and two altars on which the rictims were sacrificed.* Ail the 
other celebrated temples of New Spain exactly resembled that of Mex- 
ico [152]. Such structures convey no high idea of progress in art and in- 
genuity ; and one can hardly conceive that a form more rude and simple 
could have occurred to a nation in its first eflforts towards erecting any 
great work. 

Greater skill and ingenuity were displayed, if we- may believe the Span- 
ish historians, in the houses of the emperor, and in those of the principal 
nobility. There, some elegance of design was visible, and a commodious 
arrangement of the apartments was attended to. But if buildings corres- 
poniiing to such descriptions had ever existed in the Mexican cities, it is 
probable that some remains of them would still be visible. From the 
manner in which Cortes conducted the siege of Mexico, we can indeed 
easily account for the total destruction of whatever had any appearance 
- of splendour in that capital. But as only two centuries and a half have 
elapsed since the conquest of New Spain, it seems altogether incredible 
that in a period so short, every vestige of this boasted elegance and gran- 
deur should have disappeared : and that in the other cities, particularly in 
those which did not suffer by the destructive hand of the conquerors, there 
are any ruins which can be considered as monuments ef their ancient mag- 
nificence. 

Even in a Tillage of the rudest Indians, there are buildings of greater 
extent and elevation than common dwelling houses. Such as are destined 
for boldii^ the council of the tribe, and in which all assemble on occasions 
of public festivity, may be called stately edifices, when compared with 
the rest As among the Mexicans the distinction of ranks was established, 
and property was unequally divided, the number of distingruished struc- 
tures in their towns would of course be greater than in other parts of Ame- 
rica. But these seem not to have been either so solid or magnificent as to 
merit the pompous epithets which some Spanish authors employ in de- 
scribing them. It is probable that, though more ornamented, and built on 
a larger scale, they were erected with the same slight materials which the 
Indians employed in their common buildings [153], and Time, in a space 
much less than two hundred and fifty years, may have swept away all 
remains of them [l54]. 

From this enumeration of facts, it seems, trpon the whole, to be evident, 
that the state of society in 3Iexico was considerably advanced beyond 
that of the savage tribes which we have delineated. But it is no less mani- 
fest that, with respect to many particulars, the Spanish accounts of their 
progress appear to be highly embellished. There is not a more frequent 
or a more fertile source of deception in describing the manners and arts of 
savage nations, or of such as are imperfectly civilized, than that of apply- 
ing to them the names and phrases appropriated to the institutions and re- 
finements of fvolished life. When the leader of a small tribe, or the head 
of a rude community, is dignified with the name of King or Emperor, the 
place of his residence can receive no other name but that of his palace ; 
and whatever his attendants may be, they must be called his court 
Under such appellations they acquire, in our estimation, an imf>ortance 
and dignity which does not belong to them. The illusion spreads ; and 
givi:)g a false colour to every part of the narrative, the imagination is so 
much carried away with the resemblance, that it becomes difficult to dis 
cem objects as they really are. The Spaniards, when they first touchea 
on the 5lesican coast, were so much struck with the appearance of attain- 
ments in policy and in the arts of life, far superior to those of the rude 

• Benen, itc i Hfc. viL e. 17. 



358 HISTORY OP [Book VII. 

tribes with which they were hitherto acquainted, that they fancied they 
had at length discovered a civilized people in the New World. This 
comparison between the people of Mexico and their uncultivated neigh- 
bours, they appear to have kept constantly in view ; and observing- with 
admiration many things which marked the pre-eminence of the former, 
they employ, in describing their imperfect policy and infant arts, such terms 
as are applicable to the institutions of men far beyond them in improve- 
ment. Both these circumstances concur in detracting from the credit due 
to the descriptions of Mexican manners by the early Spanish writers. By 
drawing a parallel between them and those of people so much less civil- 
ized, they raised their own ideas too high. By their mode of describing 
them, they conveyed ideas to others no less exalted above truth. Later 
writers have adopted the style of the original historians, and improved 
upon it. The colours with Avhich De Solis delineates the character and 
describes the actions of Montezuma, the splendour of his court, the laws 
and policy of his empire, are the same that he must have employed in 
exhibiting to view the monarch and institutions of a highly polished people. 
But though we may admit, that the warm imagination of the Spanish 
writers has added some embellishment to their descriptions, this will not 
justify the decisive and peremptory tone with which several authors pro- 
nounce all their accounts of the Mexican power, policy, and laws, to be 
the fictions of men who Avished to deceive, or who delighted in the mar- 
vellous. There are few historical facts that can be ascertained by evidence 
more unexceptionable, than may be produced in support of the material 
articles in the description of the Mexican constitution and manners. Eye- 
witnesses relate what they beheld. Men who had resided among the 
Mexicans, both before and after the conquest, describe institutions and 
customs which were familiar to them. Persons of professions so different 
that objects must have presented themselves to their view under every 
various aspect ; soldiers, priests, and lawyers, all concur in their testimony. 
Had Cortes ventured to impose upon his sovereign, by exhibiting to him a 
picture of imaginary manners, there wanted not enemies and rivals who 
were qualified to detect his deceit, and who would have rejoiced in 
exposing it. But according to the just remark of an author, whose inge- 
nuity has illustrated, and whose eloquence has adorned, the history of 
America,* this supposition is in itself as improbable as the attempt would 
have been audacious. Who, among the destroyers of this great empire, 
was so enlightened by science, or so attentive to the progress and operations 
of men in social life, as to frame a fictitious system of policy so well com- 
bined and so consistent, as that which they delineate in their accounts of 
the Mexican government ? Where could they have borrowed the idea of 
many institutions in legislation and police, to which, at that period, there 
Avas nothing parallel in the nations with which they were acquainted ? 
There was not, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, a regular esta- 
blishment of posts for conveying intelligence to the sovereign of any 
kingdom in Europe. The same observation will apply to what the 
Spaniards relate with respect to the structure of the city of Mexico, the 
regulations concerning its police, and various laws established for the 
administration of justice, or securing the happiness of the community. 
Whoever is accustomed to contemplate the progress of nations will often, 
at very early stages of it, discover a premature and unexpected dawn of 
those ideas which gave rise to institutions that are the pride and ornament 
of its most advanced period. Even in a state as imperfectly polished as 
the Mexican empire, the happy genius of some sagacious observer, excited 
or aided by circumstances unknown to us, may have introduced institutions 
which are seldom found but in societies highly refined. But it is almost 

• M. I'Abbe Raynal Iltst. phUoa. et pdUU See. tii. 137. 



AMERICA. 329 

impossible that the illiterate conquerors of the New World should have 
formed in any one instance a conception of customs and laws beyond the 
standard ot improvement in their own age and country. Or if Cortes had 
been capable of this, what inducement had those by whom he was super- 
seded to continue the deception ? Why should Corita, or Motolinea, or 
Acosta, have amused their sovereign or their fellow-citizens with a tale 
purely fabulous ? 

In one particular, however, the guides whom we must follow have repre- 
sented the Mexicans to be more barbarous, perhaps, than they really were. 
Their religious tenets and the rites of their worship are described by them 
as wild and cruel in an extreme degree. Religion, which occupies no 
considerable place in the thoughts of a savage, whose conceptions of any 
superior power are obscure, and his sacred rites few as well as simple, 
was formed, among the Mexicans, into a regular system, with its complete 
train of priests, temples, victims, and festivals. This, of itself, is a clear 
proof that the state of the Mexicans was very different from that of the 
ruder American tribes. But from the extravagance of their religious 
notions, or the barbarity of their rites, no conclusion can be drawn with 
certainty concerning the degree of their civilization. For nations, long 
after their ideas begin to enlarge, and their manners to refine, adhere to 
systems of superstition founded on the crude conceptions of early ages. 
From the genius of the Mexican religion we may, however, form a most 
just conclusion with respect to its influence upon the character of the 

fieople. The aspect of superstition in Mexico was gloomy and atrocious, 
ts divinities were clothed with terror, and delighted in vengeance. They 
were exhibited to the people under detestable forms, which created horror. 
The figures of serpents, of tigers, and of other destructive animals, deco- 
rated their temples. Fear was the only principle that inspired their 
votaries. Fasts, mortifications, and penances, all rigid, and many of them 
excruciating to an extreme degree, were the means employed to appease 
the wrath of their gods, and the Mexicans never approached their altars 
without sprinkling them with blood drawn from their own bodies. But, of 
all offerings, human sacrifices were deemed the most acceptable. This 
religious belief mingling with the implacable spirit of vengeance, and 
adding new force to it, every captive taken in war was brought to the 
temple, was devoted as a victim to the deity, and sacrificed with rites no 
less solemn than cruel* [135]. The heart and head were the portion 
consecrated to the gods ; the warrior, by whose prowess the prisoner had 
been seized, carried off the body to feast upon it with his friends. Under 
the impression of ideas so dreary and terrible, and accustomed daily to 
scenes of bloodshed rendered awful by religion, the heart of man must 
harden and be steeled to every sentiment of humanity. The spirit of the 
Mexicans was accordingly unfeeling ; and the genius of their religion so 
far counterbalanced the influence ot policy and arts, that notwithstanding 
their progress in both, their manners, instead of softening, became more 
fierce. To what circumstances it was owing that superstition assumed such 
a dreadful form among the Mexicans, we have not sufficient knowledge of 
their history to determine. But its influence is visible, and produced an 
effect that is singular in the history of the human species. The manners of 
the people in the New World, who had made the greatest progress in the 
arts of policy, were, in several respects, the most ferocious, and the barbarity 
of some of their customs exceeded even those of the savage state. 

The empire of Peru boasts of a higher antiquity than that of Mexico. 
According to the traditionary accounts collected hj the Spaniards, it had 
subsisted four hundred years, under twelve successive monarchs. Bat the 

• Cort. Relat. ap Ramus. Hi. 240, &c. B. Diax, c. 82. Acosta, lib. v. c. 13, ic Herrera, dee. 
S. lib. ii. c. 15, &c. Goniara Chron. c. 80, &c> 

Vol. I.— 42 16 



S30 HISTORY OF [Book V3I. 

knowledge of their ancient story, which the Peruvians could communicate 
to their conquerors, must have been both imperfect and uncertain [156], 
Like the other American nations, they were totally unacquainted with the 
art of writing-, and destitute of the only means by which the meniorv' of 
past transactions can be preserved with any degree of accuracy. Even 
among people to whom the use of letters is known, the era where the 
authenticity of history commences is much posterior to the introduction of 
writing. That noble invention continued every where to be long subser- 
vient to the common business and wants of life, before it was employed in 
recording events, with a view of conveying information from one age to 
another. But in no country did ever tradition alone carry down historical 
knowledge, in any full continued stream, during a period of half the length 
that the monarchy of Peru is said to have subsisted. 

The Quipos, or knots on cords of different colours, which are celebrated 
by authors fond of the marvellous, as if they had been regular annals of 
the empire, imperfectly supplied the place of writing. According to the 
obscure description of them by Acosta,* which Garcilasso de la Vega has 
adopted with little variation and no improvement, the quipos seem to have 
been a device for rendering calculation more expeditious and accurate. 
By the various colours different objects were denoted, and by each knot a 
distinct number. Thus an account was taken, and a kind of register kept, 
of the inhabitants in each province, or of the several productions collected 
there for public use. But as by these knots, however varied or combined, 
no moral or abstract idea, no operation or quality of the mind could be 
represented, they contributed little towards preserving the memory of 
ancient events and institutions. By the Mexican paintings and symbols, 
rude as they were, more knowledge of remote transactions seems to have 
been conveyed than the Peruvians could derive from their boasted quipos. 
Had the latter been even of m.ore extensive use, and better adapted to 
supply the place of written records, they perished so generally, together 
with other monuments of Peruvian ingenuity, in the wreck occasioned by 
the Spanish conquest, and the civil wars suhsequent to it, that no accession 
ol light or knowledge comes from them. All the zeal of Garcilasso de la 
Vega, for the honour of that race of monarchs from whom he descended, 
all the industry of his researches, and the superior advantages with which 
he carried them on, opened no source of information unknown to the 
Spanish authors who wrote before him. In his Royal Commentaries, he 
confines himself to illustrate what they had related concerning the antiqui 
ties and institutions of Peru ;t and his illustrations, like their accounts, are 
derived entirely from the traditionary tales current among his countrymen. 

Very little credit then is due to the minute details, which have been 
given of the exploits, the battles, the conquests, and private character of 
the early Peruvian monarchs. We can rest upon nothing in their story as 
authentic, but a few facts so interwoven in the system of their religion and 
policy, as preserved the memory of them from being lost ; and upon the 
description of such customs and institutions as continued in force at the 
time of the conquest, and fell under the immediate observation of the 
Spaniard*. By attending carefully to these, and endeavouring to separate 
them from what appears to be fabulous or of doubtful authority, 1 have 
laboured to form an idea of the Peruvian government and manners. 

I'he people of Peru, as I have already observed,| had not advanced 
beyond the rudest form of savage life, when Manco Capac, and his con- 
sort Mama Ocollo, appeared to instruct and to civilize them. Who these 
extraordinary personages were, whether they imported their system of 
legislation and knowledge of arts from some country more improved, or, if 
natives of Peru, how they acquired ideas so far superior to those of the 

» Hist. lib. vi e. 8. t L>b. 1. c. 10. X Book vl 



A M E K 1 C A. 331 

people whom they addressed, are circumstances with respect to which the 
rcruviaii tradition conveys no information. Manco Capac and his consort, 
taking advantage of the propensity in the Peruvians to superstition, and 
particularly of their veneration for the Sun, pretended to be children of that 
glorious luminary, and to deliver their instructions in his name, and by au- 
thority from him. The multitude listened and believed. What reforma- 
tion in policy and manners the Peruvians ascribe to those founders of their 
empire, and how, from the precepts of the Inca and his consort, their an- 
cestors gradually acquired some knowledge of those arts, and some relish 
for that industry, which render subsistence secure and life comfortable, 
hath been formerly related. Those blessings were originally confined 
within narrow precincts ; but in process of time, the successors of Manco 
Capac extended their dominion over all the regions that stretch to the 
west of the Andes from Chili to Quito, establishing in every province their 
peculiar policy and religious institutions. 

The most singular and striking circumstance in the Peruvian govern- 
ment is the influence of religion upon its genius and laws. Religious ideas 
make such a feeble impression on the mind of a savage, that their effect 
upon his sentiments and manners is hardly perceptible. Among the 
Mexicans, religion, reduced into a regular system, and holding a consider- 
able place in their public institutions, operated with conspicuous efficacy 
in formino^ the peculiar character of that people. But in Peru, the whole 
system of policy was founded on religion. The Inca appeared not only 
as a legislator, but as the messenger of Heaven. His precepts were re- 
ceived not merely as the injunctions of a superior, but as the mandates of 
the Deity. His race was to be held sacred ; and in order to preserve it 
distinct, without being polluted by any mixture of less noble blood, the 
sons of Manco Capac married their own sisters, and no person was ever 
admitted to the throne who could not claim it by such a pure descent. 
To those Children of the Sun, for that was the appellation bestowed upon 
all the offspring of the first Inca, the people looked up with the reverence 
due to beings of a superior order. They were deemed to be under the 
immediate protection of the deity from whom they issued, and by him 
every order of the reigning Inca was supposed to be dictated. 

From those ideas two consequences resulted. The authority of the 
Inca was unlimited and absolute in the most extensive meaning of the 
words. Whenever the decrees of a prince are considered as the com- 
mands of the Divinity, it is not only an act of rebellion, but of impiety, to 
dispute or oppose his will. Obedience becomes a duty of religion ; and as 
it would be profane to control a monarch who is believed to be under the 
guidance of Heaven, and presumptuous to advise him, nothing remains but 
to submit with implicit respect. This must necessarily be the effect of 
every government established on pretensions of intercourse with superior 
powers. Such accordingly was the blind submission which the Peruvians 
yielded to their sovereigns. The persons of highest rank and greatest 
power in their dominions acknowledged them to be of a more exalted 
nature • and in testimony of this, when admitted into their presence, they 
entered with a ])urden upon their shoulders, as an emblem of their servi- 
tude, and willingness to bear whatever the Inca was pleased to impose. 
Among their subjects, force was not requisite to second their commands. 
Every officer intrusted with the extcution of them was revered, and, 
according to the account* of an intelligent observer of Peruvian manners,, 
he might proceed alone from one extremity of the empire to another with- 
out meeting opposition ; for, on producing a fringe from the royal borla, an 
ornament of the head peculiar to the reigning Inca, the lives and fortunea 
of the people were at his disposal. 

• Zarafe, lib. i. c. 13. 



332 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

Another consequence of establishing government in Peru on the founda- 
tion of religion was, that all crimes were punished capitally. They were 
not considered as transgressions of human laws, but as insults oflfered to 
the Deity. Each, without any distinction between such as were slight and 
such as were atrocious, called for vengeance, and could be expiated only 
by the blood of the ofi'ender. Consonantly to the same ideas, punishment 
followed the trespass with inevitable certainty, because an offence against 
Heaven was deemed such a high enormity as could not be pardoned.* 
Among a people of corrupted morals, maxims of jurisprudence so severe 
and unrelenting, by rendering men ferocious and desperate, would be 
more apt to multiply crimes than to restrain them. But the Peruvians, of 
simple manners and unsuspicious faith, were held in such awe by this rigid 
discipline, that the number of offenders was extremely small. Veneration 
for monarchs enlightened and directed, as they belifived, by the divinity 
whom they adored, prompted them to their duty ; the dread of punish- 
ment, which they were taught to consider as unavoidable vengeance 
inflicted by offended Heaven, withheld them from evil. 

The system of superstition, on which the Incas mgrafted their preten- 
sions to such high authority, was of a genius very different from that 
established among the Mexicans. Manco Capac turned, the veneration of 
his followers entirely towards natural objects. The Sun, as the great 
source of light, of joy, and fertility in the creation, attracted their principal 
homage. The Moon and Stars, as co-operating with him, were entitled 
to secondary honours. Wherever the propensity in the human mind to 
acknowledge and to adore some superior power takes this direction, and 
is employed in contemplating the order and beneficence that really exists 
in nature, the spirit of superstition is mild. Wherever imaginary beings, 
created by the fancy and the fears of men, are supposed to preside in 
nature, and become the objects of worship, superstition always assumes a 
more severe and atrocious form. Of the latter we have an example among 
the Mexicans, of the former among the people of Peru. The Peruvians 
had not, indeed, made such progress in observation or inquiry, as to have 
attained just conceptions of the Deity ; nor was there in their language any 
proper name or appellation of the Supreme Power, which intimated that 
they had formed any idea of him as the Creator and Governor of the 
world. t 

But by directing their veneration to that glorious luminary, which, by 
its universal and vivifying energy, is the best emblem of Divine benefi- 
cence, the rites and observances w^hich they deemed acceptable to him 
were innocent and humane. They offered to the Sun a part of those pro- 
ductions which his genial warmth had called forth from the bosom of the 
earth, and reared to maturity. They sacrificed, as an oblation of grati- 
tude, some of the animals which were indebted to his influence for nourish- 
ment. They presented to him choice specimens of those works of ingenu- 
ity which his light had guided the hand of man in forming. But the Incas 
never stained his altars with human blood, nor could they conceive that 
their beneficent father, the Sun, would be delighted with such horrid vic- 
tims [157]. Thus the Peruvians, unacquainted with those barbarous rites 
which extinguish sensibility, and suppress the feelings of nature at the sight 
of human sufferings, were formed by the spirit of the superstition which 
they had adopted, to a national character more gentle than that of any 
people in America. 

The influence of this superstition operated in the same manner upon 
their civil institutions, and tended to correct in them whatever was adverse 
to gentleness of character. The dominion of the Incas, though the most ab- 
solute of all despotisms, was mitigated by its alliance with religion. The 

• Vega, lib. il. c fti t Acosta, lib. v. c. 3. 



AMERICA. 333 

mind was not humbled and depressed by the idea of a forced subjection to 
the will of a superior; obedience, paid to one who was believed to be clothed 
with Divine authority, was willingly yielded, and implied no degradation. 
The sovereign, conscious that the submissive reverence of his people 
flowed from their belief of his heavenly descent, was continually reminded 
of a distinction which prompted him to imitate that beneficent power 
which he was supposed to represent. In consequence of those impressions, 
there hardly occurs in the traditional history of Peru, any instance of re- 
bellion against the reigning prince, and among twelve successive monarchs 
there was not one tyrant. 

Even the wars in which the Incas engaged were carried on with a spirit 
very different from that of other American nations. They fought not, like 
savages, to destroy and to exterminate ; or, like the Mexicans, to glut blood- 
thirsty divinities with human sacrifices. They conquered, in order to reclaim 
and civilize the vanquished, and to diffuse the knowledge of their own 
institutions and arts. Prisoners seem not to have been exposed to the msults 
and tortures which were their lot in every other part of the New World. 
The Incas took the people whom they subdued under their protection, and 
admitted them to a participation of all the advantages enjoyed by their 
original subjects. This practice, so repugnant to American ferocity, and 
resembling the humanity of the most polished nations, must be ascribed, 
like other peculiarities which we have observed in the Peruvian manners, 
to the genius of their religion. The Incas, considering the homage paid to 
any other object than to the heavenly powers which they adored as impi- 
ous, were fond of gaining proselytes to their favourite system. The idols 
of every conquered province were carried in triumph to the great temple 
at Cuzco,* and placed there as trophies of the superior power of the 
divinity who was the protector of their empire. The people were treated 
with lenity, and instructed in the religious tenets of their nev/ masters,! 
that the conqueror might have the glory of having added to the number of 
the votaries of his father the Sun. 

The state of property in Peru was no less singular than that of religion, 
and contributed, likewise, towards giving a mild turn of character to the 
people. All the lands capable of cultivation were divided into three shares. 
One was consecrated to the Sun, and the product of it was applied to the 
erection of temples, and furnishing what was requisite towards celebrating 
the public rites of religion. The second belonged to the Inca, and was 
set apart as the provision made by the community for the support o£ 
government. The third and lai^est share was reserved for the maintenance 
of the people, among whom it was parcelled out. Neither individuals, 
however, nor communities had a right of exclusive property in the portion 
set apart for their use. They possessed it only for a year, at the expiration 
of which a new division was made in proportion to the rank, the number, 
and exigencies of each family. All those lands were cultivated by the 
joint industry of the community. The people summoned by a proper 
officer, repaired in a body to the fields, and performed their common task, 
while songs and musical instruments cheered them to their labour.| By 
this singular distribution of territory, as well as by the mode of cultivating 
it, the idea of a common interest, and of mutual subserviency, was continu- 
ally inculcated. Each individual felt his connexion with those around him, 
and knew that he depended on their friendly aid for what increase he was 
to reap. A state thus constituted may be considered as one great family, 
in which the union of the members was so complete, and the exchange of 
good offices so perceptible, as to create stronger attachment, and to bind 
man to man in closer intercourse than subsisted under any form of society 

* Herrera, dec. 5. lib, iv. c. 4. Vega, lib. v. c. 12. t Herrern, dw. 5. lib. iv. c, 8. J lb. c. 2, 
Vefa, lib. v. c. 5. 



334 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

established in America. From this resulted gentle manners and mild 
virtues unknown in the savage state, and with which the Mexicans were 
little acquainted. 

But, though the institutions of the Incas were so framed as to strenr;then 
the bonds o? affection among their subjects, there was great inequality in 
their condition. The distinction of ranks was fully established in Peru. 
A great body of the inhabitants, under the denomination of Yanaconas, 
were held in a state of servitude. Their garb and houses were of a form 
different from those of freemen. Like the Tamenes of Mexico, they were 
employed in carrying burdens, and in performing every other work o*" 
drudgery.* Next to them, in rank, were such of the people as were free, 
but distinguished by no official or hereditary' honours. Above them were 
raised those whom the Spaniards call Orejones, from the ornaments worn in 
their ears. They formed what may be denominated the order of nobles, 
and in peace as well as war held every office ol power or trust. j And 
the head of all were the children of the Sun, who, by their high descent 
and peculiar privileges, were as much exalted above the Orejones, as these 
were elevated above the people. 

Such a form of so'^iety, from the union of its members, as well as from 
the distinction in their ranks, was favourable to progress in the arts. But 
the Spaniards, having been acquainted with tht, improved jtate of vaiious 
arts in Mexico several years before they discovered Peru, were not so 
much struck with what they observed in the latter countiy. and describe 
the appearances of ingenuity there with less wariiith of admiration. The 
Peruvians, nevertheless, had advanced far beyond the Mexicans, both in 
the necessary arts of life, and in such as have some title to the name ol 
elegant. 

In Pen'., agriculture, the art of primary necessity in social lif-, was more 
extensive, and carried on with greater skill than in any part of America. 
The Spaniards, in their progress through the country, were so fully sup- 
plied with provisions of every kind, that in the relation of their adventures 
we meet with few of those dismal scenes of distress occasioned by famine, 
in which the conquerors of Mexico were so often involved. Tfte quantity 
of soil under cultivation was not left to the discretion of individuals, but 
regulated by public authority in proportion to the exigencies of the com- 
munity. Even the calamity of an unfruitful season was but little felt ; for 
the product of the lands consecrated to the Sun, as well as those set apart 
for the Incas, being deposited in the Tambos, or public storehouses, it 
remained there as a stated provision for times of scarcity .J As the extent 
of cultivation was determined with such provident attention to the demands 
of the state, the invention and industry of the Peruvians were called forth 
to extraordinary exertions, by certain defects peculiar to their climate and 
soil. All the vast rivers that flow from the Andes take their course east- 
ward to the Atlantic Ocean. Peru is watered only by some streams which 
rush down from the mountains like torrents. A great part of the low 
country is sandy and barren, and never refreshed with rain. In order to 
render such an unpromising region fertile, the ingenuity of the Peruvians 
had recourse to various expedients. By means of artificial canals, conducted 
with much patience and considerable art from the torrents that poured across 
their country, they conveyed a regular supply of moisture to their fields^ [158]. 
They enriched the soil by manuring it with the dung of sea fowls, of whicli 
they found an inexhaustible store on all the islands scattered along the 
coasts.ll In describing the customs of any nation thoroughly civilized, such 
practices would hardly draw attention, or be mentioned as in any degree 

* nerrera,dcc. 5. lib. hi. c. 4. lib. x. c. 8. t lb. lib. iv. c. 1. J Zarate, lib. i. c. 14. Ve?a, 

lib i. c. 8, $ Zaraie, lib. i. c. 4. Vega, lib. v. c. 1 it iM || Acosia, lib. jv. c. 37. Vega, 

lib. V. c. 3 



AMERICA. 335 

remarkable ; but in the history of the improvident race of men in the New 
World, they are entitled to notice as singular proofs of industry and of art. 
The use of the plough, indeed, was unknown to the Peruvians. They turned 
up the earth with a kind of mattock of hard wood * Nor was this laboui 
deemed so degrading as to be devolved wholly upon the women. Botl 
sexes joined in performing this necessary work. Even the children of the 
Sun set an example of industry, by cultivating a field near Cuzco with their 
own hands, and they dignified this function by denominating it their triumph 
over the earth.j 

The superior ingenuity of the Peruvians is obvious, likewise, in the con- 
struction of their houses and public buildings. In the extensive plains which 
stretch along the Pacific Ocean, wheie the sky is perpetually serene, and the 
Climate mild, their houses were very properly ot a fabric extremicly slight. 
But in the higher regions, where rain falls, where the vicissitude ot seasons 
is known, and their rigour felt, houses were const-ucted with greater solidity . 
They were generally of a square foim, the walls about eight feet high, built 
with bricks hardened in the sun, without any windows, and the door low 
and straight. Simple as these structures were, and rude as the materials 
may seem to be of which they were formed, they were so durable that many 
of them still subsist in different oaris of Peru, long after every monument 
that might have conveyed to us any idea of the domestic state of the other 
American nations has vanished Irom the face of the earth. But it was in the 
temples consecrated to the Sun, and in the buildings destined for the residence 
of their monarchs, that the Peruvians displayed the utmost extent of their 
art and contrivance. The descriptions of them b''.5L/c'ii of the Spanish 
writers as had an opportunity of conttimplating them, wL iie in some measure 
entire, might have appeared highly exaggerated, if the ruins which siill 
remain did not vouch the truth oi their relations. These ruins of sacred or 
royal buildings are found in every province of the empire, and by their fre- 
quency deinoiibtrate that they are monuments of a powerful people, who 
must have subsisted, duriiiga period of some extent, in a state of no incon- 
siderable improvement. They appear to have been edifices various in their 
dimensions : some of a moderate size, many of immense extent, all remark- 
able fo" solidity, and resembling each other in the style of architecture. The 
temple of Pachacamac, together with a palace of the Inca, and a fortress, 
were so connected together as to form one great structure above half a 
league in circuit. In this prodigious pile, the same singular taste in building 
is conspicuous as in other works of the Peruvians. As they were unac- 
quainted with the use of the pulley, and other mechanical powers, and 
could not elevate the large stones and bricks which they employed in build- 
ing to any considerable height, the walls of this edifice, in which they seem 
to have made their greatest effort towards magnificence, did not rise above 
twelve feet from the ground. Though they had not discovered the use of 
mortar or of any other cement in building, the bricks or stones were joined 
with so much nicety, that the scams can hardly be discerned [l59]. The 
apartments, as far as the distribution of them can be traced in the ruins, 
were ill disposed, and afforded little accommodation. There was not a 
single window in any part of the building; and as no T^ht could enter but 
by the door, all the apartments of largest dimensions must either have been 
i^erfectly dark, or illuminated by some other means. But with all these, 
and many other imperfections that might be mentioned in theirart of build- 
ing, the works of the Peruvians which still remain must be considered as 
stupendous efforts of a people unacquainted with the use of iron, and convey 
to us a high idea of the power possessed by their ancient monarchs. 

These, however, were not the noblest or most useful works of the Incas. 
The two great roads from Cuzco to Qjaito, extending in an uninterrupted 

* Zarate, lib. i. c. 8 f Vega, lib. v. c. 2. 



336 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

stretch above fifteen hundred miles, are entitled to still higher praise. The 
one was conducted through the interior and mountainous country, the other 
through the plains on the sea coast. From the language of adiniration in 
which some of the early writers express their astonishment when they first 
viewed those roads, and from the more pompous description of later writers, 
who labour to support some favourite theory concerning America, one 
might be led to compare this work of the Incas to the famous military- 
ways which remain as monuments of the Roman power; but in a country 
where there was no tame animal except the llama, which was never used 
for draught, and but little as a beast of burden, where the high roads were 
seldom trod by any but a human foot, no great degree of labour or art was 
requisite in forming them. The Peruvian roads were only fifteen feet in 
breadth,* and in manjr places so slightly formed, that time has effaced every 
vestige of the course in which they ran. In the low country, little more 
seems to have been done than to plant trees or to fix posts at certain inter- 
vals, in order to mark the proper route to travellers. To open a path 
through the mountainous country was a more arduous task. Eminences 
were levelled, and hollows filled up, and tor the preservation of the road 
it was fenced with a bank of turf. At proper distances, Tambos, or store- 
houses, were erected for the accommodation of the Inca and his attendants, 
in their progress through his dominions. From the manner in which the 
road was originally formed in this higher and more impervious region, it 
has proved more durable ; and though, tVom the inattention of the Spaniards 
to every object but that of working their mines, nothing has been done 
towards keeping ii lb repair, its course may still be traced.! Such was 
the celebrated road of the Incas ; and even from this description, divested 
of every circumbtance of manifest exaggeration or of suspicious aspect, it 
must be considered as a striking proof of an extraordinary progress in im- 
provement and policy. To the savage tribes of America, the idea of 
Facilitating communication with places at a distance had never occurred. 
To the Mexicans it was hardly known. Even in the most civilized coun- 
tries in Europe, men had advanced far in refinement, before it became a 
regular object of national police to form such roads as render intercourse 
commodious. It was a capital object of Roman policy to open a commu- 
nication with all the provinces of their extensive empire by means of those 
roads which are justly considered as one of the noblest monuments both of 
their wisdom and their power. But during the long reign of barbarism, 
the Roman roads were neglected or destroyed ; and at the time when the 
Spaniards entered Peru, no kingdom in Europe could boast of any work 
of public utility that could be compared with the great roads formed by 
the Incas. 

The formation of those roads introduced another improvement in Peru 
equally unknown over all the rest of America. In its course from south 
to north, the road of the Incas was intersected by all the torrents which 
roll from the Andes towards the AVestern Ocean. From the rapidity of 
their course, as well as from the frequency and violence of their inunda- 
tion, these were not fordable. Some expedient, however, was to be found 
for passing them. The Peruvians from their unacquaintance with the use 
of arches, and their inability to work in wood, couid not construct bridges 
either of stone or timber. But necessity, the parent of invention, suggested 
a device which supplied that defect. They formed cables ot great 
strength, by twisting together some of the pliable withs, or osiers, with 
which their country abounds ; six of these cables they stretched across the 
stream parallel to one another, and made them fast on each side. These 
they bound firmly together by interweaving smaller ropes so close as to 

* Cieca, c. 60. t Xerez, p. 189. 191_. Zarate, lib. i. c, 13, 14. Vega, lib. ix, c. 13. Bourguar 
Voyage, p. 103. Ulloa Entieieneniienioe', p. 3Go, 



AMERICA. 337 

tonn a compact piece of net-work, which being covered with branches of 
trees and earth, they passed alon? it with tolerable security [l60]. Proper 
persons were appointed to attend at each bridge, to keep it in repair, and 
to assist passengers.* In the level country, where the rivers became deep 
and broad and still, they are passed in balzas, or floats ; in the construction, 
as well as navigation oi which the ingenuity of the Peruvians appears to 
be far superior to that of any people m America. These had advanced 
no further in naval skill than the use of the paddle or oar ; the Peruvians 
ventured to raise a mast, and spread a sail, by means of which their bal- 
zas not only went nimbly before the wind, but could veer and tack with 
great celerity. t 

Nor were the ingenuity and art of the Peruvians confined solely to ob- 
jects of essential utility. They had made some progress in arts, Avhich 
may be called elegant. They possessed the precious metals in greater 
abundance than any people of America. They obtained gold in the same 
manner with the Mexicans, by searching in the channels of rivers, or wash- 
ing the earth in which particles of it were contained. But in order to 
procure silver, they exerted no inconsiderable degree of skill and inven- 
tion. They had not, indeed, attained the art of sinking a shaft into the 
bowels of the earth, and penetrating to the riches concealed there ; but 
they hollowed deep caverns on the banks of rivers and the sides of moun- 
tains, and emptied such veins as did not dip suddenly beyond their reach. 
In other places, where the vein lay near the surface, they dug pits to such 
a depth, that the person who worked below could throw out the ore, or 
hand it up in baskets.! They had discovered the art of smelting and 
refining this, either by the simple application of fire, or, where the ore was 
more stubborn or impregnated with foreign substances, by placing it in 
small ovens or furnaces, on high grounds, so artificially constructed that the 
draught of air performed the function of a bellows, an engine with which 
they were totally unacquainted. By this simple device, the purer ores 
were smelted with facility, and the quantity of silver in Peru was so con- 
siderable, that many of the utensils employed in the functions of coromon 
life were made of it.§ Several of those vessels and tn'nkets are said to 
have merited no small degree of estimation, on account of the neatness of 
the workmanship, as well as the intrinsic value of the materials. But as 
the conquerors of America were well acquainted with the latter, but had 
scarcely any conception of the former, most of the silver vessels and trin- 
kets were melted down, and rated according to the weight and fineness of 
the metal in the division of the spoil. 

In other works of mere curiosity or ornament, their ingenuity has been 
highly celebrated. Many specimens of those have been dug out of the 
Guacas, or mounds of earth, with Avhich the Peruvians covered the bodies 
of the dead. Among these are mirrors of various dimensions, of hard 
shining stones highly polished ; vessels of earthen ware of different forms ; 
hatchets, and other instruments, some destined for war, and others for 
labour. Some were of flint, some of copper, hardened to such a degree 
by an unknown process, as to supply the place of iron on several occasions. 
Had the use of those tools, formed of copper, been general, the progress 
of the Peruvians in the arts might have been such as to emulate that of 
more cultivated nations. But either the metal was so rare, or the opera- 
tion by which it was hardened so tedious, that their instruments of copper 
were few, and so extremely small, that they seem to have been employed 
only in slighter works. But even to such a circumscribed use of this im- 
perfect metal, the Peruvians were indebted for their superiority to the 

Sancho dp. Ram. iii. 376. B. Zarate, lib. i. c. 14, Vega, lib. iii. c. 7, 8. Herrera, dec. 5. Mb. 
Iv. c. 3, 4. t Ulloa Voy. i. 167, &c. X Ramiislo, iii. 414. A. ^ Acosta, lib. iv. c. 4, S. 
Vega, p. 1. lib. viii. c 25. UUoa Entreten. 353. 

Vol. I.— 43 



S38 HISTORY O F [Book VII. 

other people of America in various arts.* The same observation, how 
ever, may be applied to them, which I formerly made with respect to the 
arts of the Mexicans. From several specimens of Peruvian utensils and 
ornaments, which are deposited in the royal cabinet of Madrid, and frono 
Bome preserved in different collections in other parts of Europe, I have 
reason to believe that the workmanship is more to be admired on account 
of the rude tools with which it was executed, than on account of its in- 
trinsic neatness and elegance ; and that the Peruvians, though the most 
improved of all the Americans, were not advanced beyond the infancy of 
arts. 

But notwithstanding so many particulars, which seemed to indicate a 
high degree of improvement in Peru, other circumstances occur that sug- 
gest the idea of a society still in the first stages of its transition from bar- 
barism to civilization. In all the dominions of the Incas, Cuzco was the 
only place that had the appearance, or was entitled to the name, of a 
city. Every where else the people lived mostly in detached habitations, 
dispersed over the country, or, at the utmost, settled together in small vil- 
lages.! But until men are brought to assemble in numerous bodies, and 
incorporated in such close union as to enjoy frequent intercourse, and to 
feel mutual dependence, they never imbibe perfectly the spirit, or assume 
the manners of social life. In a country of immense extent, with only one 
city, the progress of manners, and the improvement either of the neces- 
sary or more refined arts, must have been so slow, and carried on under 
such disadvantages, that it is more surprising the Peruvians should have 
advanced so far in refinement, than that they did not proceed further. 

In consequence of this state of imperfect union, the separation of pro- 
fessions in Peru was not so complete as amon^ the Mexicans. The less 
closely men associate, the more simple are their manners, and the fewer 
their wants. The crafts of common and most necessary use in life do not, 
in such a state, become so complex or ditficult as to render it requisite that 
men should be trained to them by any particular course of education. All 
the arts, accordingly, which were of daily and indispensable utility, were 
exercised by every Peruvian indiscriminately. None but the artists em- 
ployed in works of mere curiosity, or ornament, constituted a separate 
order of men, or were distinguished from other citizens.| 

From the want of cities in Peru, another consequence followed. There 
was little commercial intercourse among the inhabitants of that great em- 
pire. The activity of comimerce is coeval with the foundation of cities ; 
and from the moment that the members of any community settle in con- 
siderable numbers in one place, its operations become vigorous. • The citi- 
zen must depend for subsistence on the labour of those who cultivate the 
ground. They, in return, must receive some equivalent. Thus mutual 
intercourse is established, and the productions of art are regularly ex- 
changed for the fruits of agriculture. In the towns of the Mexican empire, 
stated markets were held, and whatever could supply any want or desire 
of man was an object of commerce. But in Peru, from the singular mode 
of dividing property, and the manner in which the people were settled, 
there was hardly any species of commerce carried on between different 
provinces,^ and the community was less acquainted with that active inter- 
course, which is at once a bond of union and an incentive to improvement. 

But the unwarlike spirit of the Peruvians was the most remarkable as 
well as the most fatal defect in their character.|| The greater part of the 
rude nations of America opposed their invaders with undaunted ferocity, 
though with little conduct or success. The Mexicans maintained the 
struggle in defence of their liberties, with such persevering fortitude, that 

*IIUoa, Voy. tom.i. :}81. &c. Id. Entreten. p. 369, &c. f 7.aratp, lih. i. c, 9. Herrcra, dec. 5. 
lib. vi. c. 4. I Acosta, lib. vi, c. 15. Vega, lib. v. c. 9. Herrora, dec. 5. lib. iv. c. 4. ^ Vega 
lib. vi. c. 8. II Xerez, 100. bancho, ap. Ram. iii. 372. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. i. c. 3. 



AMERICA 339 

it was with difficulty the Spaniards triumphed over them. Peru was 
subdued at once, and almost without resistance ; and the most favourable 
opportunities of regaining their freedom, and of crushing their oppressors, 
were lost through the timidity of- the people. Though the traditional 
history of the Peruvians represents all the Incas as warlike princes, fre- 
ijuently at the head of armies, which they led to victory and conquest, 
jiew symptoms of such a martial spirit appear in any of their operations 
subsequent to the invasion of the Spaniards. The influence, perhaps, of 
those institutions which rendered their manners gentle, gave their minds 
this unmanly softness ; perhaps the constant serenity and mildness of the 
climate may have enervated the vigour of their frame ; perhaps some 
principles in their government, unknown to us, was the occasion of this 
political debility. Whatever may have been the cause, the fact is certain ; 
and there is not an instance in history of any people so little advanced in 
refinement, so totally destitute of military enterprise. This character had 
descended to their posterity. The Indians of Peru are now more tame 
and depressed than any people of America. Their feeble spirits, relaxed 
in lifeless inaction, seem hardly capable of any bold or manly exertion. 

But, besides those capital defects in the political state of Peru, some 
detached circumstances and facts occur in the Spanish writers, which dis- 
cover a considerable remainder of barbarity in their manners. A cruel 
custom, that prevailed in some of the most savage tribes, subsisted among 
the Peruvians. On the death of the Incas, and of other eminent persons, 
a considerable number of their attendants were put to death, and interred 
around their Guacas, that they might appear in the next world with their 
former dignity, and be served with the same respect. On the death of 
Huana-Capac, the most powerful of their monarchs, above a thousand 
vcitims were doomed to accompany him to the tomb.* In one particular 
their manners appear to have been more barbarous than those of most rude 
tribes. Though acquainted with the use of fire in preparing maize and other 
vegetables for food, they devoured both flesh and fish perfectly raw, and 
astonished the Spaniards with a practice repugnant to the ideas of all 
civilized people.f 

But though Mexico and Peru are the possessions of Spain in the New 
World, which, on account both of their ancient and present state, have 
attracted the greatest attention ; her other dominions there are far from 
being inconsiderable either in extent or value. The greater part of them 
was reduced to subjection during the first part of the sixteenth century, 
by private adventurers, who fitted out their small armaments either in 
Hispaniola or in Old Spain : and were we to follow each leader in his 
progress, we should discover the same daring courage, the same perse- 
vering ardour, the same rapacious desire for wealth, and the same capacity 
for enduring and surmounting every thing in order to attain it, which dis- 
tinguished the operations of the Spaniards in their greater American con- 
quests. But, instead of entering into a detail, which, from their similarity 
of the transactions, would appear almost a repetition of what has been 
already related, I shall satisfy myself with such a view of those pro- 
vinces of the Spanish empire in America, which have not hitherto been 
mentioned, as may convey to my readers an adequate idea of its greatness, 
fertility, and opulence. 

I begin with the countries contiguous to the two great monarchies o. 
whose history and institutions I have given some account, and shall then 
briefly describe the other districts of Spanish America. The j-urisdiction 
of the viceroy of New Spain extends over several provinces which were 
not subject to the dominion of the Mexicans. The countries of Cinaloa 
and Sonora that stretch along the east side of the Vermilion Sea, or Gulf 

* Acof^a, lib. V. c. 7. f Xerez, p. 190. Sancbu, Ram. iii. 373. C Hctrera, dec. S. 

jh i. c. 3. 



340 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

of California, as well as the immense kingdoms of New Navarre, and 
New Mexico, which bend towards the west and north, did not acknowledge 
the sovereignty of Montezuma, or his predecessors. These regions, not 
mferior in magnitude to all the Mexican empire, are reduced some to a 
greater, others to a less degree of subjection to the Spanish yoke. They 
extend through the most delightful part of the temperate zone ; their soil 
is, in general, remarkably fertile ; and all their productions, whether animal 
or vegetable, are most perfect in their kind. They have all a communication 
either with the Pacific Ocean, or with the Gulf of Mexico, and are watered 
by rivers which not only enrich them, but may become subservient to 
commerce. The number of Spaniards settled in those vast countries is 
indeed extremely small. They may be said to have subdued rather than 
to have occupied them. But if the population in their ancient establish- 
ments in America shall continue to increase, they may gradually spread 
over those provinces, of which, however inviting, they have not hitherto 
been able to take full possession. 

One circumstance may contribute to the speedy population of some 
districts. Very rich mines both of gold and silver have been discovered 
in many of the regions which I have mentioned. Wherever these are 
opened, and worked with success, a multitude of people resort. In order 
to supply them with the necessaries of life, cultivation must be increased, 
artisans of various kinds must assemble, and industry as well as wealth 
will be gradually diflfused. Many examples of this have occurred in 
different parts of America, since they fell under the dominion of the 
Spaniards. Populous villages and large towns have suddenly arisen 
amidst uninhabitable wilds and mountains ; and the working of mines, 
though far from being the most proper object toAvards which the attention 
of an infant society should be turned, may become the means both of pro- 
moting useful activity, and of augmenting the number of people. A recent 
and singular instance of this has happened, which, as it is but little known 
in Europe, and may be productive of great effects, merits attention. The 
Spaniards settled in the provinces of Cinaloa and Sonora had been long 
disturbed by the depredations of some fierce tribes of Indians. In the 
year 1765, the incursions of those savages became so frequent and so de- 
structive, that the Spanish inhabitants, in despair, applied to the Marquis 
de Croix, viceroy of Mexico, for such a body of troops as might enable 
them to drive those formidable invaders from their places of retreat in the 
mountains. • But the treasury of Mexico was so much exhausted by t. e 
large sums drawn from it, in order to support the late war against Great 
Britain, that the viceroy could afford them no aid. The respect due to 
his virtues accomplished what his official power could not effect. He 
prevailed with the merchants of New Spain to advance about two hundred 
thousand pesos for defraying the expenses of the expedition. The war 
was conducted by an officer of abilities ; and after being protracted for 
three years, chiefly by the difficulty of pursuing the fugitives over moun- 
tains, and through defiles which were almost impassable, it terminated, in 
the year 1771, in the final submission of the tribes which had been so long 
the object of terror to the two provinces. In the course of this service, 
the Spaniards marched through countries into which they seem not to have 
penetrated before that time, and discovered mines of such value as was 
astonishing even to men acquainted with the riches contained in the moun- 
tains of the New World. At Cineguilla, in the province of Sonora, they 
entered a plain of fourteen leagues in extent, m which, at the depth of 
only sixteen inches, they found gold in grams of such a size, that some of 
them weighed nine marks, and in such quantities, that in a short time, 
with a few labourers, they collected a thousand marks of gold in grains, 
even without taking time to wash the earth that had been dug, Avhich 
appeared to be so rich, that persons of skill computed tliat it might yield 



AMERICA. 341 

what would be equal in value to a million of pesos. Before the end of 
the year 1771, above two thousand persons were settled in Cineguilla, 
under the government of proper magistrates, and the inspection of several 
ecclesiastics. As several other mines, not inferior in richness to that of 
Cineguilla, have been discovered, both in Sonora and Cinaloa [161], it is 

Erobable that these neglected and thinly inhabited provinces maj^ soon 
ecome as populous and valuable as any part of the Spanish empire of 
America. 

The peninsula of California, on the other side of the Vermilion Sea, 
seems to have been less known to the ancient Mexicans than the provinces 
which 1 have mentioned. It was discovered by Cortes in the year* 1536. 
During a long period it continued to be so little frequented, that even its 
form was unknown, and in most charts it was represented as an island, not 
as a peninsula [162]. Though the climate of this country, if we may 
judge from its situation, must be very desirable, the Spaniards have made 
small progress in peopling it. Towards the close of the last century, the 
Jesuits, who had great merit in exploring this neglected province, and in 
civilizing its rude inhabitants, imperceptibly acquired a dominion over it 
as complete as that which they possessed in their missions in Paraguay, 
and they laboured to introduce into it the same policy, and to govern the 
natives by the same maxims. In order to prevent the court of Spain from 
conceiving any jealousy of their designs and operations, they seem studi- 
ously to have depreciated the country, by representing the climate as so 
disagreeable and unwholesome, and the soil as so barren, that nothing but 
a zealous desire of converting the natives could have induced them to settle 
there.t Several public spirited citizens endeavoured to undeceive their 
sovereigns, and to give them a better view of California ; but in vain. At 
length, on the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish dominions, the court 
of Madrid, as prone at that juncture to suspect the purity of the Order's 
intentions, as formerly to confide in them with implicit trust, appointed 
Don Joseph Galvez, whose abilities have since raised him to the high rank 
of minister for the Indies, to visit that peninsula. His account of the 
country was favourable ; he found the pearl fishery on its coast to be 
valuable, and he discovered mines of gold of a very promising appearance.^ 
From its vicinity to Cinaloa and Sonora, it is probable that, if the 
population of these provinces shall increase in the manner which I have 
supposed, California may, by degrees, receive from them such a recruit ot 
inhabitants, as to be no longer reckoned among the desolate and useless 
districts of the Spanish empire. 

On the east of Mexico, Yucatan and Honduras are comprehended in the 

fovemment of New Spain, though ancientlj^ they can hardly be said to 
ave formed a part of the Mexican empire. These large provinces, 
stretching from the bay of Campeachy beyond Cape Gracias a Dios, do not, 
like the other territories of Spain in the New World, derive their value 
either from the fertility of their soil, or the richness of their mines ; but 
they produce in greater abundance than any part of America, the logwood 
tree, which, in dying some colours, is so far preferable to any other 
material, that the consumption of it in Europe is considerable, and. it has 
become an article in commerce of great value. During a long period, no 
European nation intruded upon Hie Spaniards in those provinces, or 
attempted to obtain any share in this branch of trade. But after the con- 
quest of Jamaica by the English, it soon appeared that a formidable rival 
was now seated in the neighbourhood of the Spanish territories. One of 
the first objects which tempted the English settled in that island, was the 
great profit arising from the logwood trade, and the facility of wresting 
some portion of it from the Spaniards. Some adventurers from Jamaica 

* Book V T Venegas, Ilisl. of California, i. 26. * Lorenzano, 3'19, 350. 



342 HISTORYOF |BooK VII. 

made the first attempt at Cape Catoche, the south-east promontory of 
Yucatan, and by cuttine^ logwood there carried on a gainful traflic. When 
most of the trees near the coast in that place were felled, they removed to 
the island of Trist, in the bay of Campeachy, and in later times their prin- 
cipal station has been in the bay of Honduras. The Spaniards, alarmed 
at this encroachment, endeavoured by negotiation, remonstrances, and open 
force, to prevent the English from obtaining any footing on that part of the 
American continent. But after struggling against it for more than a 
century, the disasters of the last war extorted from the court of Madrid a 
reluctant consent to tolerate this settlement of foreigners in the heart of its 
territories.* The pain which this humbling concession occasioned seems 
to have prompted the Spaniards to devise a method of rendering it of little 
consequence, more effectual than all the efforts of negotiation or violence. 
The logwood produced on the west coast of Yucatan, where the soil is drier, 
is in quality far superior to that which grows on the marshy grounds where 
the English are settled. By encouraging the cutting of this, and permit- 
ting the importation of it into Spain without paying any duty,t such vigour 
has been given to this branch of commerce, and the logwood which the 
English bring to market has sunk so much in value, that their trade to the 
bay of Honduras has gradually declined [163] since it obtained a legal 
sanction ; and, it is probable, will soon be finally abandoned. In that 
event, Yucatan and Honduras will become possessions of considerable 
importance to Spain. 

Still further east than Honduras lie the two provinces of Costa Rica and 
Veragua, which likewise belong to the viceroyalty of New Spain ; but 
both have been so much neglected by the Spaniards, and are apparently 
of such small value, that they merit no particular attention. 

The most important province depending on the viceroyalty of Peru is 
Chili. The Incas had established their dominion in some of ils northern 
districts ; but in the greater part of the countiy, its gallant and high spirited 
inhabitants maintained their independence. The Spaniards, allured by 
the fame of its opulence, early attempted the conquest of it under Diego 
Almagro ; and after his death Pedro de Valdivia resum.ed the design. 
Both met with fierce opposition. The former relinquished the enterprise 
in the manner which I have mentioned.! The latter, after having given 
many disjilays both of courage and mililaiy skill, was cut off, together 
with a considerable body of troops under his command. Francisco de 
Villagra, Valdivia's lieutenant, by his spirited conduct checked the natives 
in their career, and saved the remainder of the Spaniards from destruction. 
By degrees, all the champaign country along the coast was subjected to 
the Spanish dominion. The mountainous country is still possessed by the 
Puelches, Araucos, and other tribes of its original inhabitants, formidable 
neighbours to the Spaniards ; with whom, during the course of two centu- 
ries, they have been obliged to maintain an almost perpetual hostility, 
suspsnded only by a few intervals of insecure peace. 

That part of Chili, then, which may properly be deemed a Spanish 
province, is a narrow district, extended along the coast from the desert of 
Atacamas to the island of Chiloe, above nine hundred miles. Its climate is 
the most delicious in the New World, and is hardly equalled by that of 
any region on the face of the earth. Though bordering on the Torrid Zone, 
it never feels the extremity of heat, being screened on the east by the 
Andes, and refreshed from the west by cooling sea breezes. The 
temperature of the air is so mild and equable, that the Spaniards give if the 

f)reference to that of the southern provinces in their native country. The 
ertility of the soil corresponds with the benignity of the cliuaate, and is 
Wonderfully accommodated to European productions. The most valuable 

• Treaty of Pariji, Art. xviii. t Real Cedula, Campomanes, iil. 145. } Book vl. 



AMERICA. 343 

of these, com, wine, and oil, abound in Chili as if they had been native to 
the country. All the fruits imported from Europe attained to full maturity 
there. Ihe animals of our hemisphere not only multiply, but in prove iu 
this delightful region. The horned cattle are of larger size than those of 
Spain. Its breed of horses surpasses, both in beauty and spirit, the famous 
Andalusian race, from which they sprung. Nor has nature exhausted her 
bounty on the surface of the eartn ; she has stored its bowels with riches. 
Valuable mines of gold, of silver, of copper, and of lead, have been dis- 
covered in various parts of it. 

A country distinguished by so many blessings, we may be apt to con- 
clude, would early become a favourite station of the Spaniards, and must 
have been cultivated with peculiar predilection and care. Instead of this, 
a great part of it remains unoccupied. In all this extent of country, 
there are not above eighty thousand white inhabitants, and about three 
times that number of Negroes and people of a mixed race. The most fer- 
tile soil in America lies uncultivated, and some of its most promising mines 
remain unwrought. Strange as this neglect of the Spaniards to avail 
themselves of advantages which seemed to court their acceptance mav 
appear, the causes of it can be traced. The only intercourse of Spain witli 
its colonies in the South Sea was carried on during two centuries by the 
annual fleet to Porto Bello. All the produce of these colonies was shipped 
in the ports of Callao or Arica in Peru, for Panama, and carried from 
thence across the isthmus. All the commodities which they received from 
the mother countries were conveyed from Panama to the same harbours. 
Thus both the exports and imports of Chili passed through the hands of 
merchants settled in Peru. These had of course a profit on each ; and in 
both transactions the Chilese felt their own subordination ; and having no 
direct intercourse with the parent state, they depended upon another pro- 
vince for the disposal of their productions, as well as for the supply of 
their wants. Under such discouragements, population could not increase, 
and industry was destitute of one chief incitement. But now that Spain, 
from motives which I shall mention hereafter, has adopted a new system, 
and carries on her commerce with the colonies in the South Sea by ships 
which go round Cape Horn, a direct intercourse is opened between Chili 
and the mother country. The gold, the silver, and the other commodities 
of the province, will be exchanged in its wn harbours for the manufac- 
tures of Europe. Chili may speedily rise into that importance among the 
Spanish settlements to which it is entitled by its natural advantages. It 
may become the granary of Peru, and the other provinces along the Pacific 
Ocean. It may supply them with wine, with cattle, with horses, with 
hemp, and many other articles for which they now depend upon Europe. 
Though the new system has been established only a few years, those 
effects of it begin already to be observed.* If it shall be adhered to with 
any steadiness for half a century, one may venture to foretell that population, 
industry, and opulence will advance in this province with rapid progress 

To the east of the Andes, the provinces of Tucuman and Rio de la Plata 
border on Chili, and like it were dependent on the viceroyalty of Peru. 
These regions of immense extent stretch in length from north to south 
above thirteen hundred miles, and in breadth more than a thousand. This 
coun'ry, which is larger than most European kingdoms, naturally forms 
itself into two great aivisions, one on the north and the other on the south 
of Rio de la Plata. The former comprehends Paraguay, the famous 
missiuns of the Jesuits, and several other districts. But as disputes hav« 
long subsisted between the courts of Syjain and Portugal, concerning its 
boundaries, which, it is probable, will be soon finally ascertained, either 
amicably or by the decision of the sword, I choose to reserve my account 

* Campomiines, ii. 157. 



344 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

of this northern division, until I enter upon the history of Portuguese 
America, with which it is intimately connected ; and in relatir^ it, 1 shall 
be able, from authentic materials supplied both by Spain and Portugal, to 

five a full and accurate description of the operations and views of the 
esuits, in rearing that singular fabric of policy in America, which has 
drawn so much attention, and has been so imperfectly understood. The 
latter division of the province contains the governments of Tucuman and 
Buenos Ayres, and to these I shall at present confine my observations. 

The Spaniards entered this part of America by the river De la Plata ; 
and though a succession of cruel disasters befell them in their early attempts 
to establish their dominion in it, they were encouraged to persist in the 
design, at first by the hopes of discovering mines in the interior country, 
and afterwards by the necessity of occupying it, in order to prevent any 
other nation from settling there, and penetrating by this route into their 
rich possessions in Peru. But except at Buenos Ayres, they have made 
no settlement of any consequence in all the vast space which I have 
mentioned. There are indeed, scattered over it, a few places on which 
they have bestowed the name of towns, and to which they have endeavoured 
to add some dignity, by erecting them into bishoprics ; but they are no 
better than paltry villages, each with two or three hundred inhabitants. 
One circumstance, however, which was not originally foreseen, has 
contributed to render this district, though thinly peopled, of considerable 
importance. The province of Tucuman, together with the country to the 
south of the Plata, instead of being covered with wood like other parts of 
America, forms one extensive open plain, almost without a tree. The soil 
is a deep fertile mould, watered by many streams descending from the 
Andes, and clothed in perpetual verdure. In this rich pasturage, the 
horses and cattle imported by the Spaniards from Europe have multiplied 
to a degree which almost exceeds belief. This has enabled the inhabitants 
not only to open a lucrative trade with Peru, by supplying it with cattle, 
horses, and mules, but to carry on a commerce no less beneficial, by the 
exportation of hides to Europe. From both, the colony has derived great 
advantages. But its commodious situation for carrying on contraband trade 
has been the chief source of its prosperity. While the court of Madrid 
adhered to its ancient system, with respect to its communication with 
America, the river De la Plata lay so much out of the course of Spanish 
navigation, that interlopers, almost without any risk of being either observed 
or obstructed, could pour in European manufactures in such quantities, that 
they not only supplied the wants of the colony, but were conveyed into all 
the eastern districts of Peru. When the Portuguese in Brazil extended 
their settlements to the banks of Rio de la Plata, a new channel was 
opened, by which prohibited commodities flowed into the Spanish territories 
with still more facility, and in greater abundance. This illegal traffic, 
however detrimental to the parent state, contributed to the increase of the 
settlement which had the immediate benefit of it, and Buenos Ayres became 
gradually a populous and opulent town. What may be the effect of the 
alteration lately made in the government of this colony, the nature of 
which shall be described in the subsequent Book, cannot hitherto be known. 

All the other territories of Spain in the New WoHd, the islands excepted, 
of whose discovery and reduction I have formerly given an account, aie 
comprehended under two great divisions ; the former denominated the 
kingdom of Tierra Firme, the provinces of which stretch along the At- 
lantic, from the eastern frontier of New Spain to the mouth of the Orinoco; 
the latter, the New Kingdom of Granada, situated in the interior country. 
With a short view of these I shall close this part of my work. 

To the east of Veragua, the last province subject to the viceroy of 
Mexico, lies the isthmus of Darien. Though it was in this part of the con- 
tinent that the Spaniards first began to plant colonies, they have made no 



AMERICA. 345 

considerable progress in peopling it. As the country is extremely moun- 
tainous, deluged with rain during a good part of the year, remarkably un- 
healthful, and contains no mines of great value, the Spaniards would proba- 
bly have abandoned it altogether, if they had not been allured to contmue 
by the excellence of the harbour of Porto Bello on the one sea, and that of 
Panama on the other. These have been called the keys to the communi- 
cation between the north and south sea, between Spain and her most valu- 
able colonies. In consequence of this advantage, Panama has become a 
considerable and thriving town. The peculiar noxiousness of its climate 
has prevented Porto Bello from increasing in the same proportion. As the 
intercourse with the settlements in the Pacific Ocean is now carried on by 
another channel, it is probable that both Porto Bello and Panama will de- 
cline, when no longer nourished and enriched by that commerce to which 
they were indebted for their prosperity, and even their existence. 

The provinces of Carthagena and Santa Martha stretch to the eastward 
of the isthmus of Danen. The country still continues mountainous, but its 
valleys begin to expand, are well watered, and extremely fertile. Pedro 
de Heredia subjected this part of America to the crown of Spain about the 
year 1532. It is thinly peopled, and of course ill cultivated. It produces, 
however, a variety of valuable drugs, and some precious stones, particu- 
larly emeralds. But its chief importance is derived from the harbour of 
Carthagena, the safest and best fortified of any in the American dominions 
of Spain. In a situation so favourable, commerce soon began to flourish. 
As early as the year 1544, it seems to have been a town of some note. 
But when Carthagena was chosen as the port in which the ^aleons should 
first begin to trade on their arrival from Europe, and to which they were 
directed to return, in order to prepare for their voyage homeward, the com- 
merce of its inhabitants were so much favoured by this arrangement, that 
it soon became one of the most populous, opulent, and beautiful cities in 
America. There is, however, reason to apprehend that it has reached its 
highest point of exaltation, and that it will be so far affected by the change 
in riie Spanish system of trade with America, which has withdrawn from 
it the desirable visits of the galeons, as to feel at least a temporary decline. 
But the wealth now collected there will soon find or create employment for 
itself, and may be turned with advantage into some new channel. Its 
harbour is so safe, and so conveniently situated for receiving commodities 
from Europe, its merchants have been so long accustomed to convey these 
into all the adjacent provinces, that it is probable they will stilj retain this 
branch of trade, and Carthagena continue to be a city of great importance. 

The province contiguous to Santa Martha on the east, was first visited 
by Alonso de Ojeda, in the year 1499 ;* and the Spaniards, on their land- 
ing there, having observed some huts in an Indian village, built upon piles, 
in order to raise them above the stagnated water which covered the plain, 
were led to bestow upon it the name of Venezuela, or little Venice, by 
their usual propensity to find a resemblance between what they discovered 
in America, ana the objects which were familiar to them in Europe. They 
made some attempts to settle there, but with little success. The final 
reduction of the province was accomplished by means very different from 
those to which Spain was indebted for its other acquisitions in the New 
World. The ambition of Charles V. often engaged him in operations of 
such variety and extent, that his revenues were not sufiicient to defray the 
expense of carrying them into execution. Among other expedients for 
supplying the deficiency of his funds, he had borrowed large sums from 
the Velsers of Augsburg', the most opulent merchants at that time in Europe. 
By way of retribution for these, or in hopes, oerhaps, of obtaining a new 
loan, he bestowed upon them the province of Venezuela, to be held as an 

• Book ii. p. 48. 
Vot. I.— 44 



846 HISTORY OF [Book VII. 

hereditary fief from the crown of Castile, on condition that within a h'niited 
time they should render themselves masters of the country, and establish a 
colony there. Under the direction of such persons, it might have been 
expected that a setdement would have been established on maxims very 
ditferent from those of the Spaniards, and better calculated to encourage 
such useful industry, as mercantile proprietors might have known to be the 
most certain source of prosperity and opulence. But unfortunately fhey 
committed the execution of their plan to some of those soldiers of fortune 
with which Germany abounded in the sixteenth century. These adven- 
turers, impatient to amass riches, that they might speedily abandon a 
station which the)'' soon discovered to be very uncomfortable, instead of 
planting a colony in order to cultivate and improve the country, wandered 
from district to district in search of mines, plundering the natives with un- 
feeling rapacity, or oppressing them by the imposition of intolerable tasks 
In the course of a few years, their avarice and exactions, in comparison 
with which tliose of the Spaniards were moderate, desolated the province 
so completely, that it could hardly afibrd them subsistence, and the Velsers 
relinquished a property from which the inconsiderate conduct of their agents 
left them no hope of ever deriving any advantage.* When the wretched 
remainder of the Germans deserted Venezuela, the Spaniards again took 
possession of it ; but notwithstanding many natural advantages, it is one of 
their most languishing and unproductive settlements. 

The provinces of Caraccas and Cumana are the last of the Spanish ter- 
ritories on this coast ; but in relating the origin and operations of the mer- 
cantile company in which an exclusive right of trade with them has been 
vested, I shall hereafter have occasion to consider their state and pro- 
ductions. 

The New Kingdom of Granada is entirely an inland country of great 
extent. This important addition was made to the dominions of Spain about 
the year 1536, by Sebastian de Benalcazar and Gonzalo Ximenes de Q,ue- 
sada, two of the bravest and most accomplished oflicers employed in the 
conquest of America. The former, who commanded at that time in Quito, 
attacked it from the south ; the latter made his invasion from Santa Martha 
on the north. As the original inhabitants of this region were turther ad- 
vanced in improvement than any people in America out the Mexicans and 
Peruvians,! they defended themselves with great resolution and good con- 
duct. The abilities and perseverance of Benalcazar and Quesada sur- 
mounted all opposition, though not without encountering many dangers, 
and reduced the country into the form of a Spanish province. 

The New Kingdom of Granada is so far elevated above the level of the 
sea that though it approaches almost to the equator, the climate is re- 
markably temperate. The fertility of its valleys is not inferior to that of 
the richest districts in America, and its higher grounds yield gold and 
precious stones of various kinds. It is not iby digging into the bowels of 
the earth that this gold is found; it is mingled with the soil near the sur- 
face, and separated from it by repeated washing with water. This ope- 
ration is carried on wholly by Negro slaves; for though the chill subter- 
ranean air has been discovered, by experience, to be so fatal to them, that 
they cannot be employed with advantage in the deep silver mines, they 
are more capable of performing the other species of labour than Indians. 
As the natives in the New Kingdom of Granada are exempt I'rom that 
service, which has wasted their race so rapidly in other parts of America, 
the country is still remarkably populous. Some districts yield gold with a 
profusion no less wonderful than that in the vale of Cincguilla, which I have 
formerly mentioned, and it is often found in large pctitas, or grains, which 
manifest the abundance in which it is produced. On a rising ground near 

• Civedo y Bagnos Hist, rle Venezuela. P. H' &c. t Book iv. p. Ill, &c. 



AMERICA. 347 

Pamplona, single labourers have collected in a day what vas equal in 
value to a thousand pesos.* A late g-overnor of Santa Fe brought with 
him to Spain a lump of pure gold, estimated to be worth seven hundred 
and forty pounds sterling. This, which is perhaps the largest and finest 
specimen ever found in the New World, is now deposited Jn the royal 
cabinet of Madrid. But without founding any calculation on what is rare 
and extraordinary, the value of the gold usually collected in this countiy, 
particularly in the provinces of Popayan and Choco, is of considerable 
amount. Its towns are populous and flourishing. The number of inhabitants 
in almost every part of the country daily increases. Cultivation and in- 
dustry of various kinds begin to be encouraged, and to prosper. A con- 
siderable trade is carried on with Carthagena, the produce of the mines, 
and other commodities, being conveyed down the great river of St. Magda- 
lene to that city. On another quarter, the New Kingdom of Granada has a 
communication with the Atlantic by the river Orinoco ; but the country 
which stretches along its banks towards the east, is little known, and in» 
perfectly occupied by the Spaniards. 



BOOK VIII. 



After tracing the progress ot the Spaniards in their discoveries and 
conquests during more than half a century, I have conducted them to that 
period when their authority'' was established over almost all the vast 
regions in the New World still subject to their dominion. The effect of 
their settlements upon the countries of which they took possession, the 
maxims which they adopted in forming their new colonies, the interior 
structure and policy of these, together with the influence of their progres- 
sive improvement upon the parent state, and upon the commercial inter- 
course of nations, are the objects to which we now turn our attention. 

The first visible consequence of the establishments made by the Span- 
iards in America, was the diminution of the ancient inhabitants, to a decree 
equally astonishing and deplorable. I have already, on different occasions, 
mentioned the disastrous influence under which the connection of the Ame- 
ricans with the people of our hemisphere commenced, both in the islands 
and in several parts of the continent, and have touched upon various causes 
of their rapid consumption. Wherever the inhabitants of America had 
resolution to take arms in defence of their liberty and rights, many perished 
in the unequal contest, and were cut off by their fierce invaders. But the 
greatest desolation followed after the sword was sheathed, and the con- 
querors were settled in tranquillity. It was in the islands, and in those 
provinces of the continent which stretch from the Gulf of Trinidad to the 
confines of Mexico, that the fatal effects of the Spanish dominion were first 
and most sensibly felt. All these were occupied either by wandering tribes 
of hunters, or by such as had made but small progress in cultivation and 
industry. When they were compelled by their new masters to take up a 
fixed residence, and to apply to regular labour ; when tasks were imposed 
upon them disproportioned to their strength, and were enacted with unre- 
lenting severity, they possessed not vigour either of mind or of body to 
sustain this unusual load of oppression. Dejection and despair drove many 
to end their lives by violence. Fatigue and famine destroyed more, m 



♦ Piodrahlta Hist, del N. Reyno, p. 481. MS. p«neg me. 



..»>' 



348 HISTORY OF [Book VIII 

all those extensive regions, the original race of inhabitants wasted away : 
in some it was totally extinguished. In Mexico, where a powerful and 
martial people distinguished their opposition to the Spaniards by efforts of 
courage worthy of a better fate, great numbers fell in the field ; and there, 
as well as in Peru, still greater numbers perished under the hardships of 
attending the Spanish armies in their various expeditions and civil wars, 
worn out with the incessant toil of carrying their baggage, provisions, and 
military stores. 

But neither the rage nor cruelty of the Spaniards was so destructive to 
the people of Mexico and Peru, as the inconsiderate policy with which 
they established their new settlements. The former were temporary ca- 
lamities, fatal to individuals : the latter was a permanent evil, which, with 
gradual consumption, wasted the nation. When the provinces of Mexico 
and Peru were divided among the conquerors, each was eager to obtain a 
district from which he might expect an instantaneous recompense for all 
his services. Soldiers, accustomed to the carelessness and dissipation of a 
military life, had neither industry to carry on any plan of regular cultiva- 
tion, nor patience to wait for its slow but certain returns. Instead of set- 
tling in the valleys occupied by the natives, where the fertility of the soil 
would have amply rewarded the dih'gence of the planter, they chose to 
fix their stations in some of the mountainous regions, frequent both in New 
Spain and in Peru. To search for mines of gold and silver was the chief 
object of their activity. The prospects which this opens, and the alluring 
hopes which it continually presents, correspond wonderfully with the spirit 
of enterf)rise and adventure that animated the first emigrants to America in 
every part of their conduct. In order to push forward those favourite 
projects, so many hands were wanted, that the service of the natives be- 
came indispensably requisite. They were accordingly compelled to 
abandon their ancient habitations in the plains, and driven in crowds to the 
mountains. This sudden transition from the sultry climate of the valleys 
lo the chill penetrating air peculiar to high lands in the torrid zone ; exor- 
bitant labour, scanty or unwholesome nourishment, and the despondency 
occasioned by a species of oppression to which they Avere not accustomed, 
and of which they saw no end, affected them nearly as much as their less 
industrious countrymen in the islands. They sunk under the united pres- 
sure of those calamities, and melted away v/ith almost equal rapidity.* 
In consequence of this, together with the introduction of the smallpox, a 
malady unknown in America, and extremely fatal to the natives,! the num- 
ber of people both in New Spain and Peru was so much reduced, that in 
a (evr years the accounts of their ancient population appeared almost incre- 
dible.J 

Such are the most considerable events and causes which, by their com 
bined operation, contributed to depopulate America. Without attending 
to these, many authors, astonished at the suddenness of the desolation, have 
ascribed this unexampled event to a system of policy no less profound than 
atrocious. The Spaniards, as they pretend, conscious of their own inability 
to occupy the vast regions which they had. discovered, and foreseeing the 
impossibility of maintaining their authority over a people infinitely supe- 
rior to themselves in number, in order to preserve the possession of Ame- 
rica, resolved to exterminate the inhabitants, and, by converting a great 
part of the country into a desert, endeavoured to secure their own domi- 
nion over it [l65]. But nations seldom extend their views to objects so 
remote, or lay their plans so deep ; and for the honour of humanity we 
may observe, that no nation ever deliberately formed such an execrable 
scheme. The Spanish monarchs, far from acting upon any such system of 

* Toniufimada, i. en. t B. Diaz, c. 124. Herrera, dec. 2, lib. s. c. 4. UlloaEntrelen 306. 
X Tonjueiii, 015. 642, 643 [164]. 



AMERICA. 349 

destruction, were uniformly solicitous for the preservation of their new- 
subjects. With Isabella, zeal for propagating the Christian faith, together 
with the desire of communicating the knowledge of truth, and the conso- 
lations of religion, to people destitute of spiritual light, were more than 
ostensible motives for encouraging Columbus to attempt his discoveries. 
Upon his success, she endeavoured to fulfil her pious purpose, and mani- 
fested the most tender concern to secure not only religious instruction, but 
mild treatment, to that inoffensive race of men subjected to her crown [166]. 
Her successors adopted the same ideas ; and, on many occasions, which I 
have mentioned, their authority was interposed, in the most vigorous ex« 
ertions, to protect the people of America from the oppression of their Span- 
ish subjects. Their regulations for this purpose were numerous, and often 
repeated. They were framed with wisdom, and dictated by humanity. 
Alter their possessions in the New World became so extensive as mignt 
have excited some apprehensions of difficulty in retaining their dominion 
over them, the spirit of their regulations was as mild as when their set- 
tlements were confined to the islands alone. Their solicitude to protect 
the Indians seems rather to have augmented as their acquisitions increased : 
and from ardour to accomplish this, they enacted, and endeavoured to enforce 
the execution of laws, which excited a formidable rebellion in one of their 
colonies, and spread alarm and disaffection through all the rest. But the 
avarice of individuals was too violent to be controlled by the authority of 
laws. Rapacious and daring adventurers, far removed from the seat of 
government, little accustomed to the restraints of military discipline while 
in service, and still less disposed to respect the feeble jurisdiction of civil 
power in an infant colon)^, despised or eluded every regulation that set 
bounds to their exactions and tyranny. The parent state, with persevering 
attention, issued edicts to prevent the oppression of the Indians ; the colo- 
nists, regardless of these, or trusting to their distance for impunity, con- 
tinued to consider and treat them as slaves. The governors themselves, 
and other officers employed in the colonies, several of whom were as indi- 
gent and rapacious as the adventurers over whom they presided, were too 
apt to adopt their contemptuous ideas of the conquered people ; and, in- 
stead of checking, encouraged or connived at their excesses. The desola- 
tion of the New World should not then be charged on the court of Spain, 
or be considered as the effect of any system of policy adopted there. It 
ought to be imputed wholly to the indigent and often unprincipled adven- 
turers, whose fortune it was to be the conquerors and first planters of 
America, who, by measures no less inconsiderate than unjust, counter- 
acted the edicts of their sovereign, and have brought disgrace upon their 
country. 

With still greater injustice have many authors represented the intolera- 
ting spirit of the Roman Catholic religion, as the cause of exterminating 
the Americans, and have accused the Spanish ecclesiastics of animating 
their countrymen to the slaughter of that innocent people, as idolaters and 
enemies of God. But the first missionaries who visited America, though 
weak and illiterate, were pious men. They early espoused the defence 
of the natives, and vindicated their character from the aspersions of their 
conquerors, who, describing them as incapable of being formed to the 
offices of civil life, or of comprehending the doctrines of religion, con- 
tended, that they were a subordinate race of men, on whom the hand of 
nature had set tne mark of servitude. From the accounts which I have 
given of the humane and persevering zeal of the Spanish missionaries, in 

{)rotectin^ the helpless flock committed to their chaise, they appear in a 
ight which reflects lustre upon their function. They were ministers of 
peace, who endeavoured to wrest the rod from the hands of oppressors. 
To their powerful interposition the Americans were indebted for every 
regulation tending to mitigate the rigour of their fate. The clergy in the 



350 HISTORY OF [Book VTII. 

Spanish settlements, regular as well as secular, are still considered by the 
Indians as their natural guardians, to whom they have recourse under the 
hardships and exactions to which they are too often exposed [l67]. 

But, notwithstanding the rapid depopulation of America, a very consi- 
derable number of the native race still remains both in Mexico and Peru, 
especially in those parts which were not exposed to the first fury of the 
Spanish arms, or desolated by the first efforts of their industry, still more 
ruinous. In Guatimala, Chiapa, Nicaragua, and the other delightful pro- 
vinces of the Mexican empire, which stretch along the South Sea, the race 
of Indians is still numerous. Their settlements in some places are so 
populous as to merit the name of cities [l68]. In the three audiences into 
which New Spain is divided, there are at least two millions of Indians; a 
pitiful remnant, indeed, of its ancient population, but such as still forms a 
body of people superior in number to that of all the other inhabitants of 
this extensive country [169]. In Peru several districts, particularly in the 
kingdom of Qiiito, are occupied almost entirely by Indians. In other pro- 
vinces they are mingled with the Spaniards, and in many of their settle- 
ments are almost the only persons who practise the mechanic arts, and fill 
most of the inferior stations in society. As the inhabitants both of Mexico 
and Peru were accustomed to a fixed residence, and to a certain degree of 
regular industry, less violence was requisite in bringing them to some con- 
formity with the European modes of civil life. But wherever the Span- 
iards settled among the savage tribes of America, their attempts to incor- 
porate with them have been always fruitless, and often fatal to the natives. 
Impatient of restraint, and disdaining labour as a mark of servility, they 
either abandoned their original seats, and sought for independence in 
mountains and forests inaccessible to their oppressors, or perished when 
reduced to a state repugnant to their ancient ideas and habits. In the 
districts adjacent to Carthagena, to Panama, and to Buenos Ayres, the 
desolation is more general than even in those parts of Mexico and Peru of 
which the Spaniards have taken most full possession. 

But the establishments of the Spaniards in the New World, though fatal 
to its ancient inhabitants, were made a ta period when that monarchy was 
capable of forming them to best advantage. By the union of all its petty 
kingdoms, Spain was become a powerful state, equal to so great an under- 
taking. Its monarchs, having extended their prerogatives far beyond the 
limits which once circumscribed the regal power in every kingdom of 
Europe, were hardly subject to control, either in concerting or in executing 
their measures. In eveiy wide-extended empire, the form of government 
must be simple, and the sovereign authority such, that its resolutions may 
be taken with promptitude, and may pervade the whole with sufficient 
force. Such was the power of the Spanish monarchs when they were 
called to deliberate concerning the mode of establishing their dominions 
over the most remote provinces which had ever been subjected to any 
European state. In this deliberation, they felt themselves under no con- 
stitutional restraint, and that, as independent masters of their own resolves, 
they might issue the edicts requisite for modelling the government of the 
new colonies, by a mere act of prerogative. 

This early interposition of the Spanish crown, in order to regulate the 
policy and trade ot its colonies, is a peculiarity which distinguishes their 
progress from that of the colonies of anj' other European nation. _When 
the roituguese, the English, and French took possession of the regions in 
America which they now occupy, the advantages which these promised 
to yield were so remote and uncertain, that their colonies were suffered to 
struggle through a hard infancy, almost without guidance or protection from 
the parent state. But gold and silver, the first productions of the Spanish 
settlements in the New World, were n;ore alluring, and im.mediately at- 
tracted the attention of their monarchs. Though they had contributed 



AMERICA. 361 

little to the discoveiy, and almost nothing to the conquest of the New 
World, they instantly assumed the function of its legislators ; and having 
acquired a species of dominion formerly unknown, they formed a pLin for 
exercising it, to which nothing similar occurs in the history of human 
affairs. 

The fundamental maxim of the Spanish jurisprudence, with respect to 
America, is to consider what has been acquired there as vested in the 
crown, rather than in the state. By the bull of Alexander VI., on which, 
as its great charter, Spain founded its right, all the regions that had been 
or should be discovered were bestowed as a free gift upon Ferdinand and 
Isabella. They and their successors were uniformly held to be the uni- 
versal proprietors of the vast territories which the arms of their subjects 
conquered in the New World. From them all grants of land there flowed, 
and to them they finally returned. The leaders who conducted the various 
expeditions, the governors who presided "over the different colonies, the 
officers of justice, and the ministers of religion, were all appointed by 
their authority, and removable at their pleasure. The people who com- 
posed infant settlements were entitled to no privileges independent of the 
sovereign, or that served as a barrier against the power of the crown. It 
is true, that when towns were built, and formed into bodies corporate, the 
citizens were permitted to elect their own magistrates, who governed thera 
by laws which the community enacted. Even in the most despotic states, 
this feeble spark of liberty is not extinguished. But in the cities of 
Spanish America, this jurisdiction is merely municipal, and is confined to 
the regulation of their own interior commerce and police. In whatever 
relates to public government, and the general interest, the will of the 
sovereign is law. No political power originates from the people. All 
centres in the crown, and in the officers of its nomination. 

When the conquests of the Spaniards in America were completed, their 
monarchs, in forming the plan of interna! policy for their new dominions, 
divided them into two immense governments, one subject to the viceroy 
of New Spain, the other to the viceroy of Peru. The jurisdiction of the 
former extended over all the provinces belonging to Spain in the northern 
division ol' the American continent. Under that of the latter, was com- 
prehended whatever she possessed in South America. This arrangement, 
whicii, from the beginning, was attended with many inconveniences, became 
intolerable when the remote provinces of each viceroyalty began to im- 
prove in industry and population. The people complained of their sub- 
jection to a superior, whose place of residence was so distant, or so inac- 
cessible, as almost excluded them Irom any intercourse with the seat of 
government- The authority of the viceroy over districts so far removed 
from his own eye and observation, was unavoidably both feeble and ill 
directed. As a remedy for those evils, a third viceroyalty has been esta- 
blished in the present century, at Santa Fe de Bogota, the capital of the 
new kingdom of Granada, the jurisdiction of which extends over the 
whole kingdom of Tierra Firme and the province of Q,uito.* Those 
viceroys not only represent the person of their sovereign, but possess his 
regal prerogatives within the precincts of their own governments in their 
utmost extent. Like him, they exercise supreme authority in every de- 
partment of[ government, civil, military, and criminal. They have the 
sole right of nominating the persons who hold many otiices of the higiiest 
importance, and the occasional privilege of supplying those which, whoii 
they become vacant by d(,'ath, are in the royal gift, until the successor 
appointed by the king shall arrive. The external pump of their govern- 
ment is suited to its real dignity and power. Their courts are formed upon 
the model of that at Madrid, with horse and foot guards, a household 

• Voy. de UUoa, i. 23. 255 



352 HISTORY OF [Book VIII. 

regularly established, numerous attendants, and ensigns of command, 
displaying such magnificence as hardly retains the appearance of delegated 
authority.* 

But as the viceroys cannot discharge in person the functions of a supreme 
magistrate in every part of their extensive jurisdiction, they are aided in 
their government by officers and tribunals similar to those in Spain. The 
conduct of civil affairs in the various provinces and districts, into which the 
Spanish dominions in America are divided, is committed to magistrates of 
various orders and denominations ; some appointed by the king, others by 
the viceroy, but all subject to the command of the latter, and amenable to 
his jurisdiction. The administration of justice is vested in tribunals, known 
by the name of Audiences, and formed upon the model of the court of 
Chancery in Spain. These are eleven in number, and dispense justice to 
as many districts into which the Spanish dominions in America are 
divided [170]. The number of judges in the Court of Audience is vari- 
ous, according to the extent and importance of their jurisdiction. The 
station is no less honourable than lucrative, and is commonly filled by per- 
sons of such abilities and merit as render this tribunal extremely respect- 
able. Both civil and criminal causes come under their cognizance, and 
for each peculiar judges are set apart. Though it is only in the most 
despotic governments that the sovereign exercises in person the formidable 
prerogative of administering justice to his subjects, and, in absolving or 
condemning, consults no law but what is deposited in his own breast ; 
though, in all the monarchies of Europe, judicial authority is committed to 
magistrates, whose decisions are regulated by known laws and established 
forms ; the Spanish viceroys have often attempted to intrude themselves 
into the seat of justice, and, with an ambition which their distance from 
the control of a superior rendered bold, have aspired at a power which 
their master does not venture to assume. In order to check a usurpation 
which must have a'nnihilated justice and security in the Spanish colonies, 
by subjecting the lives and property of all to the will of a single man, the 
viceroys have been prohibited in the most explicit terms, by repeated laws, 
from interfering in the judicial proceedings of the Courts of Audience, or 
from delivering an opinion, or giving a voice, with respect to any point 
litigated before them.f In some particular cases, in which any question 
of civil right is involved, even the political regulations of the viceroy may 
be brought under the review of the Court of Audience, which in those 
instances may be deemed an intermediate power placed between him and 
the people, as a constitutional barrier to circumscribe his jurisdiction. But 
as legal restraints on a person who represents the sovereign, and is clothed 
with his authority, are little suited to the genius of Spanish policy ; the 
hesitation and reserve with which it confers this power on the Courts of 
Audience are remarkable. They may advise, they may remonstrate ; but, 
in the event ol a direct collision between their opinion and the will of the 
viceroy, what he determines must be carried into execution, and nothing 
remains for them, but to lay the matter before the king and the Council of 
the Indies.J But to be entitled to remonstrate, and inform against a person 
before whom all others must be silent, and tamely submit to his decrees, is a 
privilege which adds dignity to the Courts of Audience. This is further 
augmented by another circumstance. Upon the death of a viceroy, with- 
out any provision of a successor by the king, the supreme power is vested 
in the Court of Audience resident in the capital ol the viceroyalty ; and 
the senior judge, assisted by his brethren, exercises all the functions of the 
viceroy while the office continues vacant. § In matters which come under 

* rilia, Vnv. i. 4:n. Oaj^p, 61. t Recop. lib. ii. tit. xv. 1. 3.";. 38. 44. lib. ili. tit. iii. 1. 36, 37. 

J :-wlor/.. de Jiirc Iiid. lib. iv. c. 3. n. 40, 41. Recop. lib. ii. lit. xv. '. 36. lib. iii. tit. iii. 1. 34. lib v 
tii. ii. 1. 1. ^ Uccop. lit), ii. tit. xv. 1. 57, &c. 



AMERICA. 353 

the cognizance of the Audiences, in the course of their ordinary jurisdic- 
tion, as courts of justice, their sentences are final in every litigation con- 
cerning property of less value thansix thousand pesos ; but when the sulject 
in dispute exceeds that sum, their decisions are subject to review, and may 
be carried by appeal before the royal Council of the Indies.* 

In this council, one of the most considerable in the monarchy for dignity 
and power, is vested the supreme governn)ent of all the Spanish dominions 
in America. It was first established by Ferdinand in the year 1511, and 
brought into a more perfect form by Charles V. in the year 1524. Its 
jurisdiction extends to every department, ecclesiastical, civil, military, and 
commercial. All laws and ordinances relative to the government and police 
of the colonies originate there, and must be approved of by two-thirds of 
the members before they are issued in the name of the king. All the 
offices, of which the nomination is reserved to the crow-n, are conferred in 
this coimcil. To it each person employed in America, from the viceroy 
downwards, is accountable. It reviews their conduct, rewards their ser- 
vices, and inflicts the punishments due to their malversations.! Before it 
is laid whatever intelligence, either public or secret, is received from 
America ; and eveiy scheme of improving the administration, the police, 
or the commerce of the colonies, is submitted to its consideration. From 
the first institution of the Council of the Indies, it has been the constant 
object of the Catholic monarchs to maintain its authority, and to make 
such additions from time to time, both to its power and its splendour, as 
might render it formidable to all their subjects in the New World. What- 
ever degree of public order and virtue still remains in that country, where 
so many circumstances conspire to relax the former, and to corrupt the 
latter, may be ascribed in a great measure to the wise regulations and 
vigilant inspection of this respectable tribunal. J 

As the king is supposed to be a!wa3's present in Jiis Council of the 
Indies, its meetings are held in the place where he resides. Another 
tribunal has been instituted in order to regulate such commercial aflfairs, 
as required the immediate and personal inspection of those appointed to 
superintend them. This is called Casa de la Contratacion, or the house 
of trade, and was established in Seville, the port to which commerce with 
the New World was confined, as early as the year 1501. It may be con- 
sidered both as a board of trade, and as a court of judicature. In the 
former capacity, it takes cognizance of whatever relates to the intercourse 
of Spain with America, it regulates what commodities should be exported 
thither, and has the inspection of such as are received in ret)irn. It decides 
concerning the departure of the fleets for the West Indies, the freight and 
burden of the ships, their equipment and destination. In the latter capa- 
city, it judges with respect to every question, civil, commercial, or criminal, 
arising in consequence of the transactions of Spain with America ; and in 
both these departments its decisions are exempted from the review of any 
court but that of the Council of the Indies. § 

Such is the great outline of that system of government which Spain has 
established in her American colonies. To enumerate the various subor- 
dinate boards and officers employed in the adminiGtration of justice, in 
collecting the public revenue, and in regulating the interior police of the 
country ; to describe their different functions, and to inquire into the mode 
and effect of their operations ; would prove a detail no less intricate than 
minute and uninteresting. 

The first object of the Spanish monarchs was to secure the productions 
of the colonies to the parent state, by an absolute prohibition of any inter- 
course with foreign nations. They took possession of America by right 

* Recop. lib. v. tit xiii. 1. 1, &c. t Ibid. lib. ii tit. ii. 1, 1, 2, tec. J Solorz de Jurt 

Uid. lib. iv. c. 12. ^ Rccop. lib. ix. tit. i- Vcitia Norte de la ContratarioD, lib. i. 1. 

Vol. I.— 45 17 



354 H I S T O R Y O F [Book VIII. 

of conquest, and conscious not only of the feebleness of their infant settle- 
ments, but aware of the dilficulty in establishing their dominions over 
regions so extensive, or in retaining so many reluctant nations under the yoke, 
they dreaded the intrusion of strangers ; the}' even shunned their inspection, 
and endeavoured to keep fhem at a distance from their coasts. This spirit 
of jealousy and exclusion, which at first was natural, and perhaps necessary, 
augmented as their possessions in America extended, and the value of them 
came to be more fully understood. In consequence of it, a system of 
colonising was introduced, to which there had hitherto been nothing similar 
among mankind. In the ancient world, it was not uncommon to send forth 
colonies. But they were of two kinds only. They were either migrations, 
which served to disburden a state of its superfluous subjects, when they 
multiplied too last for the territory which they occupied ; or they were 
military detachments, stationed as garrisons in a conquered province. The 
colonies of some Greek republics, and the swarms of northern barbarians 
which settled in dilTerent parts of Europe, were of the first species. The 
Roman colonies were of the second. In the former, the connection with 
the mother country quickly ceased, and they became independent states. 
In the latter, as the disjunction was not complete, the dependence continued. 
In their American settlements, the Spanish monarchs took what was pecu- 
liar to each, and studied to unite them. By sending colonies to regions so 
remote, by establishing in each a form of inferior policy and administration, 
under distinct governors, and with peculiar laws, they disjoined them from 
the mother country. By retaining in their own bands the rights of legis- 
lation, as well as that of imposing taxes, together Avith the power of 
nominating the persons who filled cveiy department of executive govern- 
ment, civil or military, they secured their dependence upon the parent 
state. Happily for Spain, the situation of her colonies was such as ren- 
dered it possible to reduce this new idea into practice. Almost all the 
countries which she had discovered and occupied, lay within the tropics. 
The productions of that large portion of the globe are different from those 
of Europe, even in its most southern provinces. The qualities of the 
climate and of the soil naturally turn the industry of such as settle there 
into new channels. When the Spaniards first took possession of their 
dominions in America, the precious metals which they yielded were the 
only object that attracted their attention. Even when their efforts began 
to take a better direction, they employed themselves almost ..holly in 
rearing such peculiar productions of the climate as, from their rarity or 
value, were_ of chief demand in the mother country. Allured by vast 
prospects of immedinte wealth, the}' disdained to waste their industry on 
what was less lucrative, but of superior moment. In order to render it 
impossible to correct ibis error, and to prevent them from making any 
efforts in industry which might interfere with those of the mother country, 
the establishment of several species of manufactures, and even the culture 
of the vine or olive, are prohibited in the Spanish colonies [l7l], under 
severe penalties.* They must iiust entirely to the mother cotintry for the 
objects of primary necessity. Their clothes, their furniture, their instru- 
jnents of labour, their luxuries, and even a considerable part of the pro- 
visions which they consume, were imported from Spain. During a great 
part of the sixteenth century, Spain, possessing an extensive commerce 
and flourishing manufactures, could supply with ease the growing demands 
of her colonies l"rom her own stores. The produce of their mines and 
plantations was given in exchange tor these. But all that the colonies 
received, as well as all that they gave, was conveyed in Spanish bottoms 
No vessel belonging to tlie colonics was ever permitted to cany the com- 
modities of America to Europe. iL.en the commercial intercourse of one 

• B Ulloa Retab. dos Mamif. itc. p 2(X> 



AMERICA. 355 

colony with another was either absolutely prohibited, or limited bv many 
jealous restrictions. All that America yields flows into the ports of Spain ; 
all that it consumes must issue from them. No foreigner can enter its 
colonies without express permission ; no vessel of any foreign nation is 
receiv ed into their harbours ; and the pains of death, with confiscation of 
moveables, are denounced against every inhabitant who presumes to trade 
with them.* Thus the colonies are kept in a state of perpetual pupilage ; 
and by the introduction of this commercial dependence, a refinement in 
policy of which Spain set the first example to European nations, the 
supremacy of the parent state hath been maintained over remote colonies 
during- two centuries and a half. 

Such are the capital maxims to which the Spanish monarchs seem to 
have attended in forming their new settlements in America. But they 
could not plant with the same rapidity that they bad destroyed ; and from 
many concurring causes, their progress has been extremely slow in filling 
up the immense void which their devastations had occasioned. As soon as 
the rage for discovery and adventure began to abate, tiie Spaniards opened 
tlieir eyes to dangers and distresses which at first they did not perceive, 
or had despised. The numerous hardships with which the members of 
intant colonies have to struggle, the diseases of unwholesome climates fatal 
to the constitution of Europeans ; the difficulty of bringing a country 
covered with forests into culture ; the want of hands necessary' for labour 
in some provinces, and the slow reward of industry in all, unless where 
the accidental discovery of mines enriched a few fortunate adventurers, 
were evils universally lelt and magnified. Discourap:ed by the view of 
these, the spirit of migration was so much damped, that sixty years after 
the discovery of the New World, the number of Spaniards in all its pro- 
vinces is computed not to have exceeded fifteen thousand [l'72]. 

The mode in which property was distributed in the Spanish colonies, 
and the regulations established with respect to the transmission of it, whe- 
ther by descent or by sale, were extremely unfavourable to population. 
In order to promote a rapid increase of people in any new settlement, 
property in land ought to be divided into small shares, and the alienation 
of it should be rendered extremely easy.f But the rapaciousness of the 
Spanish conquerors of the New World paid no regard to this fundamental 
maxim of policy ; and, as they possessed power which enabled them to 
gratify the utmost extravagance of their wishes, many seized districts of 
great extent, and held them as encomiendas. By degrees they obtained the 
privilege of converting a part ot" these into Alayorasgos, a species of fief, 
introduced into the Spanish system of feudal jurisprudence,! which can 
neither be divided nor alienated. Thus a great portion of landed property 
under this rigid form of entail, is withhela from circulation, and descends 
Irom father to son unimproved, and of little value either to the proprietor 
or to the community. In the account which I have given of the reduction 
of Peru, various examples occur of enormous tracts of country occupied 
by some of the conquerors. § The excesses in other provinces were simi- 
lar ; for, as the value of the lands which the Spaniards acquired was ori- 
ginally estimated according to the number of Indians which lived upon 
them, America was in general so thinly peopled, that only districts of 
great extent could afford such a number of labourers as might be employed 
in the mines with any prospect of considerable gain. The pernicious 
effects of those radical errors in the distribution and nature of property in 
the Spanish settlements are ieit through every department of industry, and 
may be considered as one great cause of a progress in population so much 
slower than that which has taken place in better constituted colonies [nsj. 

* Rcropil. lib. ix. tit. xxvii. 1. 1. 4. 7, &c. t Dr. Smilli's Inquiry, U. 166. t Recop. lib. Iv. 
rh. iii. I. -il. ^ Book vi. 



35G HISTORYOF [Book VIII. 

To this we may add, that the support of the enormous and expensive 
fabric of their ecclesiastical establishment has been a burden on the Span 
ish colonies, which has greatly retarded the progress of population and 
industry. The payment of tithes is a heavy tax on industry: and if the 
exaction of them be not regulated and circumscribed by the wisdom of the 
civil magistrate, it becomes intolerable and ruinous. But, instead of any 
restraint on the claims of ecclesiastics, the inconsiderate zeal of the Span- 
ish legislators admitted them into America in their full extent, and at once 
imposed on their infant colonies a burden which is in no slight degree 
oppressive to society, even in its most improved state. As early as the 
year 1501, the payment of tithes in the colonies was enjoined, and the 
mode of it regulated by law. Every article of primary necessity, towards 
which the attention of new settlers must naturally be turned, is subjected 
to that grievous exaction.* Nor were the demands of the clergy confined 
to articles of simple and easy culture. Its more artificial and operose pro- 
ductions, such as sugar, indigo, and cochineal, were soon declared to be 
titheable ;t and thus the industry of the planter w,ps taxed in every stage 
ot its progress, from its rudest essay to its highest improvement. To the 
weight of this legal imposition, the bigotry of the Anierican Spaniards has 
made many voluntary additions. From their fond delight in the external 
pomp and parade of religion, and from superstitious reverence for ecclesi- 
astics of every denomination, Ihey have bestowed profuse donatives on 
churches and monasteries, and have unprofitably wasted a large proportion 
of that wealth, which might have nourished and given vigour lo productive 
labour in growing colonies. 

But so fertile and inviting are the regions of America, which the Span- 
iards have occupied, that, notwithstanding all the circumstances which have 
checked and retarded population, it has gradually increased, and filled the 
colonies of Spain with citizens of various orders. Among these, the Span- 
iards who arrive from Europe, distinguished by the name of Chnpetonesj 
are the first in rank and power. From the jealous attention of the Span- 
ish court to secure the dependence of the colonies on the parent state, all 
departments of consequence are filled by persons sent from Europe ; and in 
order to prevent any of dubious fidelity from being employed, each must 
bring proof of a clear descent from a family of Old Christians, untainted 
with any mixture of Jewish or Mahometan blood, and never disgraced by 
any censure of the Inquisition.^ In such pure hands power is deemed to 
be safely lodged, and almost every function, from the viceroyalty down- 
wards, is committed to them alone. Every person, who, by his birth or 
ryidence in America, may be suspected oi^ any attachment or interest 
adverse to the mother country, is the object of distrust to such a degree, 
as amounts nearly to an exclusion from ail offices of confidence or authori- 
ty [174]. By this conspicuous predilection of the court, the Chapetones 
are raised to such pre-eminence in America, that they look down with dis- 
dain on every other order of men. 

The character and state of the Creoles, or descendants of Eluropeans set- 
tled in America, the second class of subjects in the Spanish colonies, have 
enabled the Chapetones to acquire other advantages, hardly less consider- 
able than those which they derived from the partial favour of government. 
Thouo-h some of the Creolian race are descended from the conquerors of 
the New World ; though others can trace up their pedigree to the noblest 
families in Spain ; though many are possessed of ample fortunes ; yet, by 
the enervating influence of a sultry climate, by the rigour of a jealous 
government, and by their despair of attaining that distinction to which 
mankind naturally aspire, the vigour of their minds is so entirely broken, 

* Recop. lib. i. tit. xiv. 1. 2. t Recop. lili. i. tit. xiv. 1. 3, 4. 1 Recop. lib. is., tit. irvL 

1. 19, 16. 



AMERICA. 367 

that a great part of them waste life in luxunous indulgences, mingled with 
an illiberal superstition still more debasing. 

Languid and unenterprising, the operations of an active extended com- 
merce would be to them so cumbersome and oppressive, that in almost 
every part of America they decline engaging in it. The interior tralhcof 
every colony, as well as any trade which is permitted with the neighbour- 
ing provinces, and with Spain itself, is carried on chiefly by the Chape- 
tones ;* who, as the recompense of their industry, amass immense wealth, 
while the Creoles, sunk in sloth, are satisfied with the revenues of their 
paternal estates. 

From this stated competition for power and wealth between those two 
orders of citizens, and the various passions excited by a rivalship so inter- 
esting, their hatred is violent and implacable. On every occasion, symp- 
toms of this aversion break out, and tbe common appellations which each 
bestows on the other are as contemptuous as those which flow from the 
most deep-rooted national antipathy.! The court of Spain, from a refine- 
ment of distrustful policy, cherishes those seeds of discord, and fon\cnts 
this mutual jealousy, which not only prevents the two most powerful 
classes of its subjects in the New World from combining against the parent 
state, but prompts each, with the most vigilant zeal, to observe the motions 
and to counteract the schemes of the other. 

The third class of inhabitants in the Spanish colonies is a mixed race, 
/he offspring either of a European and a Negro, or of a European and 
Indian, the former called Ahtlattoes, the latter Mestizos. As the court of 
Spain, solicitous to incorporate its new vassals with its ancient subjects, 
early encouraged the Spaniards settled in America to marry the natives of 
that country, several alliances of this kind were formed in their infant colo- 
nies. | But it has been more owing to licentious indulgence, than to com- 
pliance with this injunction of their sovereigns, that this mixed breed has 
multiplied so greatly as to constitute a considerable part of the population 
in all the Spanish settlements. The several stages of descent in this race, 
and the gradual variations of shade until the African black or the copper 
colour ol America brighten into a European complexion, are accurately 
marked by the Spaniards, and each distinguished by a peculiar name. 
Those of the first and second generations are considered and treated as 
mere Indians and Negroes ; but in the third descent, the characteristic hue 
of the former disappears ; and in the fifth, the deeper tint of the latter is 
so entirely effaced, that they can no longer be distinguished from Europe- 
ans, and "become entitled to all their privileges. § It is chiefly by this 
mixed race, whose frame is remarkably robust and hardy, that the me- 
chanic arts are carried on in the Spanish settlements, and other active func- 
tions in society are discharged, which the two higher classes of citizens, 
from pride, or from indolence, disdain to exercise.!! 

The Negroes hold the fourth rank among the inhabitants of the Spanish 
colonies. The introduction of that unhappy part of the human species 
into America, together with their services and sufferings there, shall be 
fully explained in another place ; here they are mentioned chiefly in order 
to point out a peculiarity in their situation under the Spanish dominion. In 
several of their settlements, particularly in New Spain, Negroes are mostly 
employed in domestic service. They form a principal part in the train ol 
luxury, and are cherished and caressed by their superiors, to whose vanity 
and pleasures they are equally subservient. Their dress and appearance 
are hardly less splendid than that of their masters, whose manners they 
imitate, and whose passions they imbibe. H Elevated by this distinction, 

* Voy. de Ulloa, i. 27. 251. Voy. de Frczier, K7. t OJaje's Survey, p. 9. Frezier, 226. 

i Recopil. lib. vi. tit. i. I. 2. Herrcra, dec. 1. lib. v. c. 12. dec. 3. lib vii. c. 2. 6 Voy. de Ulloa, 
i p. 27. Ii Ibid, i 29. Voyage de Bouguer, p. 104. Melendez, Tc«oro8 virdaderos, i. 354. 

^ Gage, p. 56. Voy. de Ulloa, i. 451. 



358 HISTORYOF [BookVIII. 

they have assumed such a tone of superiority over the Indians, and treat 
them with such insolence and scorn, that the antipathy between the two 
races has become implacable. Even in Peru, where Negroes seem to be 
more numerous, and are employed in field work as well as domestic ser- 
vice, they maintain their ascendant over the Indians, and the mutual hatred 
of one to the other subsists with equal violence. The laws have indus- 
triously fomented this aversion, to v/hich accident gave rise, and, by most 
rigorous injunctions, have endeavoured to prevent every intercourse that 
might form a bond of union between the two races. Thus, by an artful 
policy, the Spaniards derive strength from that circumstance in population 
which is the weakness of other European colonies, and have secured, as 
associates and defenders, those very persons who elsewhere are objects of 
jealousy and terror.* 

The Indians form the last and most depressed order of men in the coun 
try which belonged to their ancestors. I have already traced the progress 
of the Spanish ideas with respect to the condition and treatment of that 
people ; and have mentioned the most important of their more early regu- 
lations, concerning a matter of so much consequence in the administration 
of their new dominions. But since the period to which I have brought 
down the history of America, the information and experience acquired 
during two centuries have enabled the court of Spain to make such im- 
provements in this part of its American system, that a short view of the 
present condition of the Indians may prove both curious and interesting. 

By the famous regulations of Charles V. in 1.542, which have been so 
often mentioned, the high pretensions of the conquerors of the New World, 
who considered its inhabitants as slaves to whose service they had acquired 
a full right of property, were finally abrogated. From that period, the 
Indians have been reputed freemen, and entitled to the privileges of sub- 
jects. When admitted into this rank, it was deemed just that they should 
contribute towards the support and improvement of the society which had 
adopted them as members. But as no considerable benefit could be ex- 
pected from the voluntary efforts of men unacquainted with regular indus- 
try, and averse to labour, the court of Spain found it necessary to fix and 
secure, by proper regulations, what it thought reasonable to exact from 
them. With this view, an annual tax was imposed upon every male, from 
the age of eighteen to fifty ; and at the same time the nature as well as 
the extent of the services, which they might be required to perform, was 
ascertained with precision. This tribute varies in different provinces ; 
but if we take that paid in New Spain as a medium, its annual amount is 
nearly four shillings a head ; no exorbitant sum in countries where, as at 
the source of wealth, the value of money is extremely lowj [175]. The 
right of levying this tribute likewise varies. In America, eveiy Indian is 
either an immediate vassal of the crown, or depends upon some sul)jcct to 
whom the district in which he resides has been granted for a limited time, 
under the denomination of an encomienda. In the former case, about 
three-fourths of the tax is paid into the royal treasury ; in the latter, the 
same proportion of it belongs to the holder of the grant. When Spain first 
took possession of America, the greater part of it was parcelled out among 
its conquerors, or those who first settled there, and but a small portion 
reserved for the crown. As those grants, which were made for tw^o lives 
on]y,t reverted successively to the sovereign, he had it in his power either 
to difiuse his favours by grants to new proprietors, or to augment his own 
revenue by valuable annexations (176]. Of these, the latter has been 
frequently chosen ; the number of Indians now depending immediately on 

• Recopil. lib. vil. tit. v. 1. 7 Uorrora, doc. 8. lib. vii. c. 12. Frr-zlnr, 214. t Recopil. lib. 

vl. tit. V. I. 42. Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 401. t Ri'conil. lib. vi. tit. viii. 1.48. Solnrz. cir lint. Jure, 
ab. U. c. Ifl. 



AMERICA. S69 

the crown is much greater than in the first stage after the conquest, and 
this branch of the royal revenue continues to extend. 

The benefit arising from the services of the Indians accrues either to the 
crown, or to the holder of the encomiejida, according to the same rule ob- 
served in the payment of tribute. Those services, however, which can 
now be legally exacted, are very different from the tasks originally im- 
posed upon the Indians. The nature of the work Avhich they must perform 
is defined, and an equitable recomi)ense is granted for their labour. The 
stated services demanded of the Indians may be divided into two branches 
They are either employed in works of primary necessity, without which 
society cannot subsist comfortably, or are compelled to labour in tlie mines, 
from which the Spanish colonies deriv? their chief value and importance. 
In consequence ot the former, they are obliged to assist in the culture of 
maize, and other grain of necessary consumption ; in tending cattle ; in 
erecting edifices of public utility ; in building bridges ; and in forming high 
roads ;* but they cannot be constrained to labour in raising vines, orives, 
and sugar-canes, or any species of cultivation which has for its object the 
gratification of luxury or conmiercial profit.! In consequence of the latter, 
the Indians are compelled to undertake the more unpleasant task of ex- 
tracting ore from the l)owels of the earth, and of refining it by successive 
processes, no less unwholesome than operose [l''?]. 

The mode of exacting both these services is the same, and is undej 
regulations framed -with a view of rendering it as little oppressive as pos- 
sible to the Indians. They are called out successively in divisions, termed 
Mitas, and no person can be compelled to go but in his turn. In Peru, the 
number called out must not exceed the seventh part of the inhabitants in 
any district. J In New Spain, where the Indians are more numerous, it is 
fixed at four in the hundred.§ During what time the labour of such Indians 
as are employed in agriculture continues, I have not been able to learn [178]. 
Rut in Peru, each mita, or division, destined for the mines, reinains there 
six months ; and while engaged in this service, a labourer never receives 
less than two shillings a day, ;ind often earns more than double that sum.ll 
No Indian, residing at a greater distance than thirty miles from a mine, is 
included in the mita, or division employed working it ;'^ nor are the inha- 
bitants of the low country exposed now to certain destruction, as they 
were dt first when under the dominion of the conquerors, by compelling 
them to remove from that warm climate to the cold elevated regions where 
minerals abound*"* [l 79]. 

The Indians who live in the principal towns are entirely subject to the 
Spanish laws and magistrates ; but in their own villages they are governed 
by caziques, some of whom are the descejidants of their ancient lords, 
others are named by the Spanish viceroys. These regulate the petty affairs 
of the people under them, according to maxims of justice transiiiitted to 
them by tradition from their ancestors. To the Indians this jurisdiction, 
lodged in such friendly hands, affords some consolation ; and so little formi- 
dable is this dignity to their new masters, that they ol'ten allow it to descend 
by hereditary right.tt For the further relief of men so much exposed to 
oppression, the Spanish court has appointed an ofhcer in every district with 
the title of Protector of the Indians. It is his function, as the name implies, 
to assert the rights of the Indians ; to appear as their defender in the courts 
of justice ; and, by the interposition ot his authority, to set bounds to the 
encroachments and exactions of his countrymen. JJ A certain portion of 
the reserved fourth of the annual tribute is destined for the salaiy of the 

* Rccop (lb. v:. tit xiii 1. 19. Solor?. de fnd. Jiiro, ii lib. i. c. 6, 7. 9. t Kccop. lib. vi. lit. 

Xiii.1.8. Solorz. lib. i. c. 7. No. 41,&.c. * Recop. lib. vi. tit. xii. 1. -21. ^ Ibid. lib. vi. I. 22. 
II IJUoa EnlToten. 265, 266. IT Recop. lib. vi. tit. xii. 1. 3. ** Ibid, lib. vi. tit. xii. 1. 29. tit. I. 

1. 13. tr Solorz. de Jure Ind. lib. i. c. 20. KccopU. lib. vl. lit. vii. XX Solorz. lib. I. c. 17. p. 
801. Recop. lib. vl. Ut. tL 



360 HISTORY Of [Book VIII. 

caziques and protectors; another is applied to the maintenance of the 
clergj' employed in the instruction of the Indians.* Another part seems 
to be appropriated for the benefit of tlie Indians themselves, and is applied 
for the payment of their tribute in years of I'amine, or when a particular 
district is affected by any extraordinary local calamity.! Besides this, 
provision is made by various laws, that hospitals shall be founded in 
every new settlement for the reception of Indians.^ Such hospitals have 
accordingly been erected, both for the indigent and infirm, in Lima, in 
Cuzco, and in Mexico, where the Indians are treated with tenderness 
and humanity. § 

Such are the leading principles in the jurisprudence and policy by which 
the Indians are now governed in the provinces belonging to Spain. In 
tJiose regulations of the Spanish monarchs, we discover no traces of that 
cruel system of extermination, which they have been chai'ged with adopt- 
ing ; and if we admit that the necessity of securing subsistence for their 
colonies, or the advantages derived from working tlie mines, give them a 
right to avail themselves of the labour of the Indians, we must allow, that 
the attention with which they regulate and recompense that labour is pro- 
vident and sagacious. In no code of laws is greater solicitude displayed, 
or precautions multiplied with more prudent concern, for the preservation, 
the security, and the happiness of the subject, than we discover in the col- 
lection of the Spanish laws for the Indies. But those latter regulations, 
like the more early edicts which have been already mentioned, have too 
otten proved inetfectual remedies c.gainst the evils which they were intend- 
ed to prevent. In eveiy age, if the same causes continue to operate, the 
same effects must follow. From the immense distance betw een the power 
intrusted with the execution of laws, and that by whose authority they are 
enacted, the vigour even of the most absolute government must relax, and 
the dread of a superior, too remote to observe with accuracy or to punish 
with despatch, must insensibly abate. Notwithstanding the numerous 
injunctions of the Spanish monarch, the Indians still suffer, on many occa- 
sions, both from the avarice of individuals, and from the exactions of the 
magistrates who ought to have protected them ; unreasonable tasks are 
imposed ; the term of their labour is prolonged beyond the period fixed 
by law, and they groan under many of the insults and wrongs which are 
the lot of a dependent people [18(»]. From some information on which 1 
can depend, such oppression abounds more in Peru than in any other colony. 
But it is not general. According to the accounts even ot those authors 
who are most disposed to exaggerate the sufferings of the Indians, they, in 
several provinces, enjoy not only ease but afiluence ; they possess large 
farms ; they are masters of numerous herds and flocks ; and, by the know- 
ledge which they have acquired of European arts and industry, are sup- 
plied not only with the necessaries but with many luxuries of life.|| 

After explaining the form of civil government in the Spanish colonies, and 
the state of the various orders of persons subject to it, the peculiarities in 
their ecclesiastical constitution merit consideration. Notwithstanding the 
superstitious veneration with which the Spaniards are devoted to the Holy 
See, the vigilant and jealous policy of Ferdinand early prompted him to 
take precautions against the introduction of the Papal dominion in America. 
With this view, he solicited Alexander VI. for a grant to the crown of the 
tithes in all the newly-discovered countries,1I which he obtained on condi- 
tion of his making provision for the religious instruction of the natives. 
Soon after Julius" 11. conferred on him and his successors, the right of 
patronage, and the absolute disposal of all ecclesiastical benefices there.** 

* Recop. lib. vi. tit. v. I. 30. tit. xvi. I. 13—15. t Ibid. lib. vi. tit. iv. 1. 13. J Ibid. lib. i. tit. 
iv. I. 1, &c. (5 V(iy. (Ic Ulloa, i. 439. 509. Cliurchiil, iv. 496. i| Cacp's Survey, p. 85. !)0. 104. 
119, &:c. ir Bulla Alex. VI. A.D. 1501, ap. Solorz. de Jure Ind.ii. p. 498. ** Bulla Julii II. 
ii 1508, ap. Solorz. dc Jure Ind. ii. 509. 



AMERICA S&l 

But these Pontiffs, unacquainted with the value of what he demanded, 
bestowed these donations with an inconsiderate liberality, which their 
successors have often lamented, and wished to recall. In consequence of 
those grants, the Spanish monarchs have become in effect the heads of the 
American church. In them the administration of its revenues is vested. 
Their nomination of persons to supply vacant benefices is instantly con- 
firmed by the Pope. Thus, in all Spanish America, authority of every 
species centres in the crown. There no collision is known between 
spiritual and temporal jurisdiction. The King is the only superior, his 
name alone is heard of, and no dependence upon any foreign power has 
been introduced. Papal bulls cannot be admitted into America, nor are 
they of any force there until they have been previously examined and 
approved of by the royal council of the Indies ;* and if any bull should 
be surreptitiously introduced and circulated in America without obtaining 
that approbation, ecclesiastics are required not only to prevent it from 
taking effect, but to seize all the copies of it, and transmit them to the 
council of the Indies.! To this limitation of the Papal jurisdiction, 
equally singular, whether we consider the age and nation in which it was 
devised, or the jealous attention with which Ferdinand and his succes- 
sors have studied to maintain it in full force,J Spain is indebted, in a 
great measure, for the uniform tranquillity which has reigned in her Ame- 
rican dominions. 

The hierarchy is established in America in the same form as in Spain, 
with its full train of archbishops, bishops, deans, and other dignitaries. 
The inferior clergy are divided into three classes, under the denomination 
of Curas, Dodnneros, and Missioneros. The first are parish priests in 
those parts of the country where the Spaniards have settled. The second 
have the charge of such districts as are inhabited by Indians subjected to 
the Spanish government, and living under its protection. The third are 
employed in instructing and converting those fiercer tribes which disdain 
submission to the Spanish yoke, and live in remote or inaccessible regions 
to which the Spanish arms have not penetrated. So numerous are the 
ecclesiastics of^ all those various orders, and such the profuse liberality 
with which many of them are endowed, that the revenues of the church 
in America are immense. The Romish superstition appears with its utmost 
pomp in the New World. Churches and convents there are magnificent, 
and richly adorned ; and on high festivals, the display of gold and silver, 
and precious stones, is such as exceeds the conception of a European.^ 
An ecclesiastical establishment so splendid and extensive is unfavourable, 
as has been formerly observed, to the progress of rising colonies ; but in 
countries where riches abound, and the people are so delighted with parade 
that religion must assume it in order to attract their veneration, this pro- 
pensity to ostentation has been indulged, and becomes less pernicious. 

The early institution of monasteries in the Spanish colonies, and the 
inconsiderate zeal in multiplying them, have been attended with conse- 
quences more fatal. In every new settlement, the first object should be to 
encourage population, and to incite every citizen to contribute towards 
augmenting the number and strength of the community. During the youth 
and vigour of society, while there is room to spread, and sustenance is 
procured with facility, mankind increase with amazing rapidity. But the 
Spaniards had hardly taken possession of America, when, with a most 
preposterous policy, they began to erect convents, where persons of both 
sexes were shut up, under a vow to defeat the purpose of nature, and to 
counteract the first of her laws. Influenced by a misguided piety, which 
ascribes transcendent merit to a state of celibacy, or allured by the prospect 

* Recopil. lib. i. tit. ix. 1. 2. and Autas del Coticrjo de las Indias, clxl. t Recop. lib. i. tit. ni 
I. 55. ; Id. lib. 1. tit. vii. 1. 55. passim. § Voy. de Ulloa, i. 430. 

Vol. I. — 46 



%2 HISTORY OF [Book VIII 

of that listless ease which in sultry climates is deemed supreme felicity, 
numbers crowded into those mansions of sloth and superstition, and are 
lost to society. As none but persons of Spanish extract are admitted info 
the monasteries of the New World, the evil is more sensibly felt, and 
every monk or nun may be considered as an active person withdrawn from 
civil life. The impropriety of such foundations in any situation where the 
extent of territory requires additional hands to improve it, is so obvious, 
that some Catholic states have expressly prohibited any person in their 
colonies from taking the monastic vows.* Even the Spanish monarchs, 
on some occasions, seem to have been alarmed with the spreading; of a 
spirit so adverse to the increase and prosperity of their colonies, that they 
have endeavoured to check it.t But the Spaniards in America, more 
thoroughly under the influence of superstition than their countrj-men in 
Europe, and directed by ecclesiastics more bigoted and illiterate, have 
conceived such a high opinion of monastic sanctity, that no regulations can 
restrain their zeal ; and, by the excess of their ill judged bounty, religious 
houses have multiplied to a degree no less amazing than pernicious to 
society [l8l]. 

In viewing the state of colonies, where not only the number but influ- 
ence of ecclesiastics is so great, the character of this powerful body is an 
object that merits particular attention. A considerable part of the secular 
clergy in Mexico and Peru are natives of Spain. As persons long accus- 
tomed, by their education, to the retirement and indolence of academic 
life are more incapable of active enterprise, and less disposed to strike into 
new paths than any order of men, the ecclesiastical adventurers by Avhoni 
the American church is recruited, are commonly such as, from merit or rank 
in life, have little prospect of success in their own country. Accordingly, 
the secular priests in the New World are still less distinguished than their 
brethren in Spain for literary accomplishments of any species; and Uiough, 
by the ample provision which has been made for the American church, 
many of its members enjoy the ease and independence which are favourable 
to the cultivation of science, the body of secular clergy has hardly, during 
two centuries and a half, produced one author whose works convey such 
useful information, or possess such a degree of merit, as to be ranked 
among those which attract the attention of enlightened nations. But the 
greatest part of the ecclesiastics in the Spanish settlements are regulars. 
On the discovery of America, a new field opened to the pious zeal of the 
monastic orders ; and, with a becoming alacrity, they immediately sent 
forth missionaries to labour in it. The lirst attempt to instruct and convert 
the Americans was made by monks ; and as soon as the conquest of any 
province was completed, and its ecclesiastical establishment began to 
assume some form, the Popes permitted the missionaries of the four mendi- 
cant orders, as a reward for tlieir services, to accept of parochial charges 
in America, to perform all spiritual functions, and to receive the tithes and 
other emoluments of the benefice, without depending on the jurisdiction 
of the bishop of the diocess, or being subject to his censures. In conse- 
quence of this, a new career of usefulness, as well as new objects of am- 
bition, -presented themselves. Whenever a call is made for a fresh supply 
of missionaries, men of the most ardent and aspiring minds, impatient 
under the restraint of a cloister, weary of its insipid uniformity, and 
fatigued with the irksome repetition of its frivolous functions, ofTer their 
service with eagerness, and repair to the New World in quest of liberty 
and distinction. Nor do they pursue distinction without success. The 
highest ecclesiastical honours, as well as the most lucrative preferments in 
Mexico and Peru, are often in the hands of regulars ; and it is chiefly to 

• Voy. de Tllloa, il. 124. t Herrera, dec. v. lib. be, e. 1, 2. Rccop. lib, i. til. Hi. !. 1, 2. tit. iv. c. 
a. Sulorz. lib. m. C. 23. 



AMERICA. M9 

tfte monastic orders that the Americans are indebted for any portion of 
science which is cultivated among them. They are almost the only 
Spanish ecclesiastics from whom we have received any accounts either of 
the civil or natural history of the various provmces in America. Some of 
them, though deeply tinged with the indelible superstition of their profes- 
sion, have published books which give a favourable idea of their abilities. 
The natural and moral history of the New World, by the Jesuit Acosta, 
contains more accurate observations, perhaps, and more sound science, than 
are to be found in any description of remote countries published in the six- 
teenth century. 

But the same disgust with monastic life, to which America is indebted 
for some instructers of worth and abilities, filled it with others of a very 
different character. The giddy, the profligate, the avaricious, to whom 
the poverty and rigid discipline of a convent are intolerable, consider a 
mission to America as a release from mortification and bondage. There 
they soon obtain some parochial charge ; and far removed, by their situa- 
tion, from the inspection of their monastic superiors, and exempt, by their 
character, from the jurisdiction of their diocesan,* they are hardly sub- 
jected to any control. According to the testimony of the most zealous 
catholics, many of the regular clei^y in the Spanish settlements are not 
only destitute of the virtues becoming their profession, but regardless of 
that external decorum and respect for the opinion of mankind, which pre- 
serve a semblance of worth where the reality is wanting. Secure of im- 
punity, some regulars, in contempt of their vow of poverty, engage openly 
in commerce, and are so rapaciously eager in amassing wealth, that they 
become the most grievous oppressors of the Indians whom it was their 
duty to have protected. Others, with no less flagrant violation of their 
vow of chastity, indulge with little disguise in the most dissolute licen- 
tiousness [I82]. 

Various schemes have been proposed for redressing enormities so mam 
fest and so offensive. Several persons, no less eminent for piety than 
discernment, have contended, that the regulars, in conformity to the canons 
of the church, ought to be confined within the walls of their cloisters, and 
should no longer be permitted to encroach on the functions of the secular 
clergy. Some public-spirited magistrates, from conviction of its being 
necessary to deprive the regulars of a privilege bestowed at first with 
good intention, but of which time and experience had discovered the per- 
nicious effects, openly countenanced the secular clergy in their attempts 
to assert their own rights. The prince D'Esquilache, viceroy of Peru 
under Philip III., took measures so decisive and effectual for circumscribing 
the regulars within their proper sphere as struck them with general con- 
sternation [l83]. They had recourse to their usual arts. They alarmed 
the superstitious, by representing the proceedings of the viceroy as inno- 
vations fatal to religion. They employed all the refinements of intrigue in 
order to gain persons in power ; and seconded by the powerful influence 
of the Jesuits, who claimed and enjoyed all the privileges which belonged to 
the Mendicant orders in America, they made a deep impression on a bigoted 
prince and a weak ministry. The ancient practice was tolerated. The 
abuses which it occasioned continued to increase, and the corruption of 
monks, exempt from the restraints of discipline, and the inspection of any 
superior, became a disgrace to religion. At last, as the veneration of the 
Spaniards for the monastic orders began to abate, and the power of the 
Jesuits was on the decline, Ferdinand VI. ventured to apply the only 
effectual remedy, by issuing an edict [June 23, 1757], prohibiting regulars 
of eveiy denomination from taking the chaige of any parish with the cure 
of souls ; and declaring that on the demise of the present incumbents, 

• Aveiiduno Thuf. Indie, li. 253. 



364 H I S T K f O r [Book VIII. 

none but secular priests, subject to the jurisdiction of their diocesane, shall 
be presented to vacant benefices.* II' this regulation is carried into exe- 
cution with steadiness in any degree proportional to the wisdom wilh which 
it is framed, a very considerable reformation may take place in the eccle- 
siastical state of bpatiish America, and the secular clergy may gradually 
become a respectable body of men. The deportment of many ecclesiastics, 
even at present, seems to be decent and exemplary ; otherwise we can 
hardly suppose that they would be held in such high estimation, and pos- 
sess such a wonderful ascendant over the minds of their countrjnien 
throughout all the Spanish settlements. 

But whatever merit the Spanish ecclesiastics in America may possess, 
the success of their endeavours in comuiunicating the knowledge of true 
religion to the Indians, has been more imperfect than might have been 
expected, either from the degree of their zeal, or from the dominion which 
they had acquired over that people. For this, various reasons may be 
assigned. The first missionaries, in their ardour to make proselytes, 
admitted the people of America into the Christian church without previous 
instruction in the doctrines of religion, and even before they theniselves 
had acquired such knowledge in the Indian language, as to be able to 
explain to the natives the mysteries of faith, or the precepts of duty. 
Resting upon a subtle distinction in scholastic theology, between that degree 
of assent which is founded on a complete knowledge and conviction of 
duty, and that which may be yielded when both these are imperfect, 
they adopted this strange practice, no less inconsistent with the spirit of a 
religion which addresses itself to the understanding of men, than repug- 
nant to the dictates of reason. As soon as any body of people overawed 
by dread of the Spanish power, moved by the example of their own 
chiefs, incited by levity, or yielding from mere ignorance, expressed the 
shghtest desire of embracing the religion of their conquerors, they were 
instantly baptized. While this rage uf conversion continued, a single 
clergyman baptized in one day above five thousand Mexicans, and did not 
desist until he was so exhausted by fatigue that he was unable to lift his 
hands.! In the course of a kw years alter the reduction of the Mexican 
empire, the sacrament of baptism was administered to more than four 
millions.;]; Proselytes adopted with such inconsiderate haste, and who were 
neither instructed in the nature of the tenets to which it was supposed they 
had given assent, nor taught the absurdity of those which they were required 
to relinquish, retained their veneration for their ancient superstitions in full 
force, or mingled an attachment to its doctrine and rites with that slender 
knowledge of Christianity which they had acquired. These sentiments 
the new converts transmitted to their posterity, into whose minds they 
have sunk so deep, that the Spanish ecclesiastics, with all their industry, 
have not been able to eradicate them. I'he religious institutions of their 
ancestors, are still remembered and held in honour by many of the Indians, 
both in Mexico and Peru ; and whenever they think themselves out of 
reach of inspection by the Spaniards, they assemble and celebrate their 
idolatrous rites. § 

But this is not the most unsurmountable obstacle to the progress of Chris- 
ti'inity among the Indians. The powers of their uncultivated understandings 
are so limited, their observations and reflections reach so iittle beyond the 
mere objects of sense, that they seem hardly to have the capacit}- of forming 
abstract ideas, and possess not language to express them. To such men the 
sublime and spiritual doctrines of Christianity must be, in a great measure, 
incomprehensible. The numerous and splendid ceremonies of the Popish 

* Real Ceilula MS. penes me. t P. Torribio, MS. Torqucm. Mond. Ind. lib. xvi. c. 6. 

X Torribio, M-'. Torquem. lib, xvi. «. 8. $ Voy. de Ulloa, i. 341. Torquem. lib. xv. c 

23. lib. xvi. c. 23. Gage, 171. 



AMERICA. 365 

worship catch the eye, please and interest them ; but when their instructers 
attempt to explain the articles of faith with which those external observances 
are connected, though the Indians may listen with patience, they so little 
conceive the meaning of what they hear, that their acquiescence does not 
merit the name of belief. Their indifference is still greater than their 
incapacity. Attentive only to the present moment, and engrossed by the 
objects before them, the Indians so seldom reflect upon what is past, or 
take thought for what is to come, that neither the promises nor threats of 
religion make much impression upon them ; and while their foresight rarely 
extends so far as the next day, it is almost impossible to inspire them with 
solicitude about the concerns of a future world. j\stonished equally at 
their slowness of comprehension, and at their insensibility, some of the 
early missionaries pronounced them a race of men so brutish as to be inca- 

Eable of understanding the first principles of religion. A council held at 
iraa decreed, that, on account of this incapacity, they ought to be ex- 
cluded from the sacrament of the Eucharist.* Though Paul III., by his 
famous bull issued in the year 1537, declared them to be rational creatures 
entitled to all the privileges of Christians ;t yet, after the lapse of two 
centuries, during which they have been members of the church, so imper- 
fect are their attainments in knowledge that very few possess such a portion 
of spiritual discernment as to be deemed worthy of being admitted to the 
holy communion. j From this idea of their incapacity and imperfect 
knowledge of religion, when the zeal of Philip II. established the inquisi- 
tion in America in the year 1370, the Indians were exempted from the 
jurisdiction of that severe tribunal,^ and still continue under the inspection 
of their diocesans. Even after the most perfect instruction, their faith is 
held to be feeble and dubious ; and though some of them have been taught 
the learned languages, and have gone through the ordinary course of 
academic education with applause, their frailty is still so much suspected, 
that few Indians are either ordained priests, or received into any religious 
orderll [l84]. 

From this brief survey some idea may be formed of the interior state 
of the Spanish colonies. The various productions with which they supply 
and enrich the mother country, and the system of commercial intercourse 
between them, come next in order to be explained. If the dominions of 
Spain in the New World had been of such moderate extent as bore a due 
proportion to the parent state, the progress of her colonising might have 
been attended with the same benefit as that of other nations. 15ut when, 
in less than half a century, her inconsiderate rapacity had seized on coun- 
tries larger than all Europe, her inability to fill such vast regions with a 
number of inhabitants sufficient for the cultivation of them was so obvious, 
as to give a wrong direction to all the efforts of the colonists. They did 
not form compact settlements, where industry, circumscribed within proper 
limits, both in its views and operations, is conducted with that sober per- 
severing spirit which gradually converts whatever is in its possession to a 
proper use, and derives thence the greatest advantage. Instead of this, 
the Spaniards, seduced by the boundless prospect which opened to them, 
divided their possessions in America into governments of great extent. As 
their number was too small to attempt the regular culture of the immense 
provinces which they occupied rather than peopled, they bent their atten- 
tion to a few objects that allured them with hopes of sudden and exorbitant 
gain, and turned away with contempt from the humbler paths of industry, 
which lead more slowly, but with greater certainty, to wealth and increase 
of national strength. 

Of all the methods by which riches may be acquired, that of searching 

• Torquem. lib. xvi. c. 20. t Id. lib. xvt. c. 25. Garcia Origin 311. J Voy. de UUoa, i. 
343. $ Recop. lib. vi. tit. i. 1. 35. U Torouem. lib. xvii. c. 13. 



366 HISTORY OF [BooKVin. 

for the precious metals is one of the most inviting to men who are either 
unaccustomed to the regular assiduity with which the culture of the earth 
and the operations of commerce must be carried on, or who are so enter- 
prising and rapacious as not to be satisfied with the gradual returns of profit 
which they yield. Accordingly, as soon as the several countries in America 
were subjected to the dominion of Spain, this was almost the only method 
of acquiring wealth Avhich occurred to the adventurers by Avhom they 
were conquered. Such provinces of the continent as did not allure tbem 
to setde, by the prospect of their affording gold and silver, were totally 
neglected. Those in which they m.et with a disappointment of the san- 
guine expectations they had formed, were abandoned. Even the value of 
the islands, the first fruits of their discoveries, and the first object of their 
attention, sunk so much in their estimation, when the mines which had 
been opened in thein were exhausted, that they were deserted by many 
of the planters, and left to be occupied by more industrious possessors. All 
crowded to Mexico and Peru, where the quantities of gold and silver found 
among (he natives, who searched for them with little industry and less 
skill, promised an unexhausted store, as the recompense of more intelligent 
and persevering efforts. 

During several years, the ardour of their researches was kept up by 
hope rather than success. At length, the rich silver mines of Poiosi in 
Peru were accidentally discovered in the year 1545* by an Indian, as he 
was clambering up the mountains in pursuit of a llama which had strayed 
from his flock. Soon after, the mines of Sacotecas in Nev/ Spain, little 
inferior to the other in value, were opened. From that time successive 
discoveries have been made in both colonies, and silver mines are now so 
numerous, that the working of them, and of some few mines of gold in the 
provinces of Tierra Firme, and the new kingdom of Granada, has become 
the capital occupation of the Spaniards, and is reduced into a system no 
less complicated than interesting. To describe the nature of the various 
ores, the mode of extracting them from the bowels of the earth, and to 
explain the several processes by which the metals are separated from the 
substances with which they are mingled, either by the action of fire, or the 
attractive pov/ers of mercury, is the province of the natural philosopher or 
chymist, rather than of the historian. 

The exuberant prolusion with which the mountains of the New World 
poured forth their treasures astonished mankind, who had been accustomed 
hitherto to receive a penurious supply of the precious metals from the more 
scanty stores contained in the mines of the ancient hemisphere. According 
to principles of computation, which appear to be extremely moderate, the 
quantity of gold and silver that has been regularly entered in the ports of 
Spain, is equal in value to four millions sterling annually, reckoning from 
the year 1492, in which America Avas discovered, to the present time. 
This, in two hundred and eighty-three years, amounts to eleven hundred 
and thirty-two millions. Immense as this sum is, the Spanish writers con- 
tend, that as much more ought to be added to it in consideration of treasure 
which has been extracted from the mines, and imported fraudulently into 
Spain without paying duty to the King. By this account, Spain has drawn 
from the New World a supply of wealth amounting at least to two thousand 
millions of pounds sterlingf [1B5]. 

The mines, which have yielded this amazing quantity of treasure, are 
not worked at the expense of the crown or of the public. In order to 
encourage private adventurers, the person who discovers and works a new 
vein is entitled to the property of it. Upon laying his claim to such a dis- 
covery before the governor of the province, a certain extent of land is 

* Fernandez, p. 1. lib. xi c. 11. f Uztariz Thcor. y Pract, de Commetcia, c. 3 Henera. 

dec. viii. lib. xi. c. 15. 



AMERICA. 367 

measured off, and a certain number of Indians allotted him, under the 
obligation of his opening the mine within a limited time, and of his paying 
the customarj' duty to the King for what it shall produce. Invited by the 
facility with which such grants are obtained, and encouraged by some 
striking examples of success in this line of adventure, not only the sanguine 
and the bold, but the timid and diffident, enter upon it with astonishing 
ardour. With vast objects always in view, fed continually with hope, and 
expecting every moment that fortune will unveil her secret stores, and give 
up the w'ealth which they contain to their wishes, they deem every other 
occupation insipid and uninteresting. The charms of this puisuii, like the 
rage lor deep play, are so bewitching, and take such full possession of the 
mind, as even to give a new bent to the natural temper. Under its in- 
fluence the cautious become enterprising, and the covetous profuse. Pow 
erful as this charm naturally is, its lorce is augmented by the arts of an 
order of men known in Peru by the cant name of searchers. These are 
commonly persons of desperate fortune, who, availing themselves of some 
skill in mineralogy, accompanied with the insinuating manner and confident 
pretensions peculiar to projectors, address the wealthy and the credulous 
By plausible descriptions of the appearances which they have discovered 
of rich veins hitherto unexplored ; by producing, when requisite, specimens 
of promising ore; by affirming, with an imposing assurance, that success is 
certain, and that the expense must be trifling, they seldom fail to persuade. 
An association is formed ; a small sum is advanced by each copartner ; the 
mine is opened ; the searcher is intrusted with the sole direction of every 
operation : unforeseen difficulties occur ; new demands of mone^ are made ; 
but, amidst a succession of disappointments and delays, hope is never ex- 
tinguished, and the ardour of expectation hardly abates. For it is observed, 
that if any person once enters this seducing path, it is almost impossible to 
return ; his ideas alter, he seems to be possessed with another spirit ] 
visions of imaginary wealth are continually before his eyes, and he thinks, 
and speaks, and drearns of nothing else.* 

Such is the spirit that must be formed, wherever the active exertions of 
any society are chiefly employed in working mines of gold and silver. No 
spirit is more adverse to such improvements in agriculture and commerce 
as render a nation really opulent. ' If the system of administration in the 
Spanish colonies had been founded upon principles of sound policy, the 
power and ingenuity of the legislator would have been exerted with as 
much ardour in restraining its subjects from such pernicious industry, as is 
now employed in alluring^hem towards it. "Projects of mining,"_says a 
good judge of the political conduct of nations, " instead of replacing the 
capital employed in them, together with the ordinaiy profit of stock, 
commonly absorb both capital and proflt. They are the projects, there- 
fore, to which, of all others, a prudent lawgiver, who desired to increase 
the capital of his nation, would least choose to give any extraordinary 
encouragement, or to turn towards them a greater share of that capiial 
than would go to them of its own accord. Such, in reality, is the absurd 
confidence which all men have in their own good fortune, that wherever 
there is the least probability of success, too great a share of it is apt to go 
to them of iis own accord.'"t But in the Spanish colonies, government is 
studious to cherish a spirit which it should have laboured to depress, and, 
by the sanction of its approbation, augments that inconsiderate credulity 
which has turned the active industry of Mexico and Peru into such an im- 
proper channel. To this may be imputed the slender progress which 
Spanish America has made, during two centuries and a half, either in useful 
manufactures, or in those lucrative branches of cultivation which furnish 

• UUoa Entreten. p. 223. t Or. Siiiitti's Inquiry, ice. li. 155. 



368 HISTORY OF [Book VIII. 

the colonies of other nations with their staple commodities. In comparison 
with tlie precious metals eveiy bounty of nature is so much despised, that 
this extravagant idea of their value has mingled with the idiom ot language 
in America, and the Spaniards settled there, dcnominite a country 7-2c7(, not 
from the fertility of its soil, the abundance of its crops, or the exuberance 
of its pastures, but on account of the minerals which its mountains con- 
tain. In quest of these, they abandon the delightful plains of Peru and 
Mexico, and resort to barren and uncoinf^ 'able regions, where they have 
built some of the largest towns which tney possess in the New World. 
As the activity and enterprise of the Spaniards originally took this dn-ec- 
tion, it is now sodifiRcuIt to bend them a different way, that although, from 
various causes, the gain of working mines is much decreased, the fascination 
continues, and almost every person, who takes any active part in the com- 
merce of New Spain or Peru, is still engaged in some adventure of this 
kind [186], 

But though mines are the chief object of the Spaniards, and the precious 
metals which these yield form the principal article in their conunerce 
with America ; the lertile countries which they possess there abound with 
other coimnodities of such value, or scarcity, as to attract a considerable 
degree of attention. Cochineal is a production almost peculiar to New 
Spain, of such demand in commerce that the sale is always certain, and 
yet 3'ields such profit as amply rewards the labour and care employed in 
rearing the curious insects of which this valuable drug is composed, and 
preparing it for the market. Quinquina, or Jesuits' Bark, the most salutary 
simple, perhaps, and of most restorative virtue, that Providence, in com- 
passion to human infirmity, has made known unto man, is found only in 
Peru, to which it affords a lucrative branch of commerce. The Indigo ot 
Guatimala is superior in quality to that of any province in America, and 
cultivated to a considerable extant. Cacao, though not peculiar to the 
Spanish colonies, attains to its highest state of pert'ection there, and, from 
the great consuinption of chocolate in Europe, as well as in America, is a 
valuable commodity. The Tobacco of Cuba, of more exquisite flavour 
than any brought li'om the New World ; the Sugar raised in that island, 
in Hispaniola, and in New Spain, together with drugs of various kinds, 
may be mentioned among the natural productionsofAtnerica which enrich 
the Spanish commerce. To these must be added an article of no incon- 
siderable account, the exportation of hides ; for which, as well as lor man}"- 
of those which I have enumerated, the Spaniards are more indebted to the 
v/onderful fertility of the country, than to their own foresight and industry. 
The domestic animals of Europe, particularly horned cattle, have multiplied 
in the New World with a rapidity which almost exceeds belief. A lew 
years after the Spaniards settled there, the lierds of tame cattle became so 
numerous that their proprietors reckoned *.\\em by thousands.* Less atten- 
tion being paid to them as they continued to increase, they were suffered 
to run wild ; and spieading over a country of boundless extent, under a 
mild climate and covered with rich pasture, their number became im- 
mense. They range over the vast plains which extend from Buenos Ayres 
towards the Andes, in herds of thirty or forty thousand ; and the unlucky 
traveller who once falls in amoiig them, may proceed several days before 
he can disentang'e himself from among the crowd that covers tlie (ace of 
the earth, and seems to have no end. They are hardly less numerous m 
New Spain, and in several other provinces : they are killed merely for 
the sake of their hides ; and the slaughter at certain seasons is so great- 
that the sterich of the carcasses, wnich are left in the field, would infect 
the air, if large packs of wild dogs, and vast tlocks of gallinazos, or 

• Oviedo cp. Ramus, iii. 101, B. Ilakluyt, iil. 46Ct511. 



AMERICA 369 

American vultures, the most voracious of all the feathered kind, did not 
mstantly devour them. The number of those hides exported in every 
fleet to Europe, is very great, and is a lucrative branch of commerce.* 

Almost all these may be considered as staple commodities peculiar to 
America, and different, if we except that last mentioned, from the produc- 
tions of the mother countiy. 

When the importation into Spain of those various articles from her colo- 
nies first became active and considerable, her interior industry and manu- 
factures were in a state so prosperous, that with the product of these she 
was able both to purchase the commodities of the New World, and to 
answer its growing; demands. Under the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, 
and Charles V., Spain was one of the most industrious countries in Europe. 
Her manutactures in wool, and flax, and silk, were so extensive, as not only 
to furnish what was sufhcient for her own consumption, but to afford a sur- 
plus for exportation. When a market for them, formerly unknown, and 
to whicli she alone had access, opened in America, she had recourse to her 
domestic store, and found there an abundant supply [lC7]. This new em- 
ployment must naturally have added vivacity to the spirit of industry. 
Nourished and invigorated by it, the inanufactures, the population, and 
wealth of Spain, might have gone on increasing in the same proportion 
with the growth of her colonies. Nor was the state of the Spanish marine 
at this period less flourishing than that of its manufactures. In the begin- 
ning of the sixteenth century, Spain is said to have possessed above a 
thousand merchant ships,! a number probably far superior to that of any 
nation in Europe in that age. By the aid which foreign trade and domes- 
tic industry give reciprocally to each other in their progress, the augmen- 
tation of both must have been rapid and extensive, and Spain might have 
received the same accession of opulence and vigour from her acquisitions 
in the New World that other powers have derived from their colonies 
there. 

But various caus^es prevented tliis. The same thing happens to nations 
as to individuals. VVealth, which flows in gradually, and with moderate 
increase, feeds and nourishes that activity which is friendly to conmierce, 
and calls it forth into vigorous and well conducted exertions; but when 
opulence pours in suddenly, and with too full a stream, it overturns all 
sober plans of i-^.dustry, and brings along with it a taste for what is wild 
and extravagant and daring in business or in action. Such was the great 
and sudden augmentation of power and revenue that the possession of 
America brought irito Spain ; and some symptoms o( its pernicious influ- 
ence upon the political operations of that monarchy soon began to appear. 
For a considerable time, however, the supply of treasure from the New 
World was scanty and precarious ; and the genius of Cliarles V. conducted 
public measuies with such prudence, that the effects of this influence were 
little perceived. But when Philip 11. ascended the Spanish throne, with 
talents far inferior to those of his mlher, and remittances from the colonies 
became a regular and considerable branch of revenue, the fatal operation 
of this rapid change in the state of the kingdom, both on the monarch and 
his people, was at once conspicuous. Philip, possessing that spirit of un- 
ceasing assiduity which often characterizes the ambition of men of mode- 
rate talents, entertained such a high opinion of his own resources that he 
thought nothing too arduous for him to undertake. Shut up himself in 
the solitude of the Escurial, he troubled and annoyed all the nations around 
him. He waged open war with the Dutch and English ; he encouraged 
and aided a rebellious faction in France ; he conquered Portugal, and 
maintained armies and garrisons in Italy, Africa, and both the Indies. By 

* Acosta, lih. iii c. 33. Ovallo Hist. ^fCliili. Church. Collrct. iii 47. sept Ibid. v. p C>?0 
C;>2. Letlres Edit. xiii. 2:55. Feuille, i.aiO K^"'"ii>omam's, ii. 140. 

Vol. I.— 47 



370 HISTORY OF [Book Vlil, 

such a multiplicity of great and complicated operations, pursued with 
ardour during the course of a Ion? reign, Spain was drained both of men 
and money. Under the weak administration ot" his successor, Philip HI. 
[A. D. 1611], llie vigour of the nation continued to decrease, andsunii into 
the lowest decline, when the inconsiderate bigotr}' of that monarch expel 
led at once near a million of his most industrious subjects, at the veiy time 
when the exhausted state of the kingdom required some extraordinary ex- 
ertion of political wisdom to augment its numbers, and to revive its strength. 
Early in the seventeenth century, Spain felt such a diminution in the nuai 
ber of her people, that from inability to recruit her armies she was obliged 
to contract her operations. Her flourishing manufactures were fallen into 
decay. Her fleets, which had been the terror of all Europe, were ruined. 
Her extensive foreign commerce was lost. The trade between different 
parts of her own dominions was interrupted, and the ships which attempt- 
ed to carry it on were taken and plundered by enemies whom she once 
despised. Even agriculture, the primary object of industry in ever)' pros- 

f)erous state, was neglected, and one of the most fertile countries in Europe 
lardly raised what was sufficient for the support of its own inhabitants. 

In proportion as the population and manufactures of the parent state de- 
clined, the demands of her colonies continued to increase. The Spaniards, 
like their monarchs, intoxicated with the wealth which poured in annually 
upon them, deserted the paths of industry to which they had been accus- 
tomed, and repaired with eagerness to those regions iVom which this opu- 
lence issued. By this rage of emigration another drain was opened, and 
the strength of the colonies augmented by exhausting that of the mother 
country. All those emigrants, as .well as the adventurers who had at first 
settled in America, depended absolutely upon Spain for almost every arti- 
cle of necessary consumption. Engaged in more alluring and lucrative 
pursuits, or prevented by restraints which government imposed, they could 
not turn their own attention towards establishing the manufactures requisite 
for comfortable subsistence. They received (as I have observed in another 
place) their clothing, their furniture, whatever ministers to the ease or lux- 
ury of life, and even their instruments of labour, from Europe. Spain, 
thinned of people and decreasing in industry, was unable to supply their 
growing demands. She had recourse to her neighbours. The manufac- 
tures of the Low Countries, of England, of France, and of Italy, which 
her wants called into existence or animated with new vivacity, furnished 
in abundance whatever she required. In vain did the fundamental law, 
concerning the exclusion of foreigners from trade with America, oppose 
this innovation. Necessity, more powerful than any statute, defeated its 
operation, and constrained the Spaniards themselves to concur in eluding 
it. The English, the French, and Dutch, relying on the fidelity and honour 
of Spanish merchants, who lend their names to cover the deceit, send out 
their manufactures to America, and receive the exorbitant price for which 
they are sold there, either in specie, or in the rich commodities of the 
New World. Neither the dread of danger, nor the allurement of profit 
ever induced a Spanish factor to betray or defraud the person who confided 
in him ;* and that probity, which is the pride and distinction of the nation, 
contributes to its ruin. In a short time, not above a twentieth part of the 
commodities exported to America, was of Spanish growth or fabric! All 
Ihe rest was the property of foreign merchants, though entered in the 
name of Spaniards. The treasure of the New World may be said hence- 
forward not to have belonged to Spain. Before it reached Europe it was 
anticipated as the price ol goods purchased from foreigners. That wealth 
which by an internal circulation, would have spread through each vein of 
industry, and have conveyed life and movement to every branch of manu- 

* Zavala Representaclon, p. 2i26. t Campoinanps, ii. 133. 



AMERICA. 371 

lacture, flowed out of the kingdom with such a rapid course as neither 
enriched nor animated it. On the other hand, the artisans of rival nations, 
encouraged by this quick sale of their commodities, improved so much in 
skill and industry as to be able to afford them at a rale so low, that the 
manufactures of Spain, which could not vie with theirs either in quality 
or cheapness of work, were still further depressed. This destructive 
commerce drained oif the riches of the nation faster and more completely 
than even the extravagant schemes of ambition carried on by its monarchs. 
Spain was so much astonished and distressed at beholding her American 
treasures vanish almost as soon as they were imported, that Philip III., un- 
able to supply what was requisite in circulation, issued an edict, by which 
he endeavoured to raise copper money to a value in currency nearly equal 
to that of silver;* and the lord of the Peruvian and Mexican mines was 
reduced to a wretched expedient, which is the last resource of petty im- 
poverished states. 

Thus the possessions of Spain in America have not proved a source ol 
population and of wealth to her in the same manner as those of other 
nations. In the countries of Europe, where the spirit of industiy subsists 
in full vigour, every person settled in such colonies as are similar in their 
situation to those of Spain, is supposed to give employment to three or 
four at home in supplying his wants.j But wherever the mother country 
cannot afford this supply, every emigrant may be considered as a citizen 
lost to the community, and strangers must reap all the benefit of answer- 
ing his demands. 

Such has been the internal state of Spain from the close of the sixteenth 
century, and such her inability to supply the growing wants of her colonies. 
The fatal effects of this disproportion between their demand's, and her 
capacity of answering them, ha\e been much increased by the mode in 
which Spain has endeavoured to regulate the intercourse between the 
mother country and her colonies. It is from her idea of monopolising the 
trade with America, and debarring her subjects there from any communi- 
cation with foreigners, that all her jealous and systematic arrangements 
have arisen. These are so singular in their nature and consequences as 
to merit a particular explanation. In order to secure the monopoly at 
which she aimed, Spain did not vest the trade with her colonies in an 
exclusive company, a plan which has been adopted by nations more com- 
mercial, and at a period when mercantile policy was an object of greater 
attention, and ought to have been better understood. The Dutch gave up 
the whole trade with their colonies, both in the East and West Indies, to 
exclusive companies. The English, the French, the Danes, have imitated 
their example with respect to the East Indian commerce ; and the two 
former have laid a similar restraint upon some branches of their trade with 
the New World. The wit of man cannot, perhaps, devise a method for 
checking the progress of industry and population in a new colony more effec- 
tual than this. The interest of the colony, and of the exclusive company, 
must in every point be diametrically opposite ; and as the latter possesses 
such advantages in this unequal contest, that it can prescribe at pleasure 
the terms of intercourse, the former must not only buy dear and sell cheap, 
but must suffer the mortification of having the increase of its surplus stock 
discouraged by those very persons to whom alone it can dispose of its 
productions.;]; 

Spain, it is probable, was preserved from falling into this error of policy 
by the high ideas which she early formed concerning the riches of the 
New World. Gold and silver were commodities of too high a value to 
vest a monopoly of them in private hands. The crown wished to retain the 
direction of a commerce so inviting ; and, in order to secure that, ordained 

» Uztarez. c JO* t Child on Trade and Colonies. J Smith's Inquiry, U. 171. 



372 HISTORY OF [Book VIII 

the cargo of every ship fitted out for America to be inspected by the 
ofHcers of the Casa de Contratacion in Seville before it could receive a 
license to make the voyag;e ; dnd that, on its retuif), a report of the com- 
mo-iiiies wliioh it brought slio'iid be made to the same board before it 
could be per.nitled to land thein. In consequence of this regulation, all 
the trade of Spain with the New World centred originally in the port of 
Saville, and was gradually brought into a Ibrm, in which it has been con- 
ducted, with little variation, froin (he middle of the sixteenth century almost 
to our own times. For the greater security of the valuable cargoes sent 
to America, as well as for the more easy prevention of fraud, the commerce 
of Spain with its colonies is carried on by fleets which sail under strong 
convoys. These fleets, consisting of two squadrons, one disiinguished by 
the name of the Galems, the other by that of the Flota, are equipped 
annually. Formerly they took their departure from Seville ; but as the 
port ol" Cadiz has been tbund more commodious, they have sailed from it 
since the year 1720. 

The Galeons destined to supply Tierra Firme, and the kingdoms of 
Peru and Chiii, with almost every article of luxury or necessary consump 
tion, that an opulent people can demand, touch first at Carthagena, and 
then at Porto Bello. To the former, the merchants of Santa Martha, 
Caraccas. the New Kingdom of Granada, and several other provinces, 
resort. 'J'he latter is the great mart for the rich commerce of Peru and 
Chili. _ At the season when the Galeons are expected, the product of all 
the mines in these two kingdoms, together with their other valuable com- 
modities, is transported by sea to Panama. From thence, as soon as the 
appearance of the fleet from Europe is announced, they are conveyed 
across the isthirius, partly on mules and partly down the river Chagre to 
Porto Bello. This paltry village, the climate of which, from the pernicious 
union of excessive heat, continual moisture, and the putrid exhalations 
arising from a rank soil, is more fatal to life than any perhaps in the known 
world, is immediately filled with people. From being the residence of a 
few Negroes and Mulattoes, and of a miserable garrison relieved every 
three months, Porto Bello assumes suddenly a very different aspect, and 
its streets are crowded with opulent merchants from every corner of Peru 
and the adjacent provinces. A fair is opened, the wealth of America is 
exchanged for the manufactures of Europe ; and, during its prescribed term 
of forty days, the richest traffic on the face of the earth is begun and 
finished with that simplicity of transaction, and that unbounded confidence, 
which accompany extensive commerce [l88]. The Flota holds its course 
to Vera Cruz. The treasures and commodities of New Spain, and the 
depending provinces, which were deposited at Puebia de los Angeles, in 
expectation of its arrival, are carried thither ; and the commercial opera- 
tions of Vera Cruz, conducted in the same manner with those of Porto 
Bello, are inferior to them only in i.iiportance and value. Both fleets, as 
soon as they have completed their caj'goes from America, rendezvous at 
the Havana, and return in company to Europe. 

The trade of Spain with her colonies, while thus fettered and restricted, 
came necessarily to be conducted with the same spirit, and upon the same 
principles as that of an exclusive company. Being confined to a single 
port, it was of course thrown into a (ew hands, and almost the whole of it 
was gradually engrossed by a small number of wealthy houses, formerly 
in Seville, and now in Cadiz. These by combinations, which they can 
easily form, may altogether prevent that competition which preserves 
commodities at their natural price ; and by acting in concert, to which 
they are prompted by their mutual interest, they may raise or lower the 
value of them at pleasure. In consequence of this, the price of European 
goods in America is always high, and often exorbitant. A hundred, two 
hundred, and even three hundred per cent., are profits not uncommon in 



AMERICA. 373 

the commerce of Spain with her colonies.* From the same engrossing 
spirit it frequently happens that traders of the second order, whose ware- 
houses do not contain a complete assortment of commodities for the Ameri- 
can market, cannot purchase from the more opulent merchants such goods 
as they want at a lower price than that for which they are sold in the 
colonies. With the same vigilant jealousy that an exclusive company 
guards against the intrusion of the free trader, those overgrown monopolists 
endeavour to check tlie progress of every one whose encroachments they 
dread. t This restraint of the American commerce to one port not only 
afftcts itsdomestic state, but limits its foreign operations. A monopolist may 
acquire more, and certainly will hazard less, by a confined trade which 
yields exorbitant profit, than by an extensive commerce in which he receives 
only a moderate return of gain. It is often his interest not to enlarge, but 
to circumscribe the sphere of his acti\ity ; and instead of calling forth 
more vigorous exertions of commercial industry, it may be the object of 
his attention to check and set bounds to them. By some such maxim the 
mercantile policy of Spain seems to have regulated its intercourse with 
America. Instead of furnishing the colonies with European goods in such 
quantity as might render both the price and the profit moderate, the mer- 
chants of Seville and Cadiz seem to have supplied them with a sparing 
hand, that the eagerness of competition, among customers obliged to pur- 
chase in a scanty market, might enable the Spanish factors to dispose of 
their cai^oes with exorbitant gain. About the middle of the last century, 
when the exclusive trade to America from Seville was in its most flourishing 
state, the burden of the two united squadrons of the Galeons and Flota did 
not exceed twenty-seven thousand five hundred tons.J The supply which 
such a fleet could carry must have been very inadequate to the demands 
of those populous and extensive colonies, which depended upon it for all 
the luxuries and many of the necessaries of life. 

Spain early became sensible of her declension from her former pros- 
perity ; and many respectable and virtuous citizens employed their thoughts 
in devising methods for reviving the decaying industry and commerce of 
their country. From the violence of the remedies proposed, we may 
judge how desperate and f;ital the malady appeared. Some, confounding 
a violation of police with criminality against the state, contended that, in 
order to check illicit commerce, every person convicted of carrying it on 
should be punished with death, and confiscation of all his efl'ects.^ Others, 
forgetting the distinction between civil offences and acts of impiety, insisted 
that contraband trade should be ranked among the crimes reserved for the 
cognisance of the Inquisition ; that such as were guilty of it might be 
tried and punished according to the secret and summary form in which 
that dreadful tribunal exercises its jurisdiction.il Other.--, iminstructed by 
observing the pernicious effects of monopolies in every country where they 
have been established, have proposed to vest the trade with America in 
exclusive companies, which interest would render the most vigilant guardians 
of the Spanish commerce against the encroachment of the interlopers. H 

Besides these wild projects, many schemes, better digested and more 
beneficial, were suggested. But under the feeble monarchs with whom 
the reign of the Austrian line in Spain closed, incapacity and indecision 
are conspicuous in every department of government. Instead of taking 
for their model the active administration of Charles V., they afiected to 
imitate the cautious procrastinating wisdom of Philip II.; and destitute of 
his talents, they deliberated perpetually, but determined nothing. No 
remedy was applied to the evils under which the national commerce, 

* B. Ulina FMablia<>. part ii. p. 191. 1 Smith's Tnqiiiry, ii. 171. Campomanos, Educ. Popul. 

i. 43. t Ibid. i. 435. ii. 140. ^ M. de Sanla Cruz Comiix rcia .Suelio, p. I4'2. Ii Moucada 

R^tauracioD politica de Espagna, p. il. V Zavalla y Aufinon Kepreseotaciou, &c. p. 190 



874 H I S T O R Y O I-- [Book VIII. 

domestic as well as foreign, languished. These evils continued to increase * 
and Spain, with dominions more extensive and more opulent than any 
European state, possessed neither vigour, nor money [l89], nor industry. At 
length, the violence of a great national convulsion roused the slumbering 
genius of Spain. The efforts of the two contending parties in the civil 
war kindled by the dispute concerning the succession of the crown at the 
beginning of this century, called forth, in isome degree, the ancient spirit 
and vigour of the nation. While men were thus forming, capable of 
adopting sentiments more liberal than those which had influenced the 
councils of the monarchy during the course of a century, Spain derived 
from an unexpected source the means of availing itself of their talents. 
The various powers who favoured the pretensions either of the Austrian 
or Bourbon candidate for the Spanish throne, sent formidable lleets and 
armies to their support ; France, England, and Holland remitted immense 
sums to Spain. These were spent in the provinces wliich became the 
theatre of war. Part of the American treasure, ox which foreigners had 
drained the kingdom, flowed back thither. From this era one of the most 
intelligent Spanish authors dates the revival of the monarchy ; and, how- 
ever humiliating the truth may be, he acknowledges, that it is to her 
enemies his country is indebted for the acquisition of a fund of circulating 
specie in some measure adequate to the exigencies of the public* 

As soon as the Bourbons obtained quiet possession of the throne, they 
discerned this change in the spirit of the people and in the state of the 
nation, and took advantage of it ; for although that family has not given 
rnonarchs to Spain remarkable for superiority of genius, they have all been 
beneficent princes, attentive to the happiness of their subjects, and solicit- 
ous to promote it. It was, accordingly, the first object of Philip V. to 
suppress an innovation which had crept in during the course of the war, 
and had overturned the whole system of the Spanish commerce with 
America. The English and Dutch, by their superiority in naval power, 
having acquired such command of the sea as to cut off all intercourse be- 
tween Spain and her colonies, Spain, in order to furnish her subjects in 
America those necessaries of life without which they could not exist, and 
as the only means of receiving from thence any part ot their treasure, de- 
parted so far from the usual rigour of its maxims as to open the trade with 
Peru to her allies the French. The merchants of St. Malo, to whom 
Louis XIV. granted the privilege of this lucrative commerce, engaged in 
it with vigour, and carried it on upon principles very different from those 
of the Spaniards. They supplied Peru with European commodities at a 
moderate price, and not in stinted quantity. The goods which they im- 
ported were conveyed to every province of Spanish America in such abun- 
dance as had never been known in any former period. If this intercourse 
had been continued, the exportation of European commodities from Spain 
must have ceased, and the dependence of the colonies on the mother coun- 
try have been at an end. The most peremptory injunctions were therefore 
issued [1713], prohibiting the admission of foreign vessels into any port of 
Peru or Chili,t and a Spanish squadron was employed to clear the South 
Sea of intruders, whose aid was no longer necessary. 

But though, on the cessation of >he war which was terminated by the 
treaty of litrecht, Spain obtained relief from one encroachment on her 
commercial system, she was exposed to another which she deemed hardly 
less pernicious. As an inducement that might prevail with Queen Anne 
to conclude a peace, which France and Spain desired with equal ardour, 
Philip V. not only conveyed to Great Britain the Jlssiento, or contract foi 
supplying the Spanish colonies with Negroes, which had formerly been 

• Campomanes, i. 430. t Frezier Voy. 256. B. UUoa Retab. ii. 104, te. Alcedo y Herrera, 
Aviso, jtc. 230. 



AMERICA. S7« 

enjoyed by France, but granted it the more extraordinary privilege of 
sending annunlly to the fair of Porto Bello a ship of five hundred tons, 
laden with European commodities. In consequence of this, British facto- 
ries were established at Carthagena, Panama, Vera Cruz, Buenos Ayres, 
and other Spanish settlements. The veil with which Spain had hitherto 
covered the slate and transactions of her colonies was removed. The 
agents of a rival nation, residing in the towns of most extensive trade, and 
of chief resort, had the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with 
the interior condition of the American provinces, of observing their stated 
and occasional wants, and of knowing what commodities might be importec? 
into them with the greatest advantage. In consequence of information 
so authentic and expeditious, the merchants of Jamaica and other English 
colonies who traded to ihe Spanish main were enabled to assort and pro- 
portion their cargoes so exactly to the demands of the market, that the 
contraband commerce was carried on with a facility and to an extent un- 
known in any former period. This, however, was not the most fatal con- 
sequence of the Assiento to the trade of Spain. The agents of the British 
South Sea Company, under cover of the importation which they were au- 
thorized to make by the ship sent annually to Porto Belle, poured in their 
commodities on the Spanish continent without limitation or restraint. In- 
stead of a ship of five hundred tons, as stipulated in the treaty, they usually 
employed one which exceeded nine hundred tons in burthen. She was 
accompanied by two or three smaller vessels, which, mooring in some neigh- 
bouring creek, supplied her clandestinely with fresh bales of goods to 
replace such as were sold. The inspectors of the fair, and officers of the 
revenue, gained by exorbitant presents, connived at the fraud [190]. Thus, 
partly by the operations ol the company, and partly by the activity of 
private interlopers, almost the whole trade of Spanish America was er^ross- 
ed by foreigners. The immense commerce of the Galeons, formerly the 
pride of Spain, and the envy of other nations, sunk to nothing [1737] ; and 
the squadron itself, reduced from fifteen thousand to two thousand tons,* 
served hardly any purpose but to fetch home the royal revenue arising 
from the fifth on silver. 

While Spain observed those encroachments, and felt so sensibly their 
pernicious effects, it was impossible not to make some effort to restrain 
them. Her first expedient was to station ships of ibrce, under the appel- 
lation of guarda castas, upon the coasts of those provinces to which inter- 
lopers most frequently resorted. As private interest concurred with the 
duty which they owed to the public, in rendering the officers who com- 
manded those vessels vigilant and active, some check was given to the 
progress of the contraband trade, though in dominions so extensive and so 
accessible by sea, hardly any number of cruisers was sufficient to guard 
against its inroads in every quarter. This interruption of an intercourse 
which had been carried on with so much facility, that the merchants in the 
British colonies were accustomed to consider it almost as an allowed branch 
of commerce, excited murmurs and complaints. These, authorized in 
some measure, and rendered more interesting by several unjustifiable acts 
of violence committed by the captains of the Spanish guarda costas, pre- 
cipitated (ireat Britain into a war with Spain [1739] ; in consequence of 
which the latter obtained a final release from the Assiento, and was left at 
liberty to regulate the commerce of her colonies without being restrained 
by any engagement with a foreign power. 

As the formidable encroachments of the English on their American 
trade, had discovered to the Spaniards the vast consumption of European 
goods in their colonies, and taught them the advantage of accommodating 
tiieir importations to the occasional demand of the various provinces, they 

* Alc»do y H«rr«rB, p. 359. CampomaiMe, I. 4J& 



376 HISTORY OF [Book VIII. 

perceived the necessity of devising some method of supplying their colo- 
nies, different from their ancient one of sending thither periodical fleets. 
That mode of communication bad been tbund not only to be uncertain, as 
the departure of the Galeons and Flota was sometimes retarded by various 
accidents, and often prevented by the wars which raged in Europe ; but 
long experience had shown it to be ill adapted to afiord America a regu- 
lar and timely supply of what it wanted. The scarcity of European 
goods in the Spanish settlements frequently became excessive ; their price 
rose to an enormous iieight ; the vigilant eye of mercantile attention did 
not fail to observe this favourable opportunity ; an ample supply was poured 
in by interlopers from the English, the French, and Dutch islands ; and 
when the Galeons at length arrived, they found the markets so glutted by 
tnis illicit commerce, that there was no demand for the commodities with 
which they were loaded. In order to remedy this, Spain has permitted a 
considerable part of her commerce with America to be carried on by regis- 
ter ships. These are fitted out during the intervals between the stated 
seasons when the Galeons and Flota sail, by merchants in Seville or Cadiz, 
upon obtaining a license from the council of the Indies, ibr which they pay 
a very high premium, and are destined for those ports in America where 
any extraordinaiy demand is foreseen or expected. By this expedient, 
such a regular supply of the commodities for which there is the greatest 
demand is conveyed, to the American market, that the interloper is no 
longer allured by the same prospect of excessive gain, or the people in the 
colonies urged by the same necessity to engage in the hazardous adventures 
of contraband trade. 

In proportion as experience manifested the advantages of carrying on 
trade in this mode, the number of register ships increased ; and at length, 
in the year 1748, the Galeons, after having been employed upwards of 
two centuries, were finally laid aside. From that period there has been 
no intercourse with Chili and Peru but by single ships, despatched from 
time to time as occasion requires, and when the merchants expect a profit- 
able market Avill open. These ships sail round Cape Horn, and convey 
directly to the ports in the South Sea the productions and manufactures of 
Europe, for which the people settled in those countries were formerly 
obliged to repair to Porto Bello or Panama. These towns, as lias been 
formerly observed, must gradually decline, when deprived of that com- 
merce to which they owed their prosperity. This disadvantage, however, 
is more than compensated by the beneficial effects of this new arrange- 
ment, as the whole continent of South America receives new supplies of 
European commodities with so much regularity, and in such abundance, as 
must not only contribute greatly to the happiness, but increase the popu- 
lation of all the colonies settled there. But as all the register ships destisied 
for the South Seas must still take their departure from Cadiz, and are 
obliged to return thither,* this branch of the American commerce, even in 
its new and improved form, continues subject to the restraints of a species 
of monopoly, and feels those pernicious effects of it which I have already 
described. 

Nor has the attention of Spain been confined to regulating the trade 
with its more flourishing colonies ; it has extended likewise to the reviving 
commerce in those settlements where it was neglected, or had decayed. 
Among the new tastes which the people of Europe have acquired in con- 
sequence of importing the productions of those countries which they 
conquered in America, that for chocolate is one of the most universal. 
The use of this liquor, made with a paste formed of the nut or almond 
of the cacao free compour)ded with various ingredients, the Spaniards first 
learned from the Mexicans ; and it has appeared to them, and to the other 

* Campomanes, i 424, 440. 



AMERICA. 377 

European nations, so palatable, so nourishing, and so wholesome, that it 
has become a commercial article of considerable importance. The cacao 
tree grows spontaneously in several parts of the torrid zone ; but the nuts 
of the best quality, next to those of Guatimala on the South sea, are pro- 
duced in the rich plains of Caraccas, a province of Tierra Firme. In 
consequence of this acknovvledoed superiority in the quality ot cacao in 
that province, and its communication with the Atlantic, which facilitates 
the conveyance to Europe, the culture of the cacao there is more extensive 
than in any district of America. But the Dutch, by the vicinity of their 
settlements in the small islands of Curazoa and Buenos Ayres, to the coast 
of Caraccas, gradually engrossed the greatest part of the cacao trade. 
The traffic with the mother country for this valuable commodity ceased 
almost entirely ; and such was the supine negligence of the Spaniards, or 
the defects of their commercial arrangements, that they were obliged to 
receive from the hands of foreigners this production of their own colonies 
at an exorbitant price. In order to remedy an evil no less disgraceful than 
pernicious to his subjects, Philip V., in the year 1728, granted to a body 
of merchants an exclusive right to the commerce with Caraccas and 
Cumana, on condition of their employing, at their own expense, a sufficient 
number of armed vessels to clear the coast of interlopers. This society, 
distinguished sometimes by the name of the Company of Guipuscoa, from 
the province of Spain in which it is established, and sometimes by that of 
the Company of Caraccas, from the district of America to which it trades, 
has carried on its operations with such vigour and success, that Spain has 
recovered an important branch of commerce which she had suffered to be 
wrested from her, and is plentifully supplied with an article of extensive 
consumption at a moderate price. Not only the parent state, but the colony 
of Caraccas, has derived great advantages from this institution ; for 
although, at the first aspect, it may appear to be one of those monopolies 
whose tendency is to check the spirit of industry instead of calling it forth 
to new exertions, it has been prevented from operating in this manner by 
several salutary regulations framed upon foresight of such bad effects, and 
on purpose to obviate them. The planters in the Caraccas are not left to 
depend entirely on the company, either for the importation of European 
commodities or the sale of their own productions. The inhabitants of the 
Canary islands have the privilege of sending thither annually a register 
ship of considerable burden ; and from Vera Cruz, in New Spain, a free 
trade is permitted in every port comprehended in the charter of the 
company. In consequence of this, there is such a competition, that both 
with respect to what the colonies purchase and what they sell, the price 
seems to be fixed at its natural and equitable rate. The company has not 
the power of raising the former, or of degrading the latter, at pleasure ; 
and accordingly, since it was established, the increase of culture, of popu- 
lation, and of live stock, in the province of Caraccas, has been very consi- 
derable [l9l]. 

But as it IS slowly that nations relinquish any system which time has 
rendered venerable, and as it is still more slowly that commerce can be 
diverted from the channel in which it has long been accustomed to How, 
Philip v., in his new regulations concerning the American trade, paid such 
deference to the ancient maxim of Spain, concerning the limitation of 
importation from the New World to one harbour, as to oblige both the 
register ships which returned from Peru, and those of the Guipusccan 
Company from Caraccas, to deliver their cargoes in the port of Cadiz. 
Since his jeign, sentiments more liberal and enlarged begin to spread in 
Spain. Ttie spirit of philosophical inquiry, which it is the gloiy of the 
present age to nave turned from frivolous or abstruse speculations to the 
business and affairs of men, has extended its influence beyond the Pyre- 
nees. In the researches of ingenious authors concerning the police or 

Vol. I. — 18 18 



378 HISTORY OF [Book VIII. 

commerce of nations, the errors and defects of the Spanish system with 
respect to both met every eye, and have not only been exposed with seve- 
rity, but are held up as a warning to other states. The Spaniards, stung 
with the reproaches of these authors, or convinced by their argnments, 
and admonished by several enlightened writers of their own country, seem 
at length to have discovered the destructive tendency of those narrow 
maxims, which, by cramping commerce in all its operations, have so long 
retarded its progress. It is to the monarch now on the throne that Spain is 
indebted for the first public regulation formed in consequence of such 
enlarged ideas. 

While Spain adhered with rigour to her ancient maxim concerning her 
commerce with America, she was so much afraid of opening any channel 
by which an illicit trade might find admission into the colonies, that she 
almost shut herself out from any intercourse with them but that which was 
carried on b^ her annual fleets. There was no establishment, for a regular 
communication of either public or private intelligence, between the mother 
country and its American settlements. From the want of this necessary 
institution, the operations of the state, as well as the business of individuals, 
were retarded, or conducted unskilfully, and Spain often received from 
foreigners her first inibrmation with respect to veiy interesting events in 
her own colonies. But though this defect in police was sensibly felt, and 
the remedy for it was obvious, that jealous spirit with which the Spanish 
monarchs guarded tl>e exclusive trade, restrained them from applying it. 
At length Charles III. surmounted those considerations which had dcteired 
his predecessors, and in the year 1764 appointed packet boats to be 
despatched on the first day of each month from Corugna to the Havanna 
or Porto Rico. From thence letters are conveyed in smaller vessels to 
Vera Cruz and Porto Bello, and transmitted by post through the kingdoms 
of Tierra Firme, Granada, Peru, and New Spain. With no less regularity 
packet boats sail once in two months to Rio de la Plata, for the accommo- 
dation of the provinces to the east of the Andes. Thus provision is made 
for a speedy and certain circulation of intelligence throughout the vast 
dominions of Spain, from which equal advantages must redound to the 
political and mercantile interest of the kingdom.* With this new ar- 
rangement a scheme of extending commerce has been more immediately 
connected. Each of the packet boats, which are vessels of some consi- 
derable burden, is allowed to take in half a loading of such commodities 
as are the product of Spain, and most in demand in the ports Avhither they 
are bound. In return for these, they may bring home to Corugna an equal 
quantity of American productions.! This may be considered as the first 
relaxation of those rigid laws, which confined the trade with ttie New 
World to a single port, and the first attempt to admit the rest of the kingdom 
to some share in it. 

It was soon followed by one more decisive. In the year 1765, Charles 
III. laid open the trade to the windward islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto 
Rico, Margarita, and Trinidad, to his subjects in every province of Spain. 
He permitted them to sail from certain ports in each province, which are 
specified in the edict, at any season, and with whatever cargo they deemed 
most proper, without any other warrant than a simple clearance from the 
custom-house of the place whence they took their departure. He released 
them from the numerous and oppressive duties imposed on goods exported 
to America, and in place of the whole substituted a moderate tax of six 
in the hundred on the commodities sent from Spain. He allowed them to 
return either to the same port, or to any other where they might hope lor a 
more advantageous market, and there to enter the homeward cargo or 
payment of the usual duties. This ample privilege, which at once brok 

• Ponu Viaje de Espagna, vl, Prol. p. 15 t Appeud. U. a la Educ. Pop. p. 31. 



AMERICA 379 

through all the fences which tiie jealous policy ot Spain had been labouring 
for two centuries and a half to throw round its commercial intercourse 
with the New World, was soon after extended to Louisiana, and to the 
provinces of Yucatan and Campeachy.* 

The propriety of this innovation, which may be considered as the most 
liberal effort of Spanish legislation, has apjieared from its effects. Prior 
to the edict in favour of the free trade, Spain derived hardly any benefit 
from its neglected colonies in Hispaniola, Porto Rico, Margarita, and Trini- 
dad. Its commerce with Cuba was inconsiderable, and that of Yucatan 
and Canipeachy was engrossed almost entirely by interlopers. But as soon 
as a general liberty of trade was permitted, the intercourse with those pro- 
vinces revived, and has gone on with a rapidity of progression of which 
there are (ew examples in the history of nations. In less than ten years, 
the trade of Cuba has been more tiian tripled. Even in those settlements 
where, from the languishing state of industry, greater efforts were requisite 
to restore its activity, their commerce has been doubled. It is computed 
that such a number of ships is already employed in the free trade, that the 
tonnage of them far exceeds that of the Galeons and Flota at the most 
flourishing era of their commerce. The benefits of this arrangement are 
not confined to a few merchants established in a favourite port. They are 
d-iiTused through every province of the kingdom ; and, by opening a new 
market for their various productions and manufactures, must encourage 
and add vivacity to the industry of the farmer and artificer. Nor does 
the kingdom profit only by what it -exports ; it derives advantage likewise 
from what it receives in return, and has the prospect of being soon able to 
supply itself with several commodities of extensive consumption, for which 
it formerly depended on foreigners. The consumption of sugar in Spain 
is perhaps as great, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants, as that 
of any European kingdom. But though possessed of countries in the 
New World whose soil and climate are most proper for rearing the sugar- 
cane ; though the domestic culture of that valuable plant in the kingdom of 
Granada was once considerable ; such has been the fatal tendency of ill 

i'udged institutions in America, and such the pressure of improper taxes in 
i^urope, that Spain has lost almost entirely this branch of industry, which 
has enriched other nations. This commodity, which has now become an 
article of primary necessity in Europe, the Spaniards were obliged to pur- 
chase of foreigners, and had the mortification to see their country drained 
annually of great sums on that account.! But, if that spirit which the per- 
mission of free trade has put in motion shall persevere in its efforts with the 
same vigour, the cultivation of sugar in Cuba and Porto Rico may increase 
so much, that in a few years it is probable that their growth of sugars may 
be equal to the demand of the kingdom. 

Spain has been induced, by her experience of the beneficial conse- 
quences resulting from having relaxed somewhat of the rigour of her ancient 
laws, with respect to the commerce of the mother country with the colo- 
nies, to permit a more liberal intercourse of one colony with another. By 
one of the jealous maxims of the old system, all the provinces situated on 
the South seas were prohibited, under the most severe penalties, from 
holding any communication with one another. Tribugh each of these yields 
peculiar productions, the reciprocal exchange of which might have added 
to the happiness of their respective inhabitants, or have facilitated their 
progress in industry, so solicitous was the Council of the Indies to prevent 
their receiving any supply of their wants but by the periodical fleets from 
Europe, that, in order to guard against this, it cruelly debarred the Span- 
iards in Peru, in the southern provinces of New Spain, in Guatimala, and 
the new kingdomof Granada, from such a correspondence with their fellow 

♦ Append. U. a !a Educ. Pop. 37. W. 91. | Jztaiiz, c. 94. 



380 HISTORY OF [Book VIII. 

subjects as tended manifestly to their mutual prosperity. Of all the nume- 
rous restrictions devised by Spain for securing the exclusive trade with her 
American settlements, none perhaps was more illiberal, none seems to 
have been more sensibly ielt, or to have produced more hurtful etlects. 
Thi,« grievance, coeval with the settlements of Spain in the countries situ- 
ated on the Pacific Ocean, is at last redressed. In the year 1774, Charles 
III. published an edict, granting to the four great provmces which I have 
mentioned the privilege of a tree trade wifh each other.* [l92] What 
may be the effects of opening this communication between countries des- 
tined by their situation tor reciprocal intercourse, cannot yet be deleimined 
by experience. They can hardly fail of being beneficial and extensive. 
The motives for granting this permission are manifestly no less laudable 
than the principle on which it is founded is liberal ; and both discover the 
progress of a spirit in Spain, far elevated above the narrow prejudices and 
maxims on which her system for regulating the trade and conducting the 
government of her colonies was originally founded. 

At the same time that Spain has been intent on introducing regulations, 
suggested by more enlarged views of policy, into her system of American 
commerce, she has not been inattentive to the interior governm.ent of her 
colonies. Here, too, there was much room for reformation and improve- 
ment ; and Don Joseph Galvez, who has now the direction of the depart- 
ment of Indian affairs in Spain, has enjoyed the best opportunities, not only 
■of observing the defects and corruption in the political frame of the colo- 
nies, but ol discovering the sources of those evils. After being employed 
seven years in the New World on an extraordinary mission, and with very 
extensive powers, as inspector-general of New Spain ; after visiting in per- 
son the remote provinces of Cinaloa, Sonora, and California, and making 
several important alterations in the state of the police and revenue ; he 
began his ministiy with a general reformation of the tribunals of justice in 
America. In consequence of the progress of population and wealth in the 
colonies, the business of the Courts of Audience has increased so much 
that the number of judges of which they were originally composed has 
been found inadequate to the growing labours and duties of the oflice, and 
the salaries settled upon them have been deemed inferior to the dignity of 
the station. As a remedy for both, he obtained a royal edict, establishing 
an additional number of judges in each Court of Audience, with higher 
titles, and more ample appointments.! 

To the same intelligent minister Spain is indebted for a new distribution 
of government in its American provinces. Even since the establishment ot 
a third viceroyalty in the new kingdom of Granada, so great is the extent 
of the Spanish dominions in the New World, that several places subject to 
the jurisdiction of each viceroy were at such an enormous distance from 
the capitals in which they resided, that neither their attention nor their 
authority could reach so far. Some provinces subordinate to the viceroy 
of New Spain lay above two thousand miles from Mexico. There were 
countries subject to the viceroy of Peru still further frorn Lima. The 
people in those remote districts could hardly be said to enjoy the benefit 
of civil government. The oppression and insolence of its inlerior ministers 
they often feel, and rat'iVer submit to these in silence than invohe them- 
selves in the expense and trouble of resorting to the distant capital, wiiere 
alone they can find redress. As a remedy for this, a fourth viceroyalty 
has been erected, [Aug. 1776] to the jurisdiction of which are suljected 
the provinces of Kio de la Plata, Buenos Ayres, Paraguay, Tucuman, 
Potosi, St. Cruz de la Sierra Charcas, and the towns of Mendoza and St. 
Juan. By this well judged arrangement two advantages are gained. AJI 

♦ Real Cedula penes me. Ponlz Viage de Eapagna vl. Prologo, p. 2. t Gazeta de Madrid 

i9th March, 177 



AMERICA. 381 

the inconveniences occasioned by the remote situation of those provinces, 
which had been long- felt, and long- complained of, are in a great measure 
removed. The countries most distant from Lima are separated from the 
viceroyalty of Peru, and united under a superior, whose seat of govern- 
ment at Buenos Ayres will be commodious and accessible. The contraband 
trade with the Portuguese, which was become so extensive as must have 
put a final stop to the exportation of commodities from Spain to her 
southern colonies, may be checked more thoroughly, and with greater 
facility, when the supreme magistrate, by his vicinity to the places in 
which it is carried on, can view its progress and effects with his own eyes. 
Don Pedro Zevallos, who has been raised to this new dignity, with 
appointments equal to those of the other viceroys, is well acquainted both 
with the state and the interests of the countries over which he is to preside, 
having served in them long, and with distinction. By this dismemberment, 
succeeding that which took place at the erection of the viceroyalty of the 
new kingdom of Granada, almost two-third parts of the territories ori- 
ginally suliject to the viceroys of Peru, are now lopped off from their 
jurisdiction. 

The limits of the viceroyalty of New Spain have likewise been conside- 
rably circumscribed, and with no less propriety and discernment. Four of 
its most remote provinces, Sonora, Cinaloa, California, and New Navarre, 
have been formed into a separate government. The Chevalier de Croix, 
who is intrusted with this command, is not dignified with the title of vice- 
roy, nor does he enjoy the appointments belonging to that rank; but his 
jurisdiction is altogether independent on the viceroyalty of New Spain. 
The erection of this last government seems to have been suggested not only 
by the consideration of the remote situation of those provinces from Mexico, 
but by attention to the late discoveries made there which I have men- 
tioned.* Countries containing the richest mines of gold that have hitherto 
been discovered in the New World, and which probably may rise into 
greater importance, required the immediate inspection ot a governor to 
whom they should be specially committed. As every consideration of 
duty, of interest, and of vanity, must concur in prompting those new 
governors to encourage such exertions as tend to diffuse opulence and pros- 
perity through the provinces committed to their charge, the beneficial 
effects of this arrangement may be considerable. Many districts in Ame- 
rica, long depressed by the languor and feebleness natural to provinces 
which compose the extremities of an overgrown empire, may be animated 
with vigour and activity when brought so near the seat of power as to feel 
its invigorating influence. 

Such, since the accession of the princes of the bouse of Bourbon to the 
throne of Spain, has been the progress of their regulations, and the gradual 
expansion of their views with respect to the commerce and government of 
their American colonies. Nor has their attention been so entirely engrossed 
by what related to the more remote parts of their dominions, as to render 
them neglectful of what was still more important, the reformation of domes- 
tic errors and defects in policy. Fully sensible of the causes to which the 
declension of Spain from her former prosperity ought to be imputed, they 
have made it a great object of their policy to revive a spirit of industry 
among their subjects, and to give such extent and perfection to their manu- 
factures as may enable them to supply the demands of America from their 
own stock, and to exclude foreigners from a branch of commerce which has 
been so fatal to the kingdom. This they have endeavoured to accomplish 
by a variety of edicts issued since the peace of Utrecht. They have 
granted bounties for the encouragement of some branches of industry ; they 
have lowered the taxes on others ; they have either entirely prohibited, or 

* Book vii. 



SS2 HiSTuil V OF LBookVIII. 

have loaded with additional duties, such foreign manufactures as come in 
competition with their own ; they have instituted societies for the improve- 
ment of trade and a^ricuUure ; they have planted colonies of husbandmen 
in some uncultivated districts of Spain, and divided among them the waste 
fields ; they have had recourse to every expedient devised by commercial 
wisdom or commercial jealousy, for reviving their own industry, and dis- 
countenancing that of other nations. These, however, it is not my pro- 
vince to explain, or to inquire into their propriety and effects. There is 
no effort of legislation more arduous, no experiment in policy more uncer- 
tain than an attempt to revive the spirit of industry where it has declined, 
or to introduce it where it is unknown. Nations, already possessed of 
extensive commerce, enter into competition with such advantages, derived 
from the large capitals and extensive credit of their merchants, the dexterity 
of their manufacturers, and the alertness acquired by habit in every depart- 
ment of business, that the state which aims at rivalling or supplanting them, 
must expect to struggle with many difliculties, and be content to advance 
slowly. If the quantity of productive industiy, now in Spain, be compared 
with that of the kingdom under the last listless monarchs of the Austrian 
line, its progress must appear considerable, and is sufficient to alarm the 
jealousy, and to call forth the most vigorous efforts of the nations now in 
possession of the lucrative trade which the Spaniards aim at wresting from 
them. One circumstance may render those exertions of Spain an object 
of more serious attention to the other European powers. 1 hey are not to 
be ascribed wholly to the influence of the crown and its ministers. The 
sentiments and spirit of the people seem to second the provident care of 
their monarchs, and to give it greater effect. The nation has adopted more 
liberal ideas, not only with respect to commerce, but domestic policy. In 
all the later Spanish writers, defects in the arrangement of their country 
concerning both are acknowledged, and remedies proposed, which ignorance 
rendered their ancestors incapable of discerning, and pride would not have 
allowed them to confess [193]. But after all that the Spaniards have 
done, much remains to do. Many pernicious institutions and abuses, deeply 
incorporated with the system of internal policy and taxation, which has 
been long established in Spain, must be abolished before industry and 
manufactures can recover an extensive activity. 

Still, however, the commercial regulations of Spain with respect to her 
colonies are too rigid and systematical to be carried into complete execu- 
tion. The legislature that loads trade with impositions too heavy, or fet- 
ters it by restrictions too severe, defeats its own intention, and is only mul- 
tiplying the inducements to violate its statutes, and proposing a high pre- 
mium to encourage illicit traffic. The Spaniards, both in Europe and 
America, being circumscribed in their mutual intercourse, by the jealousy 
of the crown, or oppressed by its exactions, have their invention continually 
on the stretch how to elude its edicts. The viailance and ingenuity of 
private interest discover means of effecting this, w-fiich public wisdom can- 
not foresee nor public authority prevent. This spirit, counteracting that 
of the laws, pervades the commerce of Spain with .America in all its 
branches ; and from the highest departments in government descends to 
the lowest. The very officers appointed to check contraband trade are 
often employed as instruments in carrying it on ; and the boards instituted 
to restrain and punish it are the channels through which it flows. The 
King is supposed, by the most intelligent Spanish writers, to be defrauded, 
by various artifices, of more than one half of the revenue which he ought 
to receive from America ;* and as long as it is the interest of so many- 
persons to screen those artifices from detection, the ki?owledge of ihem 
will never reach the throne. " How many ordinances," says Corita, " how 

* Solorz. de Ind. Jure, ii. lib. v; 



AMERICA. 38» 

many iiislructions, how many letters from our sovereign, are sent in order 
to correct abuses ! and how little are they observed, and what small ad- 
vantage is derived from them ! To me the old observation appears just, 
thai where there are many physicians and many medicines, there is a want 
of health ; where there are many laws and many judges, there is want 
of justice. We have viceroys, presidents, governors, oydors, corrigidors, 
alcaldes ; and thousands of alguazils abound every where ; but notwith- 
standing all these, public abuses continue to multiply."* Time has in- 
creased the evils which he lamented as early as the reign of Philip II. 
A spirit of corruption has infected all the colonies of Spain in America. 
Men I'ar removed from the seal of government ; impatient to acquire wealth, 
that they may return speedily from what they are apt to consider as a state 
of exile in a remote unhealthful country ; allured by opportunities too 
.tempting to be resisted, and seduced by the example ot those around them ; 
find their sentiments of honour and of duty gradually relax. In private 
life they give themselves up to a dissolute luxury, while in their public 
conduct they becon:ie unmindful of what they owe to their sovereign and 
to their country. 

Before I close this account of the Spanish trade in America there remains 
one detached but important branch of it to be mentioned. Soon after his 
accession to the throne, Philip II. formed a scheme of planting a colony in 
the Philippine islands which had been neglected since the time of their 
discovery ; and he accomplished it by means of an armament fitted out 
from New Spaint [1564]. Manila, in the island of Luconia, was the sta- 
tion chosen tor the capital of this new establishment. From it an active 
commercial intercourse began with the Chinese, and a considerable num- 
ber of that industrious people, allured by the prospect of gain, settled in 
the Philippine islands under the Spanish protection. They supplied the 
colony so amply with all the valuable productions and manufactures of the 
Ea.«t as enabled it to open a trade with America, by a course of navigation 
the longest from land to land on our globe. In the infancy of this trade, 
it was carried on with Callao, on the coast of Peru ; but experience having 
discovered the impropriety of fixing upon that as the port of communica- 
tion with Manila, the staple of the commerce between the East and West 
Avas removed from Callao to Acapulco, on the coast of New Spain. 

After various arrangements it has been brought into a regular form. One 
or two ships depart annually from Acapulco, which are permitted to carry 
out silver to the amount of five hundred thousand pesos ;J but they have 
hardly any thing else of value on board ; in return for which they bring 
back spices, drugs, china, and japan wares, calicoes, chintz, muslins, silks, 
and every precious article with which the benignity of the climate, or the 
ingenuity of its people has enabled the East to supply the rest of the 
world. For some time the merchants of Peru were admitted to partici- 
pate in this tradic, and might send annually a ship to Acapulco, to wait 
the arrival of the vessels from Manila, and receive a proportional share of 
the commodities which they imported. At length the Peruvians were ex- 
cluded from this trade by most rigorous edicts, and all the commodities 
from the East reserved solely for the consumption of New Spain. 

In consequence of this indulgence, the inhabitants of that country enjoy 
advantages unknown in the other Spanish colonies. The manufactures of 
the East are not only more suited to a warm climate, and more showy 
than those of Europe, but can be sold at a lower price ; while, at the same 
time, the profits upon them are so considerable as to enrich ail those who 
are employed eit.her in bringing them from Manila or vending them in 
New Spain. As the interest both of the buyer and seller concurred in 
favouring this branch of commerce, it has continued to extend in spite of 

• Mri. Irenes me. i Torquem. i. lib. v. c. 14. ; Recop. lib. is. c. 45. 1. 6. 



S84 HISTORVOF [Book VIII. 

reflations concerted with the most anxious jealousy to circumscribe it. 
Under cover of what the laws permit to be imported, great quantities of 
[ndia goods are poured into the markets of New Spain [194] ; and when 
She Flota arrives at Vera Cruz from Europe, it often finds the wants of the 
peaole already supplied by cheaper and mure acceptable commodities. 

There is not, in the commercial arraiif/ements of Spain, any circum- 
stance more inexplicable than the permission of this trade between New 
Spain and the Philippines, or more repugnant to its fundamental maxim 
of holding the colonies in perpetual dependence on the mother country, by 
prohibiting any commercial intercourse that might suggest to them the idea 
of receiving a supply of their wants from any other quarter. This per- 
mission must appear still more extraordinary, irom considering that Spain 
herself carries on no direct trade with her settlements in the Philippines, 
and grants a privilege to one of her American colonies which she denies to 
her subjects in Europe. It is probable that the colonists, who originally 
took possession of the Philippines, having been sent out from New Spain, 
began this intercourse with a country which they considered, in some 
measure, as their parent state, before the court of Madrid was aware of 
its consequences, or could establish regulations in order to prevent it. 
Many remonstrances have been presented against this trade, as detrimental 
to Spain, by diverting into another channel a large portion of that trea- 
sure which ought to flow into the kingdom, as tending to give rise to a 
spirit of independence in the colonies, and to encourage innumerable 
frauds, against which it is impossible to guard, in transactions so far re- 
moved from the inspection of government. But as it requires no slight 
effort of political wisdom and vigour to abolish any practice which num- 
bers are interested in supporting, and to which time has added the sanc- 
tion of its authorit;^, the commerce between New Spain and Manila seems 
to be as considerable as ever, and may be considered as one chief cause 
of the elegance and splendour conspicuous in this part of the Spanish 
dominions. 

But notwithstanding this general corruption in the colonies of Spain, and 
the diminution of the income belonging to the public, occasioned by the 
illicit importations made by foreigners, as well as by the various frauds of 
which the colonists themselves are guilty in their commerce with the parent 
state, the Spanish monarchs receive a very considerable revenue from their 
American dominions. This arises tVom taxes of various kinds, which may 
be divided into three capital branches. The first cotitains what is paid 
to the King, as sovereign, or superior lord of the New World : to this class 
belongs the duty on the gold and silver raised from the mines, and the 
tribute exacted from the Indians ; the former is termed by the Spaniards 
the right of signiory, the latter is the duty of vassalage. The second 
branch comprehends the numerous duties upon commerce which accom- 
pany and oppress it in every step of its progress, from the greatest transactions 
of the wholesale merchant to the petty tralfic of the vender by retail. The 
third includes what accrues to the king, as head of the church, and adminis- 
trator of ecclesiastical fimds in the New World. In consequence of this 
he receives the first fruits, annates, spoils, and other spiritual revenues, 
levied by the apostolic chamber in Europe ; and is entitled likewise to the 
profit arising from tlie sale of the bull of Cruzado. This bull, which is 
published every two years, contains an absolution from past offences by the 
rope, and, am.otig other immunities, a permission to eat several kinds of 
prohibited food during Lent, and on meagre days. The monks employed 
in dispersing those bulls extol their virtues with all the fervour of interested 
eloquence ; the people, ignorant and credulous, listen with implicit assent ; 
and every person in the Spanish colonics, of European, Creolian, or mixed 
race, purchases a bull, which is deemed essential to his salvation, at the 
rate set upon it by government [195], 



AMERICA. 385 

What may be the amount of those various funds, it is ahnost impossible 
to determine with precision. The extent of the Spanish^ dominions in 
America, the jealousy of government, which renders them inaccessible to 
foreigners, the mysterious silence which the Spaniards are accustomed 
to observe with respect to the interior state of their colonies, combine in 
covering this subject with a veil which it is not easy to remove. But an 
account, apparently no less accurate than it is curious, has lately been 
published of the royal revenue in New Spain, from which we may form 
some idea with respect to what is collected m the other provinces. 
According to that account the crown does not receive from all the depart- 
ments of taxation in New Spain above a million of our money, from which 
one half must be deducted as the expense of the provincial establish- 
ment [196]. Peru, it is probable, yields a sum not inierior to this ; and if 
we suppose that all the other regions of America, including the islands, 
furnish a third share of equal value, we shall not perhaps be far wide 
from the truth if we conclude that the net public revenue of Spain, raised 
in America, does not exceed a million and a half sterling. This falls far 
short of the immense sums to which suppositions, founded upon conjecture, 
have raised the Spanish revenue in America [197]. It is remarkable, 
however, upon one account. Spain and Portugal are the only European 
powers who derive a direct revenue from their colonies. All the advan- 
tage that accrues to other nations from their American dominions arise? 
from the exclusive enjoyment of their trade : but besides this, Spain has 
brought her colonies towards increasing the power of the state, and, in 
return tor protection, to bear a proportional share of the common burden. 

Accordingly, the sum which I have computed to be the amount of the 
Spanish revenue from America arises wholly from the taxes collected 
there, and is far from being the whole of what accrues to the king from 
his dominions in the New World. The heavy duties imposed on the com- 
modities exported from Spain to America [l98], as well as what is paid 
by those which she sends home in return ; the tax upon the Negro slaves 
with which Africa supplies the New World, together vv'ith several smaller 
branches of finance, bring large sums into the treasury, the precise extent 
of which 1 cannot pretend to ascertain. 

But if the revenue which Spain draws from America be great, the 
expense of administration in her colonies bears proportion to it. In eveiy 
department, even of her domestic police and finances, Spain has adopted 
a system more complex, and more encumbered with a variety of tribunals 
and a multitude of officers, than that of any European nation in which the 
sovereign possesses such extensive power. From the jealous spirit with 
which Spain watches over her American settlements, and her endeavours 
to guard against fraud in provinces so remote from inspection, boards 
and officers have been multiplied tiiere with still more anxious attention. 
In a country where the expense of living is great, the salaries allotted to 
every person in public office must be high, and must load the revenue with 
an immense burden. The parade of government greatly augments the 
weight of it. The viceroys of Mexico, Peru, and the new kingdom of 
Granada, as representatives of the king's person, among people fond of 
ostentation, maintain all the state and dignity of royalty. Their courts 
are formed upon the model of that at Madrid, with horse and foot guards, 
a household regularly established, numerous attendants, and ensigns of 
power, displaying such pomp as hardly retains the appearance of a dele- 
gated authority. All the expense incurred by supporting the external and 
permanent order of government is defrayed by the crown. The viceroys 
have, besides, peculiar appointments suited to tlioir exalted station. The 
salaries fixed by law are indeed extremely moderate ; that of the 
viceroy of Peru is only thirty thousand ducats ; and that of the viceroy 

Vol. I.— 49 



386 HISTORY OF [Book VIII. 

of Mexico twenty thousand ducats.* Of late they have been raised to forty 
thousand. 

These salaries, however, constitute but a small part of the revenue 
enjoyed by the viceroys. The exercise of an absolute authority extending; 
to every department of g^overnment, and the power of disposing of many 
lucrative oflices, aftbrd them many opportunities of accumulating wealth. 
To ttiese, which may be considered as le^al and allowed emoluments, 
large sums are often added by exactions, Avhich, in countries so far removed 
from the seat of government, it is not easy to discover, an(i impossible to 
restrain. By monopolising some branches of commerce, by a lucrative 
concern in others, by conniving at the frauds of merchants, a viceroy may 
raise such an annual revenue as no subject of any European monarch 
enjoys [199]. From the single article of presents made lo him on the 
anniversary of his Kame-day (which is always observed as a high festival), 
1 am informed that a viceroy has been known to receive sixty thousand 
pesos. According to a Spanish saying, the legal revenues of a viceroy are 
unknown, his real profits depend upon his opportunities and his conscience. 
Sensible of this, the kings of Spain, as I have formerly observed, grant a 
commission to their viceroys only for a few years. This circumstance, 
however, renders them often more rapacious, and adds to the ingenuit}' and 
ardour where^vith they labour to improve every moment of a power which 
they know is hastening fast to a period ; and short as its duration is, it 
usually aftbrds sufficient time for repairing a shattered fortune, or for 
creating a new one. But even in situations so trying to human frailty, there 
are instances of virtue that remains unseduced. In the year 1772, the 
Marquis de Croix finished the term of his viceroyalty in New Spain with 
unsuspected integrity ; and, instead of bringing home exorbitant wealth, 
returned with the admiration and applause of a giateful people, whom his 
government had rendered happy. 

* Recup. lib. iii. tit. iii. c. 73. 



TBB 



HISTORY OF AMERICA, 

BOOKS IX. AND X. 

CONTAINING THE 

HISTORY OF VIRGINIA 

TO THE YEAR 1688 ; 

AND THE 

HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND 

TO THE YEAR 1632 



ADVERTISExMENT. 



The original plan of my father, the late Dr. Robertson, with respect to 
the history of America, comprehended not only an account of the discovery 
of that country, and of the conquests and colonies of the Spaniards, but 
embraced also the history of the British and Portuguese establishnienls in 
the New World, and of the settlements made by the several nations of 
Europe in the West India Islands. It was his intention not to have pub- 
lished any part of the Work until the whole was completed. In the 
Preface to his History of America, he has stated the reasons which induced 
him to depart from that resolution, and to publish the two volumes which 
contain an account of the discovery of the New World, and of the progress 
of the Spanish arms and colonies in that quarter of the globe. He says, 
" he had made some progress in the History of British America;" and he 
announces his intention to return to that part of his Work as soon as the 
ferment which at that time prevailed in the British colonies in America 
should subside, and regular government be re-established. Various causes 
concurred in preventing him from i'ulfilling his intention. 

During the course ot a tedious illness, which he early foresaw would 
have a fatal termination. Dr. Robertson at different times destroyed many 
of his papers. But after his death, I found that part of the History of 
British Am.erica which he had wrote many years before, and which is now 
offered to the Public. It is written with his own hand, as all his Works 
were; it is as carefully corrected as any part of his manuscripts which I 
have ever seen; and he had thought it worthy of being preserved, as it 
escaped the flames to which so many other papers had been committed. 
I read it with the utmost attention; but, before I came to any resolution 
about the publication, I put the MS. into the hands of some of those friends 
whom ray father used to consult on such occasions, as it would have been 
rashness and presumption in me to have trusted to my own partial decision. 
It was perused by some other persons also, in whose taste and judgment 
I have the greatest confidence : by all of them I was encouraged to offer it 
to the Public, as a fragment curious and interesting in itself, and not inferior 
to any of my father's works. 

When I determined to follow that advice, it was a circumstance of great 
weight with me, that as I never could think myself at liberty to destroy 
those paper« which my father had thought worthy of being preserved, and 
as I could not know into whose hands they might hereafter fall, I con- 
sidered it as certain that they would be published at some future period, 
when they might meet with an editor who, not being actuated by the same 
sacred regard for the reputation of the Author, which I feel, might make 
alterations and additions, and obtrude the whole on the public as a genuine 
and authentic work. The MS. is now published, such as it was left by 
the Author; nor have I presumed to make any addition, alteration, or cor- 
rection whatever. 

Wm. ROBERTSON. 

Qjdeen-St., Edinburgh, April, 1795 



THE 



HISTORY OF AMERICA. 



BOOK IX. 



The dominions of Great Britain in America are next in extent to tQose 
of Spain. Its acquisitions thiere are a recompense due to those enterprising 
talents which prompted the English to enter early on the career of discovery, 
and to pursue it with perseverine; ardour. England was the second nation 
that ventured to visit the New World. The account of Columbus's suc- 
cessful voyage filled all Europe with astonishment and admiration. But 
in England it did scimething more ; it excited a vehement desire of emula- 
ting the glory of Spain, and of aiming to obtain some share in (hose advan- 
tages which were expected in this new field opened to national activity. 
The attention of the English court had been turned towards the discovery 
of unknown countries by its negotiation with Bartholomew Columbus. 
Henry VII. having listened to his propositions with a more favourable ear 
than could have been expected from a cautious, distrustful prince, averse 
by habit as well as by temper to new and hazardous projects, he was more 
easil_y induced to approve of a voyage for discovery, proposed by some 
of his own subjects soon after the return of Christopher Columbus. 

But though the English had spirit to form the scheme, they had not at 
that period attained to such skill in navigation as qualified them lor carry- 
ing it into execution. From the inconsiderate ambition of its monarchs, 
the nation had long wasted its genius and inactivity in pernicious and inef- 
fectual efforts to conquer France. When this ill-directed ardour began to 
abate, the fatal contest between the houses of York and Lancaster turned 
the arms of one half of the kingdom against the other, and exhausted the 
vigour of both. During the course of two centuries, while industry and 
commerce were making gradual progress, both in the south and north of 
Europe, the English continued so blind to the advantages of their own 
situation that thej hardly began to bend their thoughts towards those 
objects and pursuits to which they are indebted for their present opulence 
and power. While the trading vessels of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as 
well as those of the Hans Towns, visited the most remote ports in Europe, 
and carried on an active intercourse with its various nations, the English 
did little more than creep along their own coasts, in small barks, wtiich 
conveyed the productions of ope country to another. Their commerce 
was almost wholly passive. Their wants were supplied by strangers ; 
and whatever necessary or luxury of life their own country did not yield 
was imported in foreign bottoms. The cross of St. George was seldoiji 
displayed beyond the precincts of the narrow seas. Hardly any English 



390 H I S T O R Y O F [Book IX. 

ship traded with Spain or Portugal before the beginning of the fifteenth 
century ; and half a ceiituiy more elapsed before the English marines 
became so adventurous as to enter the Mediterranean. 

In this infancy of navigation, Henry could not commit the conduct ot 
an armament destined to explore unknown regions to his own subjects. 
He invested Giovanni Gaboto, a Venetian adventurer, who had settled in 
Bristol, Avith the chief command ; and issued a commission to him and his 
three sons, empowering them to sail, under the banner of England, towards 
the east, nortn, or west, in order to discover countries unoccupied by any 
Christian state ; to take possession of them in his name, and to cariy on an 
exclusive trade with tlje inhabitants, under condition of paying a fifth part 
of the free profit on every voyage to the crown. This commission was 
granted on March 5th, 1495, in less than two years after the return of 
olumbus from America.* But Cabol (for that is the name he assumed 



(fi Kngland, and by which he is best known) did not set out on his voyage 

) years. He, 
Bristol [May, 1497], on board a ship furnished by the king, and was accom- 



for two years. He, together with his second son Sebastian, embarked at 



panied by four small barks fitted out by the merchants of that city. 

As in that age the most eminent navigators, formed by the instructions of 
Columbus, or animated by his example, were guided by ideas derived 
from his superior knov/ledge and experience, Cabot had adopted the system 
of that great man concerning the probability of opening a new and shorter 
passage to the East Indies by holding a western course. The opinions 
which Columbus had formed with respect to the islands which he had 
discovered, were universally received. They were supposed to lie con- 
tiguous to the great continent of India, and to constitute a part of the vast 
countries comprehended under that general name. Cabot accordingly 
deemed it probable, that, by steering to the north-west, he might reach 
India by a shorter course than that which Columbus had taken, and hoped 
to fall in with the coast of Cathay, or China, of whose fertility and opu 
lence the descriptions of Marco Polo had excited high ideas. After sailing 
for some weeks due west, and nearly on the parallel of the port from which 
he took his departure, he discovered a large island, which he called Prma 
Vista, and his sa.\\oTS J^'ezafoundl and : and in a few days he descried a 
smaller isle, to which he gave the name of St. John. He landed on 
both these [June 24], made some observations on their soil and productions, 
and brought oft' three of the natives. Continuing his course westward, 
he soon reached the continent of North America, and sailed along it from 
the fifty-sixth to the thirty-eighth degree of latitude, from the coast of 
Labrador to that of Virginia. As his chief object was to discover some 
inlet that might open a passage to the west, it does not appear that he 
landed any where during this extensive run ; and he returned to England 
Avithout attempting either settlement or conquest in any part of that con- 
tinent.! 

If it had been Henry's purpose to prosecute the object cf the commis- 
sion given by him to Cabot, and to take possession of the countries which 
he had discovered, the success of this voyage must have answered his most 
sanguine expectations. His subjects were undoubtedly the first Europeans 
■who had visited that part of the American continent, and were entitled to 
whatever right of property prior discovery is supposed to confer. Coun- 
tries which stretched in an uninterrupte'd course through such a large 
portion of the temperate zone, opened a prospect of settling to advantage 
under mild climates, and in a fertile soil. By the time that Cabot returned 
to England, he found both the state of affairs and ihe king's inclination 
unfavourable to any scheme the execution of which would have required 
tranquillity and leisure. Henry -was involved in a war with Scotland, and 

» Hakliiyt, iii l. t Monso;i's Naval Tracts, in Churchiil's Collect iii. 211. 



A M E R 1 C A. 391 

Ills kingdom was not yet fully composed after the commotion excited by a 
formidable insurrection of his own subjects in the west. An ambassador 
from Ferdinand of Arrng;on was then in London ; and as Henry set a high 
value upon the friendship of that monarch, for whose character he professed 
much admiration, perhaps from its similarity to his own, and was endea- 
vouring to streng-then their union by negotiating the marriage which after- 
wards took place between his eldest son and the Princess Catharine, he 
wa'? cautious of giving any offence to a prince jealous to excels of all his 
rights. From the position of the islands and continent which Cabot had 
discovered, it was evident that they lay within the limits of the ample 
donative which the bounty of Alexander Vl. had conferred upon Ferdinand 
and Isabella. No person in that age questioned the validity of a papal 
grant ; and Ferdinand was not of a temper to relinquish any claim to 
which lie had a shadow of title. Submission to the authority of the Pope, 
and deference tor an ally whom he courted, seem to have concurred with 
Henry's own situation in determining him to abandon a scheme in which 
he had engaged with some degree of ardour and expectation. No attempt 
towards discover}' was made in England during the remainder of his reign ; 
and Sebastian Cabot, finding no encouragement for his active talents there, 
entered into the service of Spain.* 

This is the most probable account of the sudden cessation of Hemy's 
activity, after such success in his first essay as might have encouraged 
him to persevere. The advantages of commerce, as well as its nature, 
were so little understood in England about this- period, that by an act of 
parliament in the year 1488, the taking of interest for the use of money 
was prohibited under severe penalties.! And by another law, the profit 
arising from dealing in bills of exchange was condemned as savouring of 
usury.J It is not surprising, then, that no great effort should be made to 
extend trade by a nation wliose commercial ideas were still so crude and 
illiberal. But it is more difficult to discover what prevented this scheme 
of Henry ^'^11. from being resumed during the reigns of his son and grand- 
son ; and to give any reason why no attempt was made, either to explore 
the northern contineiit of America more fully, or to settle in it. Henry 
VIII. Avas frequently at open enmity with Spain : the value of the Spanish 
acquisitions in America had become so well known, as might have excited 
his desire to obtain some footing in those opulent regions; and during a 
considerable part of his reign, the prohibitions in a papal bull would not 
have restrained him from malcing encroachment upon tlie Spanish dominions. 
But the reign of Henry was not favourable to the progress of discovery. 
During one period of it, the active part which he took in tho affairs of the 
continent, and the vigour with which he engnDed in the contest between 
the two mighty rivals, Charles V. and Francis I., gave full occupation to 
the enterprising spirit both of the king and his nobility. During another 
period oi his administration, his famous controversy with the court of 
Rome kept the nation in perpetual agitation and suspense. Engrossed by 
those objects, neither the king nor the nobles had inclination or leisure to 
turn their attention to new pursuits; and without their patronage and aid, 
the commercial part of the nation was too inconsiderable to make any 
effort of consequence. Though England by its total separation from the 
church of Rome soon after the accession ot Edward VI., disclaimed that 
authority which, by its presumptuous partition of the globe between two 

♦ Some schemes of discovery seem to have been fnrmr.l in Kniiland townrds the l)e?inning of 
the sixteenth ceiittiry. Hut .is tliere i< no other memorial of ilicm than what remains in a patent 
pranted by the Kini» to III'; adventurers, It is prohalile that they were feehle or abortive projects. 
If any attempt had been made in coi'sequince of this patent, it would not have r-caped llie kiiow- 
led?e of a compiler so li'diislrious and inquisitive as Haklnyl. In his patent, Henry restricts the 
adventurers from encroaching on the countries discovered bv the kings of Portugal, or any othcc 
prince in confederacy with England. Rvmer's Fcertera, vol. iiii. p. 37. 

t 3 Hen. VII. c 5. ; 3 Hen. VII. c. 6. 



398 Hr STORY OF [Book IX. 

favourite nations, circumscribed the activity of every other state within 
very narrow limits ; yet a feeble minority, distracted with faction, was not 
a Juncture for forming schemes of doubtful success and remote utility. 
The bigotry of Mary, and her marriage with Philip, disposed her to pay 
a sacred regard to that grant of the Holy See, which vested in a husband, 
on whom she doted, an exclusive right to every part of the New VVorld, 
Thus, through a singular succession of various causes, sixty-one years 
elapsed from the time that the English discovered North America, during 
which their monarchs gave little attention to that country which was 
destined to be annexed to their crown, and to be a chief source of its 
opulence and power. 

But though the public contributed little towards the progress of disco- 
very, naval skill, knowledge of commerce, and a spirit ol enterprise, began 
to spread among the English. During the reign of Henry VIII. several 
new channels of trade were opened, and private adventurers visited remote 
countries, with which England had formerly no intercourse. Some mer- 
chants of Bristol, having fitted out two ships for the southern regions of 
America, committed the conduct of them to Sebastian Cabot, who had 
quitted the serv ice of Spain. He visited tbe coasts of Brazil, and touched 
at the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico ; and though this voyage 
seems not to have been beneficial to the adventurers, it extended the sphere 
of English navigation, and added to the national stock of nautical science.* 
Though disappointed in their expectations of profit in this first essay, the 
merchants were not discouraged. They sent, successively, several vessels 
from different ports towards the same quarter, and seem to have carried on 
an interloping trade in the Portuguese settlements with success.! Nor 
was it only towards the West, that the activity of the English was directed. 
Other merchants began to extend their commercial views to the East ; and 
by establishing an intercourse with several islands in the Archipelago, and 
with some of the towns on the coast of Syria, they found a new market 
jor woollen cloths (the only manufacture which the nation had begun to 
cultivate,) and supplied their countrymen with various productions of the 
East, formerly unknown, or received from the Venetians at an exorbitant 
price.J 

But the discovery of a shorter passage to the East Indies, by the north- 
west, was still the favourite project of the nation, which beheld \vith envy 
the vast wealth that flowed into Portugal from its commerce with those 
regions. The scheme was accordingly twice resumed under the long 
administration of Henry VIII. [1527 and 1536] ; first, with some slender 
aid from the king, and then by private merchants. Both voyages were 
disastrous and unsuccessful. In the former, one of the ships was lost. In 
the latter, the stock of provisions was so ill proportioned to the number of 
the crew, that, although they were but six months at sea, many perished 
with hunger, and the survivors were constrained to support life by feeding 
on the bodies of their dead companions. § 

The vigour of a commercial spirit did not relax in the reign of Edward 
VI. The great fishery' on the banks of Newfoundland became an object 
of attention ; and from some regulations for the encouragement of that 
branch of trade, it seems to have been prosecuted with activity and suc- 
cess.ll But the prospect of opening a communication with China and the 
Spice Islands, by some other route than round the Cape of Good Hope, 
still continued to allure the English more than any scheme of adventure. 
Cabot, whose opinion was deservedly of high authority in whatever 
related to naval enterprise, warmly urged the English to make another 
attempt to discover this passage. As it had been thrice searched for 
in vain, by steering towards the north-west, he proposed that a trial 

* Hakluyt, iii 408. " Id. iii 700 t Id. ii. 96, &c. $ Id. i. 213, tc. iii. 129, 130 ll lU. 
Bi. 131. 



A :\1 ERIC A. 393 

should now be made by the nortli-east ; and supported this advice by 
such plausible reasons and conjectures as excited sanguine expectations 
of success. Several noblemen and persons of rank, together with some 
principal merchants, having associated for this purpose, were incorporated 
by a charter from the King, under the title of The Company of Merchant 
Adventurers for the Discovery of Regions, Dominions, Islands, and Places 
unknown. Cabot, who was appointed governor of this company, soon 
fitted out two ships and a bark, furnished with instructions in his own 
hand, which discover the great extent both of his naval skill and mercantile 
sagacity. 

Sir Hugh Willoughby, who was intrusted with the command, stood 
dir ctly northwards along the coast of Norway [May 10], and doubled the 
North Cape. But in that tempestuous ocean, his small squadron was sepa- 
rated in a violent storm. Willoughby's ship and bark took refuge in an 
obscure harbour in a desert part of Russian Lapland, where he and all his 
companions were frozen to death. Richard Chancelour, the captain of 
the other vessel, was more fortunate ; he entered the White Sea, and win- 
tered in safety at Archangel. Though no vessel of any foreign nation had 
ever visited that quarter of the globe before, the inhabitants received their 
new visiters with an hospitality which would have done honour to a more 
polished people. The English learned there, that this was a province of 
a vast empire, subject to the Great Duke or Czar of Muscovy, who resided 
in a great city twelve hundred miles from Archangel. Chancelour, with 
a spirit becoming an officer employed in an expedition for discovery, did 
not nesitate a moment about the part which he ought to take, and set out 
for that distant capital. On his arrival in Moscow, he was admitted to 
audience, and delivered a letter vvhich the captain of each ship had received 
from Edward VI. for the sovereign of whatever country they should dis- 
cover, to John Vasilowitz, who at that time filled the Russian throne. 
John, though he ruled over his subjects with the cruelty and caprice of a 
barbarous despot, was not destitute of political sagacity. He instantly 
perceived the happy consequences that might flow from opening an inter- 
course between his dominions and the western nations of Europe ; and, 
delighted with the fortunate event to Avhich he was indebted for this unex- 
pected benefit, he treated Chancelour with great respect ; and, by a letter 
to the King of England [Feb. 1554], invited his subjects to trade in the 
Russian dominions, with ample promises of protection and favour.* 

Chancelour, on his return, found Mary seated on the English throne. 
The success of this voyage, the discovery of a new course of navigation, 
the establishment of commerce with a vast empire, the name of which 
vyas then hardly known in the West, and the hope of arriving, in this direc- 
tion, at those regions which had been so long the object of desire, excited 
a wonderfijl ardour to prosecute the design with greater vigour. Maiy, 
implicitly guided by her husband in every act of administration, was not 
unwilling to turn the commercial activity of her subjects towards a quarter 
where it cculd not excite the jealousy of Spain by encroaching on its pos- 
sessions in the New World. She wrote to John Vasilowitz m the most 
respectful terms, courting his friendship. She confirmed the charter of 
Edward VI., empowered Chancelour, and two agents appointed by the 
company, to negotiate with the Czar in her name ; and, according to the 
spirit of that age, she granted an exclusive rio;ht of trade with Russia to 
the Corporation of Merchant Adventurers.! In virtue of this, they not 
only established an active and gainful commerce with Russia, but, in hopes 
of reachini' China, they pushed thdir discoveries eastward to the coast of 
Nova Zembla, the Straits of Waigatz, and towards the mouth of the great 
river Oby. But in those frozen seas, which Nature seems not toliave 

• Hakluyt i. 226, &c. t W- i- 2M, *.c. 

^fOL. I.— 50 



394 HISTORY OF [BookIX. 

destined for navigation, they were exposed to innumerable disasters, and 
met with successive disappointments. 

Nor were their attempts to open a communication with India made only 
in this channel. They appointed some of their factors to accompany the 
Russian caravans which travelled into Persia by the way of Astracan and 
the Caspian Sea, instructing- them to penetrate as far as possible towards 
the cast, and to endeavour not only to establish a trade with those coun- 
tries, but to acquire evory information that might afford any light towards 
the discovery of a passage to China by the north-east.* Notwithstandinii 
a variety of dangers to which they were exposed in travelling through so 
many provinces inhabited by fierce and licentious nations, some of these 
factors reached Bokara in the province of Chorassan ; and though prevented 
from advancing further by the civil wars which desolated the country, ihey 
returned to Europe with some hopes of extending the commerce of the 
Company into Persia, and with much intelligence concerning the state of 
those remote regions of the East.j 

The successful progress of the Merchant Adventurers in discovery 
Toused the emulation of their countrymen, and turned their activity into 
new channels. A commercial intercourse, hitherto unattempted by the 
English, having been opened with the coast of Barbary, the specimens 
which that afforded of the valuable productions of Africa invited some 
enterprising navigators to visit the more remote provinces of that quarter 
of the globe. They sailed along its western shore, traded in different 
ports on both sides of the Line, and, after acquiring considerable knowledge 
of those countries, returned with a cargo of gold dust, ivory, and other rich 
commodities little known at that time in England. This commerce. v/ith 
Africa seems to have been pursued with vigour, and was at that time no 
less innocent than lucrative ; for, as the English had then no demand for 
slaves, they carried it on for many years without violating the rights of 
humanity. Thus far did the English advance during a period which may 
be considered as the infant state of their navigation and commerce ; and 
feeble as its steps at that time may appear to us, we trace them with an 
interesting curiosity, and look back with satisfaction to the early essays of 
that spirit which we now behold in the full maturity of its strength. Even 
in those first efforts of the English, an intelligent observer will discern pre- 
sages of their future improvement. As soon as the activity of the nation 
was put in motion, it took various directions, and exerted itself in each, 
with that steady, persevering industry which is the soul and guide of com- 
merce. Neither discouraged by the hardships and dangers to which they 
were exposed in those northern seas which they first attempted to explore, 
nor afraid of venturing into the sultry climates of the torrid zone, the Eng- 
lish, during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary, opened 
some of the most considerable sources of their commercial opulence, and 
gave a beginning to their trade with Turkey, with Africa, with Russia, and 
with Newfoundland. 

By the progress which England had already made in navigation and 
commerce, it was now prepared for advancing further ; and on the acces- 
sion of Elizabeth to the throne, a period commenced extremely auspicious 
to this spirit which was rising in the nation. The domestic tranquillity of 
the kingdom, maintained, almost without interruption, during the course of 
a long and prosperous reign ; the peace with foreign nations, that subsisted 
more than twenty years after Elizabeth was seated on the throne ; the 
QjLieen's attentive economy, which exempted her subjects from the burden 
of taxes oppressive to trade; the popularity of her administration; were 
all favourable to commercial enterprise, and called it forth into vigorous 
exertion. The discerning eye of Elizabeth having early perceived that 

• Hakluyt, 1. 30J f Id. J. 310, &.e. 



AMERICA. 395 

the seciirit}^ of a kingdom environed by the sea depended on its naval 
force, she began her government with adding to the number and strength oi 
the royal navy ; which, during a factious minority, and a reign intent on 
no object but that of suppressing heresy, had been neglected, and suffered 
to decay. She filled her arsenals with naval stores ; she built several 
ships of great force, according to the ideas of that age, and encouraged 
her subjects to imitate her example, that they might no longer depend on 
foreigners, from \vhom the English had hitherto purchased all vessels oi 
any considerable burden.* By those efforts the skill of the English artificers 
was improved, the number of sailors increased, and the attention of the 
public turned to the navy, as the most important national object. Instead 
of abandoning any of the new channels of commerce which had been 
opened in the three preceding reigns, the English frequented them with 
greater assiduity, and the patronage of their sovereign added vigour to all 
their efforts. In order to secure to them the continuance of their exclusive 
trade with Russia, Elizabeth cultivated the connection with John Vasilo- 
witz, which had been formed by her predecessor, and, by successive em- 
bassies g?ined his confidence so thoroughly, that the English enjoyed that 
lucrative privilege during his long reiurn. She encouraged the Company 
of Merchant Adventurers, whose monc^oly of the Russian trade was con- 
firmed by act of parliament,! to resume their design of penetrating into 
Persia by land. Their second attempt, conducted Avith greater prudence, 
or undertaken at a more favourable juncture than the first, was more suc- 
cesslul. Their agents arrived in the Persian court, and obtained such pro- 
tection and inmiunities from tl^ Shah, that for a course of years they 
carried on a gainful commerce in his kingdom ;| and by frequenting the 
various provinces of Persia, became so well acquainted with the vast riches 
of the East, as strengthened their design of opening a more direct inter- 
course v/ith those fertile regions by sea. 

But as every effort to accompuish this by the north-east had proved 
abortive, a scheme was formed, under the patronage of the Earl of War- 
wick, the head of the enterprising family of Dudley, to make a new 
attempt, by holding an opposite course by the north-west. The conduct 
of this enterprise was committed to Martin Fiobisher, an oflBcer of ex- 
perience and reputation. In three successive voyages [1576, 1577, and 
1578,1 he explored the inhospitable coast of Labrador, and that of Green 
land (to which Elizabeth gave the name of Meta Incognita), without dis 
covering any probable appearance of that passage to India for which he 
sought. This new disappointment was sensibly felt, and might have 
damped the spirit of naval enterprise among the English, if it had not 
resumed fresh vigour, amidst the general exultation of the nation, upon the 
successful expedition oF Francis Drake. That bold navigator, emulous of 
the glory Avhich Blagellan had acquired by sailing round the globe, formed 
a scheme of attempting a voyage, which all Europe had admired for sixty 
years, without venturing to follow the Portuguese discoverer in his adven- 
turous course. Drake undertook this with a feeble squadron, in which 
the largest vessel did not exceed a hundred tons, and he accomplished it 
Avith no less credit to himself than honour to his country. Even in this 
voyage, conducted with other views, Drake seems not to have been 
inattentive to the favourite object of his countrymen, the discovery of a 
new route to India. Before he quitted the Pacific Ocean, in order to stretch 
towards the Philippine Islands, he ranged along the coast of Calit'ornia, as 
high as the latitude of forty-two degrees north, m hopes of discovering, on 
that side, the communication between the two seas, which had so often 
been searched for in vain on the other. Rut this was the only unsuccessful 
attempt of Drake. The excessive cold of the climate, intolerable to men 

* Camd Annalee, p. 70. edit. 1615; fol. t Hak!uyt, i. M9. ♦ Id. i. 344, &c. 



296 HISTORY OF jBooK IX. 

who had long been accustomed to tropical heat, oblig-ed him to stop short 
in his progress towards the north ; and whether or not there be any passage 
from the Pacitic to the Atlantic Ocean in that quarter is a point still un- 
ascertained.* 

From this period, the English seem to have confided in their own 
abilities and courage, as equal to any naval enterprise. They had now 
visited every region to which navigation extended in that age, and had 
rivalled the nation of highest repute for naval skill m its most splendid ex- 
ploit. But notwithstandmg the knowledge which they had acquired of 
the dififerent quarters of the globe, they had not hitherto attempted any 
settlement out of their own country. Their merchants had not yet ac- 
quired such a degree either of wealth or of political ii:iiluence, as was 
requisite towards carrying a scheme of colonization into execution. Per- 
sons of noble birth were destitute of the ideas and information which might 
have disposed them to patronise such a design. The growing power of 
Spain, however, and the ascendant over the other nations of Europe to 
which it had attained under Charles V. and his son, naturally turned the 
attention of mankind towards the importance of those settlements in the 
New World, to which they were so much indebted for that pre-eminence. 
The intercourse between Spain and England, during the reign of Philip 
and Mary; the resort of the Spanish not»ility to the English court, while 
Philip resided there ; the study of the Spanish language, which became 
fashionable ; and the translation of several histories of America into Eng- 
lish, diSused gradually through the nation a more distinct knowledge of the 
policy of Spain in planting its colonies, and of the advantages which it 
derived from them. When hostilities conmienced between Elizabeth and 
Philip, the prospect of annoying Spain by sea opened a new career to the 
enterprising spirit of the English nobility. Almost every eminent leader 
of the age aimed at distinguishing himself by naval exploits. That service, 
and the ideas connected with it, the discovery of unknown countries, the 
establishment of distant colonies, and the enriching of commerce by new 
commodities, became familiar to persons of rank. 

In consequence of all those concurring causes, the English began seriously 
to form plans of settling colonies in those parts of America which hitherto 
they had only visited. The projectors and patrons of these plans were 
mostly persons of rank and influence. Among them. Sir Humphry Gilbert, 
of Compton in Devonshire, ought to be mentioned with the distinction due 
to the conductor of the tirst English colony to America. He had early 
rendered himself conspicuous by his military services both in France and 
Ireland ; and having afterwards turned his attention to naval affairs, he 
published a discourse concerning the probability of a north-west passage, 
which discovered no inconsiderable portion both of learning and ingenuity, 
mingled with the enthusiasm, the credulity, and the sanguine expectations 
which incite men to new and hazardous undertakings.! With those talents 
he was deemed a proper person to be employed in establishing a new 
colony, and easily obtained from the Queen letters patent [June 11, 1578,] 
vesting in him sufficient powers for this purpose. 

As this is the first charter to a colony granted by the crown of England, 
the articles in it merit particular attention, as they unfold the ideas of that 
age with respect to the nature of such settlements. Elizabeth authorizes 
him to discover and take possession of all remote and barbarous lands, un- 
occupied by any Christian prince or people. She vests in him, his heirs 
and assigns for ever, the full right of property in the soil of those countries 
whereof he shall take possession. She permits such of her subjects as 
were willing to accompany Gilbert in his voyage, to go and settle in the 
countries which he shall plant. She empowers him, his heirs and assigns, 

• Hakluyt, iii 440. Camd. Annal. 301, &e. 1 HaWuyt, Ui. 11., 



A M ERIC A. 397 

to dispose of whatever portion of those lands he shall judge meet, to per- 
sons settled there, in fee sinaple, according to the laws oi England. She 
ordains, that all the lands granted to Gilbert shall hold of the crown of 
England by homage, on payment of the fifth part of the gold or silver ore 
found there. She confers upon him, his heirs and assigns, the complete 
jurisdictions and royalties, as well marine as other, within the said lands 
and seas thereunto adjoining ; and as their common safety and interest 
would render good government necessary in their nevv settlements, she 
gave Gilbert, his heirs and assigns, full power to convict, punish, pardon, 
govern, and rule, by their good discretion and policy, as well in causes 
capital or criminal as civil, both marine and other, ail persons who shall, 
from time to time, settle within the said countries, according to such 
statutes, laws, and ordinances, as shall be by him, his heirs and assigns, 
devised and established for their better government. She declared, that 
all who settled there should have and enjoy all the privileges of free denizens 
and natives of England, any law, custom, or usage to the contrary not- 
withstanding. And finally, she prohibited all persons from attempting to 
settle within two hundred leagues of any place which Sir Humphry Gil- 
beit, or his associates, shall have occupied during the space of six years.* 

VVith those extraordinary powers, suited to the high notions of authority 
and prerogative prevalent in England during the sixteenth century, but 
very repugnant to more recent ideas with respect to the rights of free men, 
who voluntarily unite to form a colony, Gilbert began to collect associates, 
and to prepare for embarkation. His own character, and the zealous 
efforts of his half brother Walter Ralegh, who even in his early youth dis- 
played those splendid talents, and that undaunted spirit, which create 
admiration and confidence, soon procured him a sufficient number of fol- 
lowers. But his success was not suited either to the sanguine hopes of his 
countrymen, or to the expense of his preparations. Two expeditions, both 
of which he conducted in person, ended disastrously [1580]. In the last 
he himself perished, without having effected his intended settlement on the 
continent of America, or performing any thing more worthy of notice, than 
the empty formality of taking possession of the Island of Newfoundland in 
the name of his sovereign. The dissensions among his officers ; the licen- 
tious and ungovernable spirit of some of his crew ; his total ignorance of 
the countries which he purposed to occupy ; his misfortune in approaching 
the continent too far towards the north, where the inhospitable coast of 
Cape Breton did not invite them to settle ; the shipwreck of his largest 
vessel ; and, above all, the scanty provision which the funds of a private 
man could make of what was requisite for establishing a new colony, were 
the true causes to which the failure of the enterprise must be imputed, not 
to any deficiency of abilities or resolution in its leader.! 

But the miscarriage of a scheme, in which Gilbert had wasted his fortune, 
did not discourage Ralegh. He adopted all his brother's ideas ; and 
applying to the Q.ueen, in whose favour he stood high at that time, he pro- 
cured a patent [March 26, 1584"], with jurisdiction and prerogatives as 
ample as had been granted unto Gilbert. J Ralegh, no less eager to execute 
than to undertake the scheme, instantly despatched two small vessels 
[April 27], under the command of Amadas and Barlow, two officers of 
trust, to visit the countries which he intended to settle, and to acquire some 
previous knowledge of their coasts, their soil, and productions. In order 
to avoid Gilbert's error, in holding too far north, they took their course by 
the Canaries and the West India islands, and approached the North 
American continent by the Gulf of Florida. Unfortunately, their chief 
researches were made in that part of the country now known by the name 
of North Carolina, that province in America most destitute of commodious 

♦ llakluyt, iii. 135. t Ibid. iii. 243, i.c. J Ibid. iii. tU3. , 



398 HISTORY OF [Book IX. 

harbours. They touched first at an island, which they call Wokocon 
(probably Ocakoke,) situated on the inlet into Pamplicoe sound, and then 
at Roanoke, near the mouth of Albermarle sound. In both tiiey had some 
intercourse ■with the natives, whom they found to be savages vvith all the 
characteristic qualities of uncivilized lite, braverj-, aversion to labour, hos- 
pitality, a propensity to admire, and a willingness to exchange their rude 
proiluctions for English commodities, especially for iron, or any of the 
useful Jiietals of which they were destitute. Alter spending a few weeks 
in this traffic, and in visiting some parts of the adjacent continent, Amadas 
and Barlow returned to England [Sept. 15], with two of the natives, and 
gave such splendid descriptions of the beauty of the country, the fertility 
of the soil, and the mildness of the climate, that Elizabeth, delighted with 
the idea of occupying a territory superior, so far, to the barren regions 
towards the north hitherto visited by her subjects, bestowed on it the name 
of Virginia ; as a memoriai tiiat this happy discovery bad been made under 
a virgin queen.* 

Their report encouraged Ralegh to hasten his preparations for taking 
possession of such an inviting property. He fitted out a ^^uadron of seven 
small ships, under the command of Sir Richard Greenville, a man of honour- 
able birth, and of courage so undaunted as to be conspicuous even in that 
gallant age. But the spirit of that predatory war which the English carried 
on against Spain, mingled with this scheme of settlement ; and on this 
account, as well as from unacquaintance with a more direct and shorter 
course to North America, Greenville sailed by the West India islands. 
He spent some time in cruising among these, and in taking prizes ; so that 
it ^vas towards the close of June before he arrived on the coast of North 
America. He touched at both the islands where Amadas and Barlow had 
landed, and made some excursions into dilFerent parts of the continent 
round Pamplicoe and Albermarle sounds. But as, unfortunately, he did not 
advance iar enough towards the north, to discover the noble bay of Chesa- 

Seak, he established the colony [Aug. 25], which he left on the island of 
-oanoke, an incommodious station, without any safe harbour, and almost 
uninhabited.! 

This colony consisted only of one hundred and eighty persons, under the 
command of Captain Lane, assisted by some men of note, the most dis- 
tinguished of whom was Hariot, an eminent mathematician. Their cliief 
employment, during a residence of nine months, was to obtain a more exten- 
sive knowledge of the countiy^ ; and their researclies were carried on with 
greater spirit, and reached further than could have been expected from a 
colony so feeble, and in a station so disadvantageous. But iiom the same 
impatience of indigent adventurers Jo acquire sudden wealth which gave 
a wrong direction to the industry of the Spaniards in their settlements, the 
greater part of the English seem to have considered nothing as worthy of 
attention but mines of gold and silver. These they sought for wherever 
they came : these they inquired after with unwearied eagerness. The 
savages soon discovered the favourite objects which allured them, and art- 
fully amused them with so many tales concerning pearl fisheries, and rich 
mines of various metals, that Lane and his companions wasted their' time 
and activity in the chimerical pursuit of these, instead of labouring- to raise 
provisions for their own subsistence. On discovering the deceit of the 
Indians, they were so much exasperated, that from expostulations and 
reproaches they proceeded to open hostility [1586]. The supplies of pro- 
vision which they had been accustomed to receive from the natives were 
of course withdrawn. Through their own negligence no other precaution 
had been taken for their support. Ralegh, having engaged in a scheme 
too expensive for his narrow funds, had not been able to send them tlial 

• Haklujt, iii. iid 1 Id. iil. 251 



AMERICA. 399 

recruit of stores with which Greenville had promised to furnish them early 
in the spring. The colony, reduced to the utmost distress, and on the 
point of perishing with famine, was preparing to disperse into different 
districts of the country in quest of food, when Sir Francis Drake appeared 
with his fleet [June 1], returning from a successful expedition against the 
Spaniards in the West Indies. A scheme which he formed, of furnishing 
Lane and his associates with such supplies as might enable them to remaisr 
with comfort in their station, was disappointed by a sudden storm, in 
which a small vessel that he destined for their service was dashed to pieces, 
and as he could not supply them with another, at their joint request, as they 
were worn out with fatigue and famine, he carried them home to England* 
[June 19]. 

Such ^vas the inauspicious beginning of the English settlements in the 
New World ; and, after exciting high expectations, this first attempt pro- 
duced no effect but that of affording a more complete knowledgeof the 
country ; as it enabled Hariot, a man of science and observation, to 
describe its soil, climate, productions, and the manners of its inhabitants, 
with a degree of accuracy which merits no inconsiderable praise, when 
compared with the childish and marvellous tales published by several 
of the early visitants of the New World. There is another consequence 
of this abortive colony important enough to entitle it to a place in his- 
tory. Lane and his associates, by their constant intercourse with the 
Indians, had acquired a relish for their favourite enjoyment of smoking 
tobacco ; to the use of which, the credulity of that people not only ascribed 
a thousand imaginary virtues, but their superstition considered the plant 
itself as a gracious gift of the gods, for the solace of human kind, and the 
niost acceptable offering which man can present to heaven. t They brought 
with them a specimen of this new commodity to England, and taught their 
countrymen the method of using it ; which Ralegh and some young men of 
fashion fondly adopted. From imitation of them, from love of novelty, and 
from the favourable opinion of its salutary qualities entertained by several 
physicians, the practice spread among the English. The Spaniards and 
Portuguese had, previous to this, introduced it into other parts of Europe. 
This uabit of taking tobacco gradually extended from the extremities of 
the north to those of the south, and in one form or other seems to be equally 
grateful to the inhabitants of every climate; and by a singular caprice of 
the human species, no less inexplicable than unexampled (so bewitching 
is the acquired taste for a weed of no manifest utility, and at first not only 
unpleasant but nauseous), that it has become almost as universal as the 
demands of those appetites originally implanted in our natui'S. Smoking 
was the first mode of taking tobacco in England ; and we learn from the 
comic writers towards the close of the sixteenth century and the beginning 
of the seventeenth, that this was deemed one of the accomplishments of a 
man of fashion and spirit. 

A few days after Drake departed from Roanoke, a small bark, despatched 
by Ralegh with a supply of stores for the colony, landed at the place 
where the English had settled ; but on finding it deserted by their coun- 
trymen they returned to England. The bark was hardly gone, when Sir 
Richard Greenville appeared with three ships. After searching in vain 
for the colony which he had planted, without being able to learn what 
had belallen it, he left fifteen of his crew to keep possession of the island. 
This handful of men was soon overpowered and cut in pieces by the 
savages-! 

Though all Ralegh's efforts to establish a colony in Virginia had hitherto 
proved abortive, and had been defeated by a succession of disasters and 

* tlakluyi. ii.SJSS. Camd. Annal. 387. f Huriot ap. Hakluyt, ill. 271. DeBry. Amnicm. par* L 
I Haklayi, iii. 365. 283 / -»r 



4U0 HISTORY OF [Book IX. 

disappojtitments, neither his hopes nor resources were exhausted. Early 
in the following year [1587], he fitted out three ships, under the command 
ot" Captain John White, who carried thither a colony more numerous than 
that which had been settled under Lane. On their arrival in Virginia, 
after viewing the face of the country covered with one continued forest, 
which to them appeared an uninhabited wild, as it was occupied only by 
a few scattered tribes of savages, they discovered that they were destitute 
of many things which they deemed essentially necessary towards their 
subsistence in such an uncomi iirtable situation ; and Avith one voice, requested 
White, their commander, to retuvn to England, as the person among them 
most likely to solicit, with efficacy, the supply on which depended the 
existence of the colony. White landed in his native country at a most 
unfavourable season lor the negotiation which he had undertaken. He 
foiind the nation in universal alarm at the formidable preparations of 
Philip II. to invade England, and collecting all its force to oppose the 
tleet to which he had arrogantly given the name of the Invincible Armada. 
Ralegh, Greenville, and all the most zealous patrons of the new settlement, 
were called to act a distinguished part in the operations of a year [1588], 
equally interesting and glorious to England. Amidst danger so imminent, 
and during a contest for the honour of their sovereign and the independence 
of their country, it was impossible to attend to a less important and remote 
object. The unfortunate colony in Roanoke received no supply, and 
perished miserably by famine, or by the unrelenting cruelty of those bar- 
barians by whom they were surrounded. 

During the remainaerof Elizabeth's reign, the scheme of establishing a 
colony in Virginia was not resumed. Ralegh, with a most aspiring mind 
and extraordinary talents, enlightened by knowledge no less uncommon, 
had the spirit and the defects of a projector. Allured by new objects, 
and always giving the preference to such as were most splendid and 
arduous, he was apt to engage in undertakings so vast and so various as 
10 be far beyond his power of accomplishing. He was now intent on 
peopling and improving a large district of country in Ireland, of which he 
had obtained a grant from the Queen, He was a deep adventurer in the 
scheme of fitting out a powerful armament against Spain, in order to 
establish Don Antonio on the throne of Portugal. He had begun to form 
his favourite but visionary plan, of penetrating into the province of Guiana, 
Avhere he fondly dreamed of taking possession of inexhaustible wealth 
flowing from the richest mines in the New World. Amidst this multi- 
plicity of projects, of such promising appearance, and recommended by 
novelty, he naturally became cold towards his ancient and hitherto unpro- 
fitable scheme of settling a colony in Virginia, and was easily induced to 
assign his right of property in that country, which he had never visited, 
together with all the privileges contained in his patent, to Sir Thomas Smith 
and a company of merchants in London [March, 1596]. This company, 
satisfied with a paltry traffic carried on by a few small barks, made no 
attempt to take possession of the country. Thus, after a period of a 
hundred and six years from the time that Cabot discovered North America 
in the name of Henrj' VII., and of twenty years from the time that Ralegh 
planted the first colony, there was nf)t a single Englishman settled there at 
the demise of Queen Elizabeth, in the year one thousand six hundred and 
three 

I have already explained the ( ause of this during the period previous to 
the accession of^Elizabeth. Other causes produced the same effect under 
her administration. Thoug'n for one half of her reign England was engaged 
in no foreign war, and commerce enjoyed that perfect security which is 
friendly to its progress ; though the glory of her later years gave the 
highest tone of elevation and vigour to the national spirit ; the Queen her- 
self, ijpom her extreme parsimony, and her aversion to demand extraordinary 



AMERICA. 401 

supplies of her subjects, was more apt to restrain than to second the ardent 
genius of her people. Several of the most splendid enterprises in her 
rcif]^n were concerted and executed by private adventurers. All the 
schemes for colonization were carried on by the funds of individuals, 
without any public aid. Even the felicity of her government was averse 
to tlie establishment of remote colonies. So powerful is tlie attraction ot 
our native soil, and such our fortunate partiality to the laws and manners of 
our own country, that men seldom choose to abandon it, unless they be driven 
away by oppression, or allured by vast prospects of sudden wealth. But 
the provinces of America, in which the English attempted to settle, did 
not, like those occupied by Spain, invite them thither by any appearance 
of silver or gold mines. All their hopes of gain were distant ; and they 
saw that nothing could be earned but by persevering exertions of industry. 
The maxims ot Elizabeth's administration were, in their general tenor, 
so popular, as did not force her subjects to emigrate in order to escape 
from the heavy or vexatioi's hand of power. It seems to have been with 
difficulty that these slender bands of planters were collected, on which 
the writers of that age bestow the name of the first and second Virginian 
colonies. The fulness of tim.e for English colonization was not yet 
arrived. 

But the succession of the Scottish line to the crown of England [1603] 
hastened its approach. James was hardly seated on the throne before he 
discovered his pacific intentions, and he soon terminated the long war 
which had been carried on between Spain and England, by an amicable 
treaty. From that period, uninterrupted tranquillity continued during his 
reign. Many persons of high rank, and of ardent ambition, to whom the 
war with Spain had afforded constant employment, and presented alluring 
prospects not only of fame but of wealth, soon became so impatient of 
languishing at home without occupation or object, that their invention was 
on the stretch to find some exercise for their activity and talents. To 
both these North America seemed to open a new field, and schemes of 
carrying colonies thither became more general and more popular. 

A voyage undertaken by Bartholomew Gosnold, in the last year of the 
Queen, facilitated as well as encouraged the execution of these schemes. 
He sailed from Falmouth in a small bark with thirty-two men. Instead 
of following former navigators in their unnecessary circuit by the West 
India isles and the Gulf of Florida, Gosnold steered due west as nearly as 
the winds would permit, and was the first English commander who reached 
America by this shorter and more direct course. That part of the conti- 
nent which he first descried was a promontory' in the province now called 
Massachusets Bay, to which he gave the name of Cape Cod. Holding 
along the coast as it stretched towards the south-west, he touched at two 
islands, one of which he called Martha's Vineyard, the other Elizabeth's 
Island ; and visited the adjoining continent, and traded with its inhabitants. 
He and his companions were so much delighted every where with the 
inviting aspect of the country, that notwithstanding the smallness of their 
number, a part of them consented to remain there. But when they had 
leisure to reflect upon the fate of former settlers in America, they retracted 
a resolution formed in the firsi warmth of their admiration ; and Gosnold 
returned to England in less than four months from the time of his 
departure.* 

This voyage however inconsiderable it may appear, had important 
effects. The English now discovered the aspect of the American continent 
to be extremely inviting far to the north of the place where they had 
formerly attempted to settle. The coast of a vast country, stretching through 
the most desirable climates, lay before them. The richness of its vir^jir 

♦ Purcbao, iv. p. Ifl47 
^'oL. I. — 51 



402 H 1 S T R Y O F [Book IX. 

soil promised a certain recompense to their industry. In its interior pro- 
vinces unexpected sources of wealth might open, and unknown objects of 
commerce migiit be found. Its distance from England was diminished 
ahiiost a third part by the new course which Gosnold had pointed out. 
Plans for establishing colonies began to be formed in different parts of the 
kingdom ; and belbre these were ripe for execution, one small vessel was 
sent out by the merchants of Bristol, another by the Earl of Southampton 
and Lord Arundel of VVardour, in order to learn whether Gosnold's account 
of the country was to be considered as a just representation of its state, 
or as the exaggerated description of a fond discoverer. Both returned 
with a full conlirmation of his veracity, and with the addition of so m;iny 
new circumstances in favour of the country, acquired by a more extensive 
view of it, as greatly increased the desire of planting it. 

The most active and efficacious promoter of this was Richard Hakluyt, 
prebendary of Westminster, to whom England is more indebted for its 
American possessions than to any man of that age. Formed under a kins- 
man of the same name, eminent for naval and commercial knowledge, he 
imbibed a similar taste, and applied early to the study of geography and 
navigation. These favourite sciences engrossed his attention, and to diffuse 
a relish for them was the great object of his life. In order to excite his 
countrymen to naval enterprise, by flattering their national vanity, he 
published, in the year one thousand five hundred and eighty-ixwe, his 
valuable collection of voyages and discoveries made by Englisnnien. In 
order to supply them with what information might be derived from the 
experience of the most successful foreign navigators, he translated some of 
the best accounts of the progress of the Spaniards and Portuguese in their 
voyages both to the East and West Indies, into the English tongue. He was 
consulted with respect to many of the attempts towards discover}' or colo- 
nization during the latter part of Elizabeth's reign. He corresponded with 
the otficers who conducted them, directed their researches to proper objects, 
and published the history of their exploits. By the zealous endeavours of 
a person equally respected by men of rank and men of business, many of 
both orders formed an association to establish colonies in America, and 
petitioned the king for the sanction of his authority to warrant the execution 
of their plans. 

James, who prided himself on his profound skill in the science of govern- 
ment, and who had turned his attention to consider the advantages which 
might be derived from colonies, at a time when he patronized his scheme 
for planting them in some of the ruder provinces of^ his ancient kingdom, 
with a view of introducing industry and civilization there,* was now no 
less fond of directing the active genius of his English subjects towards 
occupations not repugnant to his own pacific maxims, and listened with a 
favourable ear to their application. But as the extent as well as value of 
the American continent began now to be better known, a grant of the 
whole of such a vast region to any one body of men, however respectable, 
appeared to him an act of impolitic and profuse liberality. For this rea- 
son he divided that portion of North America, which stretches from the 
thirty-fourth to the fifty-fifth degree of latitude, into two districts nearly 
equal ; the one called the first or south colony of Virginia, the other, the 
second or north colony [April 10, 1616]. He authorized Sir Thomas 
Gates, Sir George Summers, Richard Hakluyt, and their associates, mostly 
resident in London, to settle any part of die former which they should 
choose, and vested in them a right of property to the land extending along 
the coast fifty miles on each side of the place of their first habitation, and 
reaching into the interior country a hundred miles. The latter district he 
allotted, as the place of settlement to sundry knights, gentlemen, and mer- 

♦ Hist, of Scotland, vol. U. 



AMERICA. 403 

chants of Bristol, Plymouth, and other parts in the west of Eng^land, with 
a similar g:rant of territory. Neither the monarch who issued tliis charter, 
nor his subjects who received it, had any conception that they were pro- 
ceeding to lay the foundation of mighty and opulent states. What James 
granted was nothing mOre than a simple charter of corporation to a trading 
company, empowering the members of it to have a common seal, and to 
act as a body politic. But as the object for which they associated was 
new, the plan establislied for the administration of their atTairs was uncom- 
mon. Instead of the power usually granted to corporations, of electing 
officers and framing by-laws for the conduct of their own operations, the 
supreme government of the colonies to be settled was vested in a council 
resident in England, to be named by the king, according to such laws and 
ordinances as should be given under his sign manual ; and the subordinate 
jurisdiction was committed to a council resident in America, which was 
likewise to be nominated by the king, and to act conformably to his 
instructions. To this important clause, which regulated the form of their 
constitution, was added the concession of several immunities to encourage 
persons to settle in the intended colonies. Some of those were the same 
which had been granted to Gilbert and Ralegh ; such as the securing to 
the emigrants and their descendants all the rights of denizens, in the same 
manner as if they had remained or had been born in England ; and grant- 
ing them the privilege of holding their lands in America l)y the freest and 
least burdensome tenure. Others were more favourable than those granted 
by Elizabeth. He permitted whatever was necessary for the sustenance 
or commerce of the new colonies to be exported from England, during the 
space of seven years, without paying any duty ; and, as a further incite- 
ment to industry, he granted them liberty of trade with other nations, and 
appropriated the duly to be levied on foreign commodities, for twenty -one 
years, as a fund for the benefit of the colony.* 

In this singular charter, the contents of which have been little attended 
to by the historians of America, some articles are as unfavourable to the 
rights of the colonists as others are to the interest of the parent state. By 
placing the legislative and executive powers in a council nominated by the 
crown, and guided by its instructions, every person settling in America 
seepis to be bereaved of the noblest privilege of a iVee man ; by the 
unlimited permission of trade with foreigners, the parent state is deprived 
of that exclusive commerce which has been deemed the chief advantage 
resulting from the establishment of colonies. But in the infancy of colo- 
nization, and without the guidance of observation or experience, the ideas 
of men, with respect to the mode of forming new seltlenjents, were not 
fully unfolded or properly arranged. At a period when they could not 
foresee the future grandeur and importance of the communities which they 
were about to call into existence, they were ill qualified to concert the best 
plan for governing them. Besides, the, English of that age, accustomed to 
the high prerogative and arbitrary rule of their monarchs, were not ani- 
mated with such liberal sentiments, either concerning their own personal or 
political rights, as have become familiar in the more mature and improved 
state of their constitution. 

Without hesitation or reluctance the proprietors of both colonies prepared 
to execute their respective plans ; and under the authority of a charter, 
which would now be rejected with disdain as a violent invasion of the 
sacred and inalienable rights of liberty, the first permanent settlements of 
the English in America were established. Erom this period, the progress 
of the two provinces of Virginia and >.'ew England forms a regular and 
connected story. The former in the south, and the latter in the north, may 
be considered as the original and parent colonies ; in imitation of which, 

• Stith. Hisl. of \'irgiiii.-i, p. 25 Awiond p. 1. Piirrhri, v. IGWl. 



404 HISTORY OF [BookI . 

and under whose shelter, all the others have been successively planted and 
reared. 

The first attempts to occupy Virginia and New^ England were made by 
very feeble bodies of emigrants. As these settled under great disadvan- 
tages, among tribes of savages, and in an uncultivated desert ; as they 
attained gradually, after long struggles and many disasters, to tliat maturity 
of strength, and order of policy, which entitle them to be considered as 
respectable states, the history of their i^ersevering efforts merits particular 
attention. It will exhibit a spectacle no less striking than instructive, and 
presents an opportunity which rarely occurs, of contemplating a society in 
the first moment of its political existence, and of observing how its spirit 
forms in its infant state, how its principles begin to unfold as it advances, 
and how those characteristic qualities whicli distinguish its maturer age 
are successively acquired. The account of the establishment of the other 
English colonies, undertaken at periods when the importance of such pos- 
sessions was better understood, and effected by more direct and vigorous 
exertions of the parent state, is less interesting. I shall thcretbre relate 
the history of the two original colonies in detail. With respect to the sub- 
sequent settlements, some more general observations concerning the time, 
the motives, and circumstances of their establishment will be sufficient. 
I begin with the history of V^irginia, the most ancient and most valuable of 
the British colonies in North America. 

Though many persons of distinction became proprietors in the company 
which undertook to plant a colony in Virginia, its funds seem not to have 
been considerable, and its first effort was certainly extremely feeble. A 
small vessel of a hundred tons, and two barks, under the command of 
Captain Newport, sailed [Dec. 19] with a hundred and five men destined 
to remain in the country. Some of these were of respectable families, 
particularly a brother of the Earl of Northumberland, and several otEcers 
who had served with reputation in the reign of Elizabeth. Newport, I 
know not for what reason, followed the ancient course by the West Intlies, 
and did not reach the coast of North America for four months [April 26, 
1607]. But he approached it with better fortune than any former navi- 
gator; for, having been driven, by the violence of a storm, to the north- 
ward of Roanoke, the place of his destination, the first land he discovered 
was a promontory which he called Cape Henry, the southern boundary of 
the Bay of Chesapeak. The English stood directly into that spacious inlet, 
which seemed to invite them to enter ; and as they advanced, contem- 
plated, with a mixture of delight and admiration, that grand reservoir, 
into which are poured the waters of all the vast rivers, vvhich not only 
diffuse fertility through that district of America, but open the interior parts 
of the country to navigation, and render a commercial intercourse more 
extensive and commodious than in any other region of the globe. New- 
port, keeping along the southern shore, sailed up a river vvhich the natives 
called Pov.'lTatan, and to which he gave the name of .Tames B.iver. After 
viewing its banks, during a run of above forty miles from its mouth, they 
all concluded that a country, where safe and convenient harbours seemed 
to be numerous, would be a more suitable station for a trading colony than 
the shoaly and dangerous coast to the south, on which their countrj-men 
had formerly settled. Here then they determined to abide ; and having 
chosen a proper spot for their residence, they gave this infant setdement 
the name of James Town, which it still retains ; and though it has never 
become either populous or opulent, it can boast of being the most ancient 
habitation of the English in the New World. But however well chosen 
the situation might be, the members of the colony were far from availing 
themselves of its advantages. Violent animosities had broke out among 
some of their leaders, during their voyage to Virginia. These did not sub- 
side on their arrival there. The first deed of the council, which assumed 



A M E R 1 C A. 405 

the government in virtue of a commission brought from England under the 
seal of the company, and opened on the day after they landed, was an 
act of injustice. Captain Smith, who had been appointed a member of 
the council, was excluded from his seat at the board, by the mean jealousy 
of his colleagues, and not only reduced to the condition of a private man, 
but of one suspected and watched by his superiors. This diininution of 
his influence, and restraint on his activity, was an essential injury to the 
colony, which at that juncture stood in need of the aid of both. For soon 
after they began to settle, the English were involved in a war with the 
natives, partly by their own indiscretion, and partly by the suspicion and 
ferocity of those barbarians. And although the Indians, scattered over the 
countries adjacent to James River, were divided into independent tribes, 
so extremely feeble that hardly one of them could muster above two hun- 
dred warriors,* they teased and annoyed an infant colony by their inces- 
sari hostilities. To this was added a calamity still more dreadful ; the 
stock of provisions left lor their subsistence, on the departure of their ships 
for England [June 15], was so scanty and of such bad quality, that a 
scarcity, approaching almost to absolute famine, soon follovved. Such poor 
unwholesome fare brought on diseases, the violence of which was so much 
increased by the sultr>' heat of the climate, and the moisture of a country 
covered wifh wood, that before the beginning of September one half of 
their number died, and most of the survivors were sickly and dejected. 
In such trying extremities, the comparative powers of every individual are 
discovered and called forth, and each naturally takes that station, and 
assumes that ascendant, to which he is entitled by his talents and force of 
mind. Every eye was now turned towards Smith, and all willingly 
devolved on him that authority of which they had formerly deprived him. 
His undaunted temper, deeply tinctured with the wild romantic spirit cha- 
racteristic of military adventurers In that age, was peculiarly suited to such 
a situation. The vigour of his constitution continued fortunately still unim- 
paired by disease, and his mind was never appalled by danger. He instantly 
adopted the only plan that could save them from destruction. He began 
by surrounding James Town with such rude fortifications as were a suffi- 
cient defence against the assaults of savages. He then marched, at the 
head of a small detachment, in quest of their enemies. Some tribes he 
gained by caresses and presents, and procured from them a supply of 
provisions. Others he attacked with open force ; and defeating them on 
every occasion, whatevpr their superiority in numbers might be, compelled 
them to imparl lo him some portion of their winter stores. As the recom- 
pense of all his toils and dangers, he saw abundance and contentment 
re-established in the colony, and hoped that he should be able to maintain 
them in that happy state, until the arrival of ships from England in the 
spring ; but in one of his excursions he was surprised by a numerous body 
of Indians, and in making his escape from them, after a gallant defence, he 
sunk to the neck in a swamp, and was obliged to surrender. I'hough he 
knew well what a dreadful fate awaits the prisoners of savages, his pre- 
sence of mind did not forsake him. He showed those who had taken 
him captive a mariner's compass, and amused them with so many wonder- 
ful accounts of its virtues as filled them with astonishment and veneration, 
which began to operate very powerfully in his favour. They led him, 
however, in triumph through various parts of the country, and conducted 
him at last to Powhatan, the most considerable Sachim in that part of 
Virginia. There the doom of death being pronounced, he was led to the 

Elace of execution, and his head already bowed down to receive the fatal 
low, when that fond attachment of the American women to their Euro- 

♦ Purchas, vol. iv. 1692. Smith'* Travela, p. 23. 



406 HISTORYOF [Book IX. 

pean invaders, the beneficial effects of which the Spaniards often expe- 
rienced, interposed in his behalf. The favourite daughter of Powhatan 
rushed in between him and the executioner, and by her entreaties and 
tears prevailed on her father to spare his life. 'J he beneficence of his 
deliverer, whom the early English writers dignify with the title of the 
Princess Pocahuntas, did not terminate here ; she soon after procured his 
liberty, and sent from time to time seasonable presents of provisions.* 

Smith, on his return to James Town, found the colony reduced to thirty- 
eight persons, who, in despair were preparing- to abandon a country which 
did not seem destined to be the habitation of Englishmen. He employed 
caresses, threats, and even violence, in order to prevent them from executing 
this fatal resolution. With difficulty he prevailed on them to defer it so 
long, that the succour anxiously expected from England arrived. Plenty 
"was instantly restored ; a hundred new planters were added to their 
number ; and an ample stock of whatever was requisite for clearing and 
sowing tlie ground was delivered to them. But an unlucky incident turned 
their attention from that species of industry which alone could render their 
situation comfortable. In a small stream of water that issued from a bank 
of sand near James Town, a sediment of some shining mineral substance, 
which had some resemblance of gold, was discovered. At a time when 
the precious metals were conceived to be the peculiar and only valuable 
productions of the New World, when every mountain was supposed to 
contain a treasure, and every rivulet was searched for its golden sands, 
this appearance was fondly considered as an infallible indication of a nn"ne. 
Every hand was eager to dig ; large quantities of this glittering dust were 
amassed. From some assay of its nature, made by an artist as unskilful 
as his companions were credulous, it was pronounced to be extremely rich. 
" There was now," says Smith, " no talk, no hope, no work, but dig gold, 
wash gold, refine gold."! With this imaginary wealth the first vessel 
returning to England was loaded, while the culture of the land and every 
useful occupation were totally neglected. 

The effects of this fatal delusion were soon felt. Notwithstanding all 
the provident activity of Smith, in procuring corn from the natives by traffic 
or by force, the colony began to suffer as much as formerly from scarcity 
of food, and was wasted by the same distempers. In hopes of obtaining 
some relief. Smith proposed, as they had not hitherto extended their 
researches beyond the countries contiguous to James River, to open an 
intercourse with the more remote tribes, and to examine into the state of 
culture and population among them. The execution of this arduous design 
ne undertook himself, in a small open boat, with a feeble crew, and a very 
scanty stock of provisions. He began his survey at Cape Charles, and in 
two different excursions, which continued above four months, he advanced 
as far as the river Susquehannah, which flows into the bottom of the bay. 
tie visited all the countries both on the east and west shores ; he entered 
most of the considerable creeks ; he sailed up many of the great rivers as 
far as their falls. He traded with some tribes ; he fought with others ; he 
observed the nature of the territory which they occupied, their mode of 
subsistence, the peculiarities in their manners ; and left among all a won- 
derl'ul admiration either of the beneficence or valour of the English. After 
sailing above three thousand miles in a paltry vessel, ill fitted tor such an 
extensive navigation, durins: which the hardships to which he was exposed, 
as well as the patience with which he endured, and the fortitude with 
which he surmounted them, equal whatever is related of the celebrated 
Spanish discoverers in their most daring enterprises, he returned to James 
Town ; he brought with him an account of that lai^e portion of the 

• Smith's Travels, p. 44, &c. Purchas, iv. 1704. Sliih, p. 45, &c. f Smith's Travels, p. 53. 



AMERICA. 407 

American continent now comprehended in the two provinces of Virginia 
and Maryland,* so full and exact, that after the progress of information and 
research for a century and a half, his map exhibits no inaccurate view of 
both countries, and is the original upon which all subsequent delineations 
and descriptions have been formed.! 

But whatever pleasing prospect of future benefit might open upon this 
complete discovery of a country formed by nature to be the seat of an 
exclusive commerce, it afforded but little relief for their present wants. 
The colony still depended for subsistence chiefly on supplies from the 
natives ; as, after all the efforts of their own industry, hardly thirty acres 
of ground were yet cleared so as to be capable of culture.| By Smith's 
attention, however, the stores of the English were so regularly filled that 
for some time they felt no considerable distress ; and at this juncture a 
change was made in the constitution of the company, which seemed to 
promise an increase of their security and happiness. That supreme di- 
rection of all the company's operations, which the King by his charter had 
reserved to himself, discouraged persons of rank or property from becoming 
members of a society so dependent on the arbitrary will of the cnjwn. 
Upon a representation of this to James, he granted them a new charter 
[May 23, 1609], with more ample privileges. He enlarged the boundaries 
of the colonjr ; he rendered the powers of the company, as a corporation, 
more explicit and complete ; he abolished the jurisdiction of the council 
resident in Virginia ; he vested the government entirely in a council re- 
siding in London ; he granted to the proprietors of the company the right 
of electing the persons who were to compose this council, by a majority 
of voices ; he authorized this council to establish such laws, orders, and 
forms of government and magistvucy, for the colony and plantation, as they 
in their discretion should think to be fittest for the good of the adventurers 
and inhabitants there ; he empowered them to nominate a governor to have 
the administration of affairs in the colony ; and to carry their orders into 
execution. § In consequence of these concessions, the company having 
acquired the power of regulating all its own transactions, the number of 
proprietors increased, and among them we find the most respectable names 
in the nation. 

The first deed of the new council was to appoint Lord Delaware go- 
vernor and captain-general of their colony in Virginia. To a person of 
bis rank those high sounding titles could be no allurement ; and by his 
thorough acquaintance with the progress and state of the settlement, he 
knew enough of the labour and difficulty with which an infant colony is 
reared, to expect any thing but anxiety and care in discharging the duties 
of that delicate office. But, from zeal to promote an establishment which 
he expected to prove so highly beneficial to his country, he was willing to 
relinquish all the comforts of an honourable station, to undertake a long 
voyage to settle in an uncultivated region, destitute of every accommoda- 
tion to which he had been accustomed, and where he foresaw that toil, 
and trouble, and danger awaited him. But as he could not immediately 
leave England, the council despatched Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George 
Summers, the former of whom had been appointed lieutenant-general and 
the latter admiral, with nine ships and five hundred planters. They 
carried with them commissions by which they were empowered to super- 
sede the jurisdiction of the former council, to proclaim Lord Delaware 
governor, and until he should arrive, to take the administration of affairs 
into their own hands. A violent hurricane separated the vessel in which 
Gates and Summers had embarked from the rest of the fleet, and stranded 
it on the coast of Bermudas [Aug. 11]. The other ships arrived safeljT^ 
at James Town. But the fate of their commanders was unknown. Their 

• Smith's Travels, p. 65. &.O. t Stiih, p. 83 } Ibid, p 97. $ Ibid. Append. a> 



408 HISTORYOF [Book IX. 

commission for new modelling the government, and all other public papers, 
Avere supposed to be lost together with them. The present form of 
government, however, was held to be abolished. No legal warrant could 
be produced for establishing any other. Smith was not in a condition at 
this juncture to assert his own rights, or to act with his wonted vigour. 
By an accidental explosion of gunpowder, he had been so miserably 
scorched and mangled that he was incapable of moving, and under the 
necessity of committing himself to the guidance of his friends, who 
carried him aboard one of the ships returning to England, in hopes tiial 
he might recover by more skilful treatment than he could meet with in 
Virginia.* 

After his departure, every thing tended fast to the wildest anarchy. 
Faction and discontent had often risen so high among the old settlers that 
ihey could hardly be kept within bounds. The spirit of the new comers 
was too ungovernable to bear any restraint. Several among them of better 
rank were such dissipated hopeless young men, as their friends were glad 
to send out in quest of whatever fortune might betide them in a foreign 
land. Of the lower order many were so profligate, or desperate, that their 
country was happy to throw them out as nuisances in society. Such per- 
sons were little capable of the regular subordination, the strict economy, 
and persevering industry, which their situation required. The Indians 
observing their misconduct, and that every precaution for sustenance or 
safety was neglected, not only withheld the supplies of provisions which 
they were accustomed to furnish, but harassed them with continual hos- 
tilities. All their subsistence was derived from the stores which they had 
brought from England ; these were soon consumed ; then the domestic 
animals sent out to breed in the country were devoured ; and by this in- 
considerate waste, they were reduced to such extremity of famine, as not 
only to eat the most nauseous and unwholesome roots and berries, but to 
feed on the bodies of the Indians whom they slew, and even on those of 
their companions who sunk under the oppression of such complicated dis- 
tress. In less than six months, of five hundred persons whom Smith left in 
Virginia, only sixty remained ; and these so feeble and dejected that they 
could not have survived for ten days, if succour had not arrived from a 
quarter whence they did not expect it.f 

When Gates and Summers were thrown ashore on Bermudas, fortunately 
not a single person on board their ship perished. A considerable part of 
their provisions and stores too, was saved, and in that delightful syjot, 
Nature, with spontaneous bounty, presented to them such a variety of her 
productions, that a hundred and fifty people subsisted in aHluence for ten 
months on an uninhabited island. Impatient, however, to escape from a 
place where they were cut off from all intercourse with mankind, they set 
about building two barks Avith such tools and materials as they had, and 
by amazing efforts of perseverance and ingenuity they finished them. In 
these they embarked, and steered directly towards Virginia, in hopes of 
finding an ample consolation for all their toils and dangers in the embraces 
of their companions, and amidst the comforts of a flourishing colony. After 
a more prosperous navigation than they could have expected in their ill 
constructed vessels, they landed at James Town [May 23]. But instead 
of that joyful interview for which they fondly looked, a spectacle pre- 
sented itself which struck them with horror. They beheld the miserable 
remainder of their countrymen emaciated with famine and sickness, sunk 
in despair, and in their figure and looks rather resembling spectres than 
human beings. As Gates and Summers, in full confidence of finding plenty 
of provisions in Virginia, had brought with them no larger stock than was 

* I'lirchas, iv. 1734, &c. Smith's Travels, p. 89. SUth, p. 102, &.C. t Slith, p. 116. 

Purchoa, iv. 17-18 



AMERICA. 409 

deemed necessary for their own support during the voyage, their inability 
to afford relief to their countrymen added to the anguish with which they 
viewed this unexpected scene of distress. Nothing now remained but in- 
stantly to abandon a country where it was impossible to subsist any longer ; 
and though all that could be found in the stores of the colony when added 
to what remained of the stock brought from Bermudas, did not amount to 
more than what was sufficient to support them lor sixteen days, at the most 
scanty allowance, they set sail, in hopes of being able to reach Newfound- 
land, where they expected to be relieved by their countrymen employed 
at that season in the fishery there.* 

But it was not the will of Heaven that all the labour of the English, in 
planting this colony, as well as all their hopes of benefit from its future^ 
prosperity, should be for ever lost. Before Gates and the melancholy 
companions of his voyage had reached the mouth of James River, thej'" 
were met by Lord Delaware with three ships, that brought a large recruit 
of pros'isions, a considerable number of new settlers, and every thing re- 
quisite for defence or cultivation. By persuasion and authority he prevailed 
on them to return to James Town, where they found their fort, their ma- 
gazines, and houses entire, which Sir Thomas Gates, by some happy 
chance, had preserved from being set on fire at the time of their departure. 
A society so feeble and disordered in its frame required a tender and 
skilful hand to cherish it, and restore its vigour. This it found in Lord 
Delaware : he searched into the causes of their misfortunes, as far as he 
could discover them, amidst the violence of their mutual accusations ; but 
instead of exerting his power in punishing crimes that were past, he em- 
ployed his prudence in healing their dissensions, and in guarding against a 
repetition of the same fatal errors. By unwearied assiduities, by the 
respect due to an amiable and beneficent character, by knowing how to 
mingle severity with indulgence, and when to assume the dignity of his 
oflice, as well as when to display the gentleness natural to his own temper, 
he gradually reconciled men corrupted by anarchy to subordination and 
discipline, he turned the attention of the idle and profligate to industry, 
and taught the Indians again to reverence and dread the English name. 
Under such an administration, the colony began once more to assume a 
promising appearance ; when unhappily lor it, a complication of diseases 
Drought on by the climate obliged Lord Delaware to quit the country! 
[March 28, 1611] ; the government of which he committed to Mr. Percy. 

Hb was soon superseded l^y tlie arrival [May 10] of Sir Thomas Dale; 
in whom the company had vested more absolute authority than in any of 
his predecessors, empowering him to rule by martial law ; a short cocfe of 
which, founded on the practice of the armies in the Low Countries, the 
most rigid military school at that time in Europe, they sent out with him. 
This system of government is so violent and arbitrary, that even the Spa- 
niards themselves had not ventured to introduce it into their settlements ; 
for among them, as soon as a plantation began, and the arts of peace suc- 
ceeded to the operations of war, the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate 
was uniformly established. But however unconstitutional or oppressive 
this may appear, it was adopted by the advice of Sir Francis Bacon, the 
most enlightened philosopher, and one of the most em.inent lawyers of the 
age.J The company, well acquainted with the inefficacy of every method 
which they had hitherto employed for restraining the unruly mutinous 
spirits which they had to govern, eagerly adopted a plan that had the 
sanction of such high authority to recommend it. Happily for the colony. 
Sir Thomas Dale, who was intrusted with this dangerous power, exercised 

* A minute and curious account of the shipwreck of Gates and Summers, and of their adven- 
tures in Pprmudas, was composed by S'rachy, a gentleman who accompanied them, and was pub- 
lished by Purchas, iv. 1734. t SUth, p. 117. Purchas, iv. 17t>4. i Bacon, Eseay oo 
Plantaliona, p. 3. 

Vol. L— 52 



410 H I S T O R Y O F [Book IX. 

It with pnidence and moderation. By the vigour which the summary 
mode of military punishment gave to his administration, he introduced into 
the colony more perfect order than had ever been established there ; and 
at the same time he tempered his vigour with so much discretion, that no 
alarm seems to have been given by this formidable innovation.* 

The regular form which the colony now began to assume induced the 
king to issue a new charter for the encouragement of the adventurers [March 
12, 1612], by which he not only confirmed all their former privileges, and 
prolonged the term of exemption from payment of duties on the commodi- 
ties exported by them, but granted them more extensive properly, as well 
as more ample jurisdiction. All the islands lying within three hundred 
leagues of the coast were annexed to the province of Virginia. In con- 
sequence of this, the company took possession of Bermudas and the other 
small islands discovered by Gates and Summers, and at the same time 
prepared to send out a considerable reinforcement to the colony at James 
Town. The expense of those extraordinary efforts was defrayed by the 
profits of a lottery, which amounted nearly to thirty thousand pounds. 
This expedient they were authorized to employ by their new charter;! 
and it is remarkable, as the first instance in the lEnglish history of any public 
countenance given to this pernicious seducing mode of levying money. 
But the House of Commons, which towards the close of tliis reign began 
to observe every measure of government with jealous attention, having 
remonstrated against the institution, as unconstitutional and impolitic, James 
recalled the license under the sanction of which it had been established.^ 

By the severe discipline of martial law, the activity of the colonists was 
forced into a proper direction, and exerted itself in useful industry. This, 
aided by a fertile soil and favourable climate, soon enabled them to raise 
such a large stock of provisions, that they were no longer obliged to trust 
for subsistence to the precarious supplies which they obtained or extorted 
from the Indians. Ih proportion as the English became more independent, 
the natives courted their Iriendship upon more equal terms. The happy 
effects of this were quickly felt. Sir Thomas Dale concluded a treaty 
with one of their most powerful and warlike tribes, situated on the river 
Chickahominy, in which thej^ consented to acknowledge themselves sub- 
jects to the King of Great Britain, to assume henceforth the name of Eng- 
lishmen, to send a body of their warriors to the assistance of the English 
as often as they took the field against any enemy, and to deposite annually 
a stipulated quantity of Indian corn in the storehouses of the colony. § 
An event, wiiich the early historians of Virginia relate with peculiar satis- 
faction, prepared the way for this union. Pocahuntas. the favourite 
daughter of the great Chief Powhatan, to whose intercession Captain 
Smith was indebted for his life, persevered in her partial attachment to 
the English ; and as she frequently visited their settlements, where she 
was always received with respectful hospitality, her admiration of their 
arts and manners continued to increase. During this intercourse, her 
beauty, which is represented as far superior to that of her countiywomen, 
made such impression on the heart of Mr. Rolfe, a young man of rank in 
the colony, that he warmly solicited her to accept of him as a husband. 
Where manners are simple, courtship is not tedious. Neither artifice pre- 
vents, nor ceremony forbids, the heart from declaring its sentiments. 
Pocahuntas readily gave her consent; Dale encouraged the alliance, and 
Powhatan did not disapprove it. The marriage was celebrated with ex- 
traordinary pomp ; and from that period a friendly correspondence sub- 
sisted between the colony and all the tribes subject to Powhatan, or that 
stood in awe of his power. Rolfe and his princess (for by that name the 

• Btith, p. 112. t lb- p. J91. Appendix, 23, &;c. '. I Chalmers' Aunals, i. 33 

^ Hainer Solida Narraiio, ap. <le Bry, pare z. p. 33. Stitli, p. 130. 



AMERICA. 411 

writers of the last age always distinguish her,) set out for England, where 
she was received by James'and his Q,ueen with the respect suited to her 
birth. Being carefully instructed in the principles of the Christian faith, 
she was publicly baptized, but died a few years after, on her return to 
America, leaving one son, from whom aie sprung some of the most re- 
spectable families in Virginia, who boast of their descent from the race of 
tbe ancient rulers of their country.* But notwithstanding the visible good 
effects of that alliance, none of Rolfe's countrymen seem to have imitated 
the example which he set them, of intermanymg with the natives. Of all 
the Europeans who have settled in America, the English have availed 
themselves the least of this obvious method of conciliating the affection of 
its original inhabitants ; and, either from the shyness conspicuous in their 
national character, or from the want of that pliant facility of manners which 
accommodates itself to every situation, they have been more averse than 
the French and Portuguese, or even the Spaniards, from incorporating with 
the native Americans. The Indians, courting such a union, offered their 
daughters in marriage to their new guests : and Avhen they did not accept 
of the proffered alliance, they naturally imputed it to pride, and to their 
contempt of them as an inferior order of beings.! 

During the interval of tranquillity procured by the alliance with Pow- 
hatan, an important change Avas made in the state of the colony. Hitheilo 
no right of private property in land had been established. The fields that 
were cleared had been cultivated by the joint labour of the colonists ; their 
product was carried to the common storehouses, and distributed weekly 
to every family, according to its number and exigencies. A society, des- 
titute of the first advantages resulting from social union, was not formed to 
prosper. Industry, when not excited by the idea of property in what was 
acquired by its own efforts, made no vigorous exertion. The head had no 
inducement to contrive, nor the hand to labour. The idle and improvident 
trusted entirely to what was issued from the common store ; the assiduity 
even of the sober and attentive relaxed, when they perceived that others 
were to reap the fruit of their toil ; and it was computed, that the united 
industry of the colony did not accomplish as much work in a week as 
might have been performed in a day, if each individual had laboured on 
his own account. In order to remedy this. Sir Thomas Dale divided a 
considerable portion of the land into small lots, and granted one of these to 
each individual in full property. From the moment that industry had the 
certain prospect of a recompense, it advanced with rapid progress. The 
articles of primary necessity were cultivated with so much attention as 
secured the means of subsistence ; and such schemes of improvement were 
formed as prepared the way tor the introduction of opulence into the colony .J 

The industrious spirit which began to rise among the planters was soon 
directed towards a new object ; and they applied to it for some tinue with 
such inconsiderate ardour as was productive of fatal consequences. The 
culture of tobacco, which has since become tlie staple of Virginia, and the 
source of its prosperity, was introduced about this time [l61b], into the 
colony. As the lastc for that weed continued to increase in England, not- 
withstanding the zealous declamations of James against it, the tobacco 
imported from Virginia came to a ready market ; arid though it was so 
much inferior in quality or in estimation to that raiseii by the Spaniards in 
the West Indian islands, that a pound of the latter sold for eighteen shillings 
and of the former for no more than three shillings, it yielded a considerable 
profit. Allured by the prospect of such a certain and quick relurn, eveiy 
other species of industry was neglected. The land which ought to have 
been reserved for raising provisions, and even the streets of James Town, 

• Hamer Solida Narralio, ap. de Bry, pars X. p. 2.1. Slith, p. 12?l. M6, Smilli's Travels, p. U3 
121. t Beverley's Hisw of Virg. p. 25. J SniiilJ's Travels, p. JJ4. fciiiiU, p. 131. 



412 HISTORY OF [Book IX. 

were planted vvilh tobacco. Various regulations were framed to restrain 
this ill directed activity. But, from eagerness for present gain, the plant- 
ers disregarded every admonition. The means of subsistence became so 
scanty, as forced them to renew their demands upon the Indians, ^vho 
seeing no end of those exactions, their antipathy to the English name 
revived with additional rancour, and they began to form schemes of ven- 
geance, with a secrecy and silence peculiar to Americans.* 

Meanwhile the colony, notwithstanding this error in its operations, and 
the cloud that was gathering over its head, continued to wear an aspect of 
prosperity. Its numbers increased by successive migrations ; the quantity 
of tobacco exported became every year more considerable, and several 
of the planters were not only in an easy situation, but advancing fast to 
opulence ;t and by two events, which happened nearly at the same time, 
both population and industry were greatly promoted. As few women had 
hitherto ventured to encounter the hardships which Avere unavoidable in an 
unknown and uncultivated country, most of the colonists, constrained to 
live single, considered themselves as no more than sojourners in a land tp 
which they were not attached by the tender ties of a family and children. 
In order to induce them to settle there, the company took advantage of the 
apparent tranquillity in the country, to send out a considerable number of 
young women of humble birth indeed, but of unexceptionable character, 
and encouraged the planters, by premiums and immunities, to marry them.| 
These new companions were received with such fondness, and many ol 
them so comtbrtably established, as invited others to follow their example ; 
and by degrees thoughtless adventurers, assuming the sentiments of vir- 
tuous citizens and of provident fathers of families, became solicitous about 
the prosperity of a country which they now considered as their own. As 
the colonists began to fonn more extensive plans of industry, they were 
unexpectedly furnished with means of executing them with greater facility. 
A Dutch ship from the coast of Guinea, having sailed up James River, 
sold a part of her cargo of Negroes to the planters ;§ and as that hardy 
race was found more capable of enduring latigue under a sultry climate 
than Europeans, their number has been increased by continual importation ; 
their aid seems now to be essential to the existence of the colony, and the 
greater part of field labour in Virginia is performed by servile hands. 

But as the condition of the colony improved, the spirits of its members 
became more independent. To Englishmen the summary and severe 
decisions of martial law, however tempered by the mildness of their 
governors, appeared intolerably oppressive ; and they longed to recover 
the privileges to which they had been accustomed under the liberal form 
of government in their native countiy. In compliance with this spirit, Sir 
George Yeardly, in the year 1619 [/une], called the first general assembly 
that was ever held in Virginia ; and the numbers of the people were now 
so increased, and their settlements so dispersed, that eleven corporations 
appeared by their representatives in this convention, where they were 
permitted to assume legislative power, and to exercise the noblest functions 
of free men. The laws enacted in it seem neither to have been many nor 
of great importance ; but the meeting was highly acceptable to the people, 
as they now beheld among themselves an image of the English constitution, 
which they reverenced asthe most perfect model ot free government. In 
order to render this resemblance more complete, and the rights ol the 
planters more certain, the company issued a charter of ordinance [July 24], 
which gave a legal and permanent form to the government of the colony. 
The supreme legislative authority in Virginia, in imitation of that in Great 
Britain, was divided and lodged partly in the governor, who held the 

* Siith, p. 140. 117. 164. 163. Smith, p. 130. Pmchas, iv. 1787. t Smith, p. 130. 

i Stith, p. 166. 197. § Beverley, p. 37. 



AMERICA. 413 

place of the sovereign ; partly in a council of state named by the company, 
which possessed some of the distinctions, and exercised some of the func- 
tions belonging to the peerage ; partly in a general council or assembly 
composed of the representatives of the people, in which were vested 
powers and privileges similar to those of the House of Commons. In both 
these councils all questions were to be determined by the majority of 
voices, and a negative was reserved to the governor ; but no law or ordi- 
nance, though approved of by all the three members of t!ie legislature, 
was to be of force until it was ratified in England by a genei'al court of the 
company, and returned under its seal.* Thus the constitution of the colony 
was fixed, and the members of it are henceforth to be considered, not 
merely as servants of a commercial company dependent on the will and 
orders of their superior, but as free men and citizens. 

The natural effect of that happy change in their condition was an increase 
of their industry. The product of tobacco in Virginia was now equal, 
not only to the consumption of it in Great Britain,! but could furnish some 
quantity tor a foreign market. The company opened a trade for it with 
Holland, and established warehouses lor it in Middelburg and Flushing. 
James and his privy council, alarmed at seeing the commerce of a com- 
modity, for which the demand was daily increasing, turned into a channel 
that tended to the diminution of the revenue, by depriving it of a consider- 
able duty imposed on the importation of tobacco, interposed with vigour to 
check this innovation. Some expedient was found, by which the matter 
was adjusted for the pressnt ; but it is remarkable as the first instance of 
a difference in sentiment between the parent state and the colony, concern- 
ing their respective rights. The former concluded, that the trade of the 
colony should be confined to England, and all its productions be landed 
there. The latter claimed, not only the general privilege of Englishmen 
to carry their commodities to the best market, but oleaded the particular 
concessions in their charter, by which an unlimited rreedom of commerce 
seemed to be granted to them.j Tne time for a more full discussion of this 
important question was not yet arrived. 

But while the colony continued to increase so fast that settlements were 
scattered, not only along the banks of James and York rivers, but began 
to extend to the Rapahannock, and even to the Potowmack, the English, 
relying on their own numbers, and deceived by this appearance of pros- 
perity, lived in full security. They neither attended to the movements of 
the Indians, nor suspected their machinations ; and though surrounded by 
a people whom they might have known from experience to be both artful 
and vindictive, they neglected every precaution for their ov/n safety that 
was requisite in such a situation. Like the peaceful inhabitants of a 
society completely established, they were no longer soldiers but citizens, 
and were so intent on what was subservient to the comfort or embellishment 
of civil life that every martial exercise began to be laid aside as unne- 
cessary. The Indians, whom they commonly employed as hunters, were 
furnished with fire arms, and taught to use them with dexterity. They 
were permitted to frequent the habitations of the English at all hours, and 
received as innocent visitants whom there was no reason to dread. This 
inconsiderate security enabled the Indians to prepare for the execution of 

* Sthh, Appendix, p. 32, &c. 

t It is a matter of some curiosity to trace the progress of tlie cotipumption of this unnecessary 
commodity. The use of tobaccc seems to liave been first introduced into England about the year 
1586. Possilily a few seafaring persons may have acquired a relish for it by tlieir intercourse with 
the Spaniards previous to that period ; but the use of it cannot be denominated a national habit 
sooner than the time I have mentioned. Upon an average of the seven years immediately prece- 
dins; the year 1622, the whole import of tobacco into England amoimtod to a hundred and forty-two 
thousand and eighty-five pounds weight. Stitli, p. 24G. From this it appears, that the taste had 
Bprnad with a rapidity which is remarkable. But how inconsiderable is that quantity to what is 
now consumed in Ureal Britain ! 

i SlJth, p. 200, &c 



414 HISTORY OF [Book IX. 

that plan of vengeance, which they meditated with all the deliberate fore- 
thougrht which is agreeable to their temper. Nor did they want a leader 
capable of conducting their schemes with address. On the death ol 
Powhatan, in the year 1618, Opechancanough succeeded him, not only as 
wirowanee, or chief of his own tribe, but in that extensive influence over 
all the Indian nations of Virginia, Avhich induced the English writers to 
distinguish him by the name of Emperor. According to the Indian tradi- 
tion, he was not a native of Virginia, but came from a distant country to 
the south-west, possibly from some province of the Mexican empire.* 
But as he was conspicuous for all the qualities of highest estimation among 
savages, a fearless courage, great strength and agility of body, and crafty 
policy, he quickly rose to eminence and power. — Soon after his elevation 
to the supreme command, a general massacre of the English seems to have 
been resolved upon ; and during four years, the means of perpetrating it 
with the greatest facility and success were concerted with amazing secrecy 
All the tribes contiguous to the English settlements were successively gained, 
except those on the eastern shore, from whom, on account of their peculiar 
attachment to their new neighbours, every circumstance that might discover 
what they intended was carefully concealed. To each tribe its station 
was allotted, and the part it was to act prescribed. On the morning of 
the day consecrated to vengeance [March 22], each was at the place of 
rendezvous appointed, while the English were so little aware of the 
impending destruction that they received with unsuspicious hosjiitality 
several persons sent by Opechancanough, under pretext of delivering 
presents of venison and fruits, but in reality to observe their motions. 
Finding them perfectly secure, at midday, the moment that was previously 
fixed for this deed of horror, the Indians rushed at once upon them in all 
their different settlements, and murdered men, women, and children, with 
undistinguiahing rage, and that rancorous cruelty with which savages treat 
their enemies. In one hour nearly a fourth part of the whole colony was 
cut off, almost without knowing by whose hands they fell. The slaughter 
would have been universal, if compassion, or a sense of duty, had not 
moved a conveited Indian, to whom the secret was communicated the 
night before the massacre, to reveal it to his master in such time as to save 
James Town and some adjacent settlements ; and if the English in other 
districts had not run to their arms with resolution prompted by despair, 
and defended themselves so bravely as to repulse their assailants, who, 
in the execution of their plan, did not discover courage equal to the sagacity 
and art with which they had concerted it.f 

But though the blow was thus prevented from descending with its full 
effect, it proved very grievous to an infant colony. In some settlements 
not a single Englishman escaped. Many persons of prime note in the 
colony, and among these several members of the council, were slain. 
The survivors, overwhelmed with grief, astonishment, and terror, aban- 
doned all their remote settlements, and, crowding together for safety to 
.Tames Town, did not occupy a territory of greater extent than had been 
planted soon after the arrival of their countrymen in Virginia. Confined 
within those narrow boundaries, they were less intent on schemes of industry 
than on thoughts of revenge. Every man took arms. A bloody war 
against the Indians commenced ; and, bent on exterminating the v.'hole 
race, neither old nor young were spared. The conduct of the Spaniards 
in the southern regions of America was openly proposed as the most proper 
model to imitate ;j and regardless, like them, of those principles of faith, 
honour, and humanity, which regulate hostility among civilized nations 
and set bounds to its rage, the English deemed every thing allowable that 
tended to accomplish their design. They hunted the Indians like wild 

• Beverley, p. .M. t Stith, p 208, &c. Pnrchae, iv. 1788, &.c j 3tith, p. 2/!3. 



AMERICA. 415 

beasts rather than enemies ; and as the pursu.it of them to their places of 
retreat in the woods, which covered their country, was both difficult and 
dangerous, they endeavoured to allure them from their inaccessible fastness 
by offers of peace and promises of oblivion, made with such an artful 
appearance of sincerity as deceived their crafty leader, and induced them 
to return to their former settlements, and resume their usual peaceful oc- 
cupatioas [1623]. The behaviour of the two people seemed now to be 
perfectly reversed. The Indians, like men acquainted with the principles 
of integrity and good faith, on which the intercourse between nations is 
founded, confided in the reconciliation, and lived in absolute security with- 
out suspicion of danger ; wh'le the English, with perfidious craft, were 
preparing to imitate savages in their revenge and cruelty. On the approach 
of harvest, when they knew a hostile attack would be most formidable 
and fatal, they fell suddenly upon all the Indian plantations, murdered 
every person on whom they could lay hold, and drove the rest to the 
woods, where so many perished with hunger, that some of the tribes 
nearest to the English were totally extirpated. This atrocious deed, 
which the perpetrators laboured to represent as a necessary act of retalia- 
tion, was followed by some happy effects. It delivered the colony so 
entirely from any dread of the Indians, that its settlements began again to 
extend, and its industry to revive. 

But unfortunately at this juncture the state of the company in England, 
in which the property of Virginia and the government of the colony 
settled there were vested, prevented it from seconding the efforts of the 
planters, by such a reinforcement of men, and such a supply of necessa- 
ries, as were requisite to replace what they had lost. The company was 
originally composed of many adventurers, and increased so fast by the 
junction of new members, allured by the prospect of gain, or the desire of 
promoting a scheme of public utility, that its general courts formed a 
numerous assembly.* The operation of every political principle and 
passion, that spread through the kingdom, Avas felt in those popular meet- 
mgs, and influenced their decisions. As towards the close of James's 
reign more just and enlarged sentiments Avith respect to constitutional 
liberty were diffused among the people, they came to understand their 
rights better and to assert them with greater boldness ; a distinction formerly 
little known, but now familiar in English policy, began to be established 
between the court and country parties, and the leaders of each endea- 
voured to derive power and consequence from every quarter. Both 
exerted themselves with emulation, in order to obtain the direction of a 
body so numerous and respectable as the company of Virginian adven- 
turers. In consequence of this, business had been conducted in every 
general court for some years, not with the temperate spirit of merchants 
deliberating concerning their mutual interest, but with the animosity and 
violence natural to numerous assemblies, by which rival factions contend 
for superiority.! 

As the king did not often assemble the great council of the nation in 
parliament, the general courts of the company became a theatre on which 
popular orators displayed their talents ; the proclamations of the crown, 
and acts of the privy council, Avith respect to the commerce and police of 
the colony, Avere canvassed there with freedom, and censured Avith seve- 
rity, ill suited to the lofty ideas Avhich James entertained of his 0A\'n 
wisilom, and the extent of his prerogative. In order to check this groAving 
spirit of discussion, the nn'nisters employed all their address and influence 
to gain as many members of the company as might give them the direc- 
tion of their deliberations. But so unsuccessful Avere they in this attempt, 
that every measure proposed by them Avas reprobated by a vast majority, 

• Slith, p. 272. 276. t Ihid. D. 2-29, &c. ChalraerB, p. 50. 



416 HISTORY OF [Book IX 

and sometimes without any reason hut because they were the proposers 
of it. James, little favourable to the power of any popular as-sembly, 
and weary of contending: with one over which he had laboured in vain to 
obtain an ascendant, began to entertain thoughts of dissolving the com- 
pany, and new modelling its constitution. Pretexts, neither unplausible 
nor destitute of some fonndation, seemed to justify this measure. The 
slow progress of the colony, the large sums of money expended, and great 
numberof men who had perished in attempting to plant it, the late massacre 
by the Indians, and eveiy disaster that had befallen the English from their 
first migration to America, were imputed solely to the inabilit}' of a nume- 
rous company to conduct an enterprise so complex and arduous. The 
nation felt sensibly its disappointment in a scheme in which it had engaged 
with sanguine expectations of advantage, and wished impatiently for such 
an impartial scrutiny into former proceedings as might suggest more 
salutary measures in the future administration of the colony. The pre- 
sent state of its affairs, as well as the wishes of the people, seemed to call 
for the interposition of the crown ; and James, eager to display the supe- 
riority of his royal wisdom, in correcting those errors into which the 
company had been betrayed by inexperience in the arts of government, 
boldly undertook the work of reformation [May 9, 1623]. Without 
regarding the rights conveyed to the company by their charter, and without 
the formality of any judicial proceeding for annulling it, he, by virtue of 
his prerogative, issued a commission, empowering some of the judges, and 
other persons of note, to examine into all the transactions of the company 
from its tirst establishment, and to lay the result of their inquiries, together 
with their opinion concerning the most effectual means of rendering the 
colony more prosperous,* before the privy council. At the same time, by 
a strain of authority still higher, he ordered ail the records and papers of 
the company to be seized, and two of its principal ofBcers to be arrested. 
Violent and arbitrary as thes-e acts of authority may now appear, the com- 
missioners carried on their inquiry without any obstruction, but what arose 
from some feeble and ineffectual remonstrances of the company. The 
commissioners, though they conducted their scrutiny with much activity 
and vigour,! did not communicate any of their proceedings to the com- 
pany ; but their report, with respect to its operations, seems to have been 
very unfavourable, as the king, in consequence of it, signified to the com- 
pany [Oct. 8], his intention of vesting the supreme government of the 
company in a governor and twelve assistants, to be resident in England, 
and the executive power in a council of twelve, which should reside in 
Virginia. The governor and assistants Avere to be originall}' appointed by 
the king. Future vacancies were to be supplied by the governor and his 
assistants, but their nomination was not to take effect until it should be 
ratified by the privy council. The twelve counsellors in Virginia were to 
be chosen by the governor and assistants ; and this choice was likewise 
subjected to the review of the privy council. With an intention to quiet 
the minds of the colonists, it was declared that private property should 
be deemed sacred ; and for the more effectual security of it, all grants of 
lands from the former company were to be confirmed by the new one. 
In order to facilitate the execution of this plan, the king required the com- 
pany instantly to surrender its charter into his hands.J 

But here .tames and his ministers encountered a spirit of which they 
seem not to have been aware. They found the members of the company 
unwilling tamely to relinquish rights of franchises, conveyed to them witn 
such legal formality, that upon faith in their validity they had expended 
considerable sums ;§ and still more averse to the abolition of a popular 
form of government, in which every proprietor had a voice, in order to 

* Stilh, p. 289. t Siiiilhs Travels, p Ifio, kc. i Stith, p 293, &c. $ Chnimers, p. 61. 



A M E R 1 C A. 417 

• subject a colony, in which they were deeply interested, to the dominion 
of a small junto absolutely dependent on the crown. Neither promises 
nor threats could induce them to depart from these sentiments ; and in a 
general court [Oct. 20], the king's proposal was almost unanimously 
rejected, and a resolution iaken to defend to the utmost^ their chartered 
rights, if thede should be called in question in any court of justice. James, 
highly offended at their presumption in daring to oppose his will, directed 
[Nov. 10] a writ of quo warranto to be issued against the company, that 
the validity of its charter might be tried in the Court of King's Bench ; 
and in order to aggravate the charge, by collecting additional proofs of 
nial-administration, he appointed some persons in whom he could confide, 
to repair to Virginia to inspect the state of the colony, and inquire into the 
conduct of the company, and of its officers there. 

The lawsuit in the King's Bench did not hang long in suspense. It 
terminated, as was usual in that reign, in a decision perfectly consonant to 
the wishes of the monarch. The charter was forfeited, the company was 
dissolved [June, 1624], and all the rights and privileges conferred upon it 
returned to the King, from -whom they flowed.* 

Some writers, particularly Slith, the most intelligent and best informed 
historian of Virginia, mention the dissolution of the company as a most 
disastrous event to the colony. Animated with liberal sentiments, imbibed 
in an age when the principles of liberty were more fully unfolded than 
under the reign of James, they viewed his violent and arbitrary proceed- 
ings on this occasion with such indignation that their abhorrence of the 
means which he employed to accomplish his designs, seems to have ren- 
dered them incapable of contemplating its effects with discernment and 
candour. There is not perhaps any mode of'governing an infant colony 
less friendly to its liberty than the dominion of an exclusive corporation 
possessed of all the powers which James had conferred upon the company 
of adventurers in Virginia. During several years the colonists can hardly be 
considered in any other light than as servants to the compaiiy, nourished 
out of its stores, bound implicitly to obey its orders, and subjected to the 
most rigorous of^ all forms of government, that of martial law. Even after 
the native spirit of Englishmen began to rouse under oppression, and had 
extorted from their superiors the right of enacting laws for the government 
of that community of which they were members, as no act, though 
approved of by all the branches of the provincial legislature, was held to 
be of legal force until it was ratified by a general court in England, the 
company still retained the paramount authority in its own hands. Nor 
was the power of the company more favourable to the prosperity of the 
colony than to its freedom. A numerous body oi merchants, as long as its 
operations are purely commercial, may carry them on Avith discernment 
and success. But the mercantile spirit seems ill adapted to conduct an 
enlarged and liberal plan of civil policy, and colonies have seldom grown 
up to maturity and vigour under ils narrow and interested regulations. 
To the unavoidable effects in administration which this occasioned, were 
added errors arising from inexperience. The English merchants of that 
age had not those extensiveviews which a general commerce opens to such as 
have the direction of it. When they firstl^egan to venture out of the beaten 
track, they groped their way with timidity and hesitation. Unacquainted 
with the climate and soil of Amv^rica, and ignorant of the productions best 
suited to them, they seem to have had no settled plan of improvement, and 
their schemes were continually varying. Their system of government 
was equally fluctuating. In (he course of eighteen years ten different 
persons presided over the province as chief governors. No wonder that, 
under such administration, all the efforts to give vigour and stability to the 

* llymer, vol. xvii. p. 018, &c. Chalmers, p. 63. 

Vol. I.— 53 



418 HISTORY OF [BookIX. 

colony should prove abortive, or produce only slender effects. These 
efforts, however, when estimated according to the ideas of that age, either 
with respect to commerce or to policy, were veiy considerable, and con- 
ducted with astonishing perseverance. 

Above a hundred and fifty thousand pounds were expended in this first 
attempt to plant an English colony in America ;* and more than nine 
thousand persons were sent out from the mother country to people this new 
settlement. At the dissolution of the company, the nation, in return for 
this waste of treasure and of people, did not receive from Virginia an 
annual importation of commodities exceeding twenty thousand pounds in 
value ; and the colony was so tar from having added strength to the state 
by an increase of population, that in the year one thousand six hundred 
and twenty-four, scarcely two thousand persons survived ;t a wretched 
remnant ot the numerous emigrants who had flocked thither v/ith sanguine 
expectations of a very different fate. 

The company, like all unprosperous societies, fell unpitied. The violent 
hand with which prerogative had invaded its rights was forgotten, and new 
prospects of success opened, under a t'orm of government exempt from all 
the defects to which past disasters were imputed. The King and the 
nation concurred with equal ardour in resolving to encourage the colony. 
Soon after the final judgment in the Court of King's Bench against the 
company, James appointed a council of twelve persons [Aug. 26], to take 
the temporary direction of affairs in Virginia that he might have leisure to 
frame with deliberate consideration proper regulations for the permanent 
government of the colony .| Pleased with such an opportunity of exercising 
his talents as a legislator, he began to turn his attention towards the 
subject ; but death prevented him from completing his plan. 

Charles I., on his accession to the throne [March 27, 1625], adopted all 
his father's maxims with respect to the colony in Virginia. He declared 
it to be a part of the empire annexed to the crown, and immediately 
subordinate to its jurisdiction : he conferred the title of Governor on Sir 
George Yardely, and appointed him, in conjunction with a council of 
twelve, and a secretary, to exercise supreme authority there, and enjoined 
them to conform, in every point, to such instructions as from time to time 
they might receive from him.§ From tlie tenor of the king's commission, 
as well as from the known spirit of his i^olicy, it is apparent that he intended 
to invest every power of government, both legislative and executive, in 
the governor ami council, without recourse to the representatives of the 
people, as possessing a right to enact laws tor the community, or to impose 
taxes upon it. — Yardely and his council, who seem to have been fit instru- 
ments for carrying this system of arbitrary rule into execution, did not fail 
to put such a construction on the words of their commission as was most 
favourable to their own jurisdiction. During a great part of Charles's 
reign, Virginia knew no other law than the will of the Sovereign. Statutes 
were published and taxes imposed, without once calling the representatives 
of the people to authorize them by their sanction. At the same lime that 
the colonists were bereaved of their political rights, which they deemed 
essential to freemen and citizens, theirprivate property was violently invaded. 
A proclamation was issued, by which, under pretexts equally absurd and 
frivolous, they were prohibited from selling tobacco to any person but 
certain commissioners appointed by the king to purchase it on his account ;|| 
and they had the cruel mortification to behold the sovereign, who should 
have afforded them protection, engross all the profits of their industry^ by 
seizing the only valuable commodity which they had to vend, and retain- 
ing the monopoly of it in his own hands. While the staple of the colony 

* Smitli's Travels, p. 42. 1C7. t Chalmers' Annals, p. (SO. i Rymer, xvii 618, itc. 

§ Ibid, xviii. 73. 311. II Ibid. xviu. 19. 



AMERICA. 419 

in Virginia sunk in value under the oppression and restraints of a monopoly, 
property in land was rendered insecure by various grants of it, which 
Charles inconsiderately bestowed upon his favourites. These were not 
only of such exorbitant extent as to be unfavourable to the prosrress ot 
culiivation, but from inattention, or imperfect acquaintance with tlie 
p-pography of the country, their boundaries were so inaccurately defined, 
that larg-e tracts already occupied and planted were often included in 
thcni. 

The murmurs and complaints which such a system of administration 
excited, were augmented by the rigour with which Sir John Harvey, who 
succeeded Yardely in the government of the colony,* enforced every act 
of power [1627]. Rapacious, unfeeling, and haughty, he added insolence 
to oppression, and neither regarded the sentiments nor listened to the 
remonstrances of the people under his command. The colonists, far from 
the seat of government, and overawed by authority derived from a roya. 
commission, submitted long to his tyranny and exactions. Their patience 
was at last exhausted ; and in a transport of popular rage and indignation, 
they seized their governor, and sent him a prisoner to England, accompa- 
nied by two of their number, whom they deputed to prefer their accusa- 
tions against him to the king. But this attempt to redress their own 
wrongs, by a proceeding so summary and violent as is hardly consistent 
with any idea of regular government, and can be justified only in cases of 
such urgent necessity as rarely occur in civil society, was altogether repug- 
nant to every notion which Charles entertained vvitli respect to the obe- 
dience due by subjects to their sovereign. To him the conduct of the 
colonists appeared to be not only a usurpation of his right to judge and to 
punish one of his own officers, by an open and audacious act of rebellion 
against his authority. Without deigning to admit their deputies into his 
presence, or to hear one article of their charge against Harvey, the king 
instantly sent him back to his former station, with an ample renewal of all 
the powers belonging to it. But though Charles deemed this vigorous 
step necessary in order to assert his own authority, and to testify his dis- 
pleasure with those who had presumed to offer such an insult to it, he 
seems to have been so sensible of the grievances under which the colonists 
groaned, and of the chief source from which they flowed, that soon after 
[1639] he not only removed a governor so justly odious to them, but named 
as a successor Sir William Berkeley, a person far superior to Harvey in 
rank and abilities, and still more distinguished, by possessing all the popu- 
lar virtues to which the other was a stranger.f 

Under his government the colony in Virginia remained, with some short 
intervals of interruption, almost forty years ; and to his mild and prudent 
administration its increase and prosperity are in a great measure to be 
ascribed. It was indebted, however, to the king himself for such a reform 
of its constitution and policy, as gave a different aspect to the colony, and 
animated all its operations with new spirit. Though the tenor of Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley's commission was the same with that of his predecessor, he 
received instructions under the great seal, by which he was empowered to 
declare, that in all its concerns, civil as well as ecclesiastical, the colony 
was to be governed according to the laws of England : he was directed to 
issue writs for electing representatives of the people, who, in conjunction 
with the governor and council, were to form a general assembly, and to 
possess supreme legislative authority in the connnunity : he was ordered 
to establish courts of justice, in which all questions, whether civil or crimi- 
nal, were to be decided agreeably to the forms of judicial procedure in the 
mother country. It is not easy to discover what were the motives which 
induced a monarch, tenacious in adhering to any opinion or system which 

• Rymer, xviii. 980. j Beverley's Hist, of Virg. p. 50. Chalmers's Aruials, p. 118, &c. 



420 HISTORY OF [BookIX. 

he had once adopted, jealous to excess of his own rights, and adverse on 
every occasion to any extension of the privileges claimed by his people, 
to relinquish his original plan of administration in the colony, and to grant 
such immunities to his suljects settled there. From the historians of Vir- 
ginia, no less superficial than ill informed, no light can be derived v.'ith 
respect to this point. It is most probable, the dread of the spirit then 
rising in Great Britain, extorted from Charles concessions so favourable to 
Virginia. At'ter an intermission of almost twelve years, the state of his 
affairs compelled him to have recourse to the great council of the nation. 
There his subjects would find a jurisdiction independent of the crown, 
and able to control its authority. There they hoped for legal redress of 
all their grievances. As the colonists in Virginia had applied for relief to 
a former parliament, it might be expected with certainty that they would 
lay their case before the first meeting of an assembly in which they were 
secure of a favourable audience. Charles knew that, if the spirit of his 
administration in Virginia were to be tried by the maxims of the English 
constitution, it must be severely reprehended. He was aware that many 
measures of greater moment in his government would be brought under a 
strict review in parliament ; and, unwilling to give malecontents the advan- 
tage of adding a charge of oppression in the remote parts of his dominions 
to a catalogue of domestic grievances, he artfully endeavoured to take the 
merit of having granted voluntarily to his people in Virginia such privi- 
leges as he foresaw would be extorted from him. 

But though Charles established the internal government of Virginia on 
a model similar to that of the English constitution, and conferred on his 
subjects there all the rights of freemen and citizens, he was extren)ely 
solicitous to maintain its connexion with the parent state. With this view 
he instructed Sir William Berkeley strictly to prohibit any commerce of 
the colony with foreign nations ; and in order more certainly to secure 
exclusive possession of all the advantages arising from the sale of its pro- 
ductions, he was required to take a bond from the master of each vessel 
that sailed from Virginia, to land his cargo in some part of the King's 
dominions in Europe.* Even under this restrair)t, such is the kindly influ- 
ence of free government on society, the colony advanced so rapidly in 
industry and population that at the beginning of the civil war the English 
settled in it exceeded twenty thousand.! 

Gratitude towards a monarch from whose hands they had received 
immunities which they had long wished but hardly expected to enjoy, the 
influence and example of a popular governor passionately devoted to the 
interests of his master, concurred in preserving inviolated loyalty among 
the colonists. Even after monarchy was abolished, after one King had 
been beheaded, and another driven into exile, the authority of the crown 
continued to be acknowledged and revered in Virginia [1650]. Irrilaled 
at this open defiance of its power, the parliament issued an ordinance, 
declaring, that as the settlement in Virginia had been made at the cost and 
by the people of England, it ought to be subordinate to and dependent upon 
the English commonwealth, and subject to such laws and regulations as are 
or shall be made in parliament ; that, instead of this dutiful submission, the 
colonists had disclaimed the authority of the state, and audaciously rebel- 
led against it ; that on this account they were denounced notorious traitors, 
and not only all vessels belonging to natives of England, but those of 
foreign nations, were prohibited to enter their ports, or carry on any com- 
merce with them. 

It was not the mode of that age to wage a war of words alone. The 
efforts of a high spirited government in asserting its own dignity were 
prompt and vigorous. A powerful squadron, with a considerable body of 



• Chalmers's Annals, p. 219. 232. | Ibid. p. 125. 



A M E II I C A 42\ 

land forces, was despatched to reduce the Virginians to obedience. After 
compelling the colonies in Barbadoes and the other islands to submit to the 
commonwealth, the squadron entered the Bay of Chesapeak [1651]. 
Berkeley, with more courage than prudence, took arms to oppose this 
formidable armament ; but he could not long maintain such an unequal 
contest. His gallant resistance, however, procured favourable terms to the 
people under his government. A general indemnity for all past offences 
was granted ; they acknowledged the authority of the commonwealth, 
and were admitted to a participation of all the rights enjoyed by citizens.* 
Berkeley, firm to his principles of loyalty, disdained to make any stipula- 
tion for himself ; and, choosing to pass his days far removed from the seat 
of a government which he detested, continued to reside in Virginia as a 
private man, beloved and respected by all over whom he had formerly 
presided. 

Not satisfied with taking measures to subject the colonies, the common- 
wealth turned its attention towards the most effectual mode of retaining 
them in dependence on the parent state, and of securing to it the beneht 
of their increasing commerce. With this view the parliament framed two 
laws, one of which expressly prohibited all mercantile intercourse between 
the colonies and foreign states, and the other ordained that no production 
of Asia, Africa, or America, should be imported into the dominions of the 
commonwealth but in vessels belonging to English owners, or to the people 
of the colonies settled there, and navigated by an English commander,! 
and by crews of which the greater part must be Englishmen. But Avhile 
the wisdom of the commonwealth prescribed the channel in which the 
trade of the colonies Avas to be carried on, it was solicitous to encourage 
the cultivation of the staple commodity of Virginia, by an act of parlia- 
ment [1652], which gave legal force tc. all the injunctions of James and 
Charles against planting tobacco in England. J 

Under governors appointed by the commonwealth, or by Cromwell when 
he usurped the supreme power, Virginia remained almost nine years in 
perfect tranquillity. During that period, many adherents to the royal 
party, and among these some gentlemen of good families, in order to avoid 
danger and oppression, to which they were exposed in England, or in hopes 
of repairing their ruined fortunes, resorted thither. Warmly attached to 
the cause for which they had Ibught and suffered, and animated with all 
the passions natural to men recently engaged in a fierce and long pro- 
tracted civil war, they, by their intercourse with the colonists, confirmed 
them in principles of loyalty, and added to their impatience and indignation 
under the restraints imposed on their commerce by their new masters. 
On the death of Matthews, the last governor named by Cromwell, the 
sentiments and inclinadon of the people, no longer under the control of 
authority, burst out with violence. They forced Sir William Berkeley to 
quit his retirement; they unanimously elected him governor of the colony: 
and as he refused to act under a usurped authority, they boldly erected 
the royal standard, and acknowledging Charles II. to be their law ful sove- 
reign, proclaimed him with all his titles ; and the Virginians long boasted, 
that as they were the last of the king's subjects who renounced their alle- 
giance, they were the first who returned to their duty.§ 

Happily for the people of Virginia, a revolution in England, no less 
sudden than unexpected, seated Charles on the throne of his ancestors, and 
saved them from the severe chastisement to which their premature de- 
claration in his favour must have cxj)osed them. On receiving the firs* 
account of this event, the joy and exultation of the colony were universal 
and unbounded. These, however, were not of long continuance. Gracious 

* Thurlow'B State Papers, i. 197. Chalmers' -Annals, p. 122. Beverlev's Hist. p. 53. t Sco 

bel's Acu, p. 132. 167. * lb. p. 117. § Beverley, p. 55. Chaliucrs, p. 124. 



422 lUSTOilY OF [Book IX. 

but unnroductive professions of esteem and g:ood will were the only return 
made by Chnrles to loyalty and services wliicli in their own estim;ition 
■»vere so distiniiiiisliod tliat no recdinpense Avas beyond what they iniiil^t 
claim. It" tho l^ing-'s neglect and inLrratitude disappointed all the saniiuine 
hopes wliich their vanity had toundod on tlie merit ot' their past conduct, 
the spirit which inlluenced parhanient in its commercial deliberations 
opened a prospect that alarnieti them with lespect to their liiture situation. 
In franiinii,' regulations tor the encouragement ot' trails, which, during the 
convulsions ot' civii war, and amidst cuntinual fluctuations in government, 
had met with such obstruction that it declined in every quarter ; the Hous(i 
ot Conjmons, instead of granting the colonies that relief which they ex- 
pected from the restraints in their commerce imposed by the common- 
wealth and Cmmwell, not only adopted all their ideas concerning this 
branch of legislation, but extended them I'urlher. This prexiuced the act 
of >iavii;;aiiO!i, the most important and memcM-able of any in the statute-book 
with respect to the history of English commerce. i>v it, besides several 
momentous articles foreign to tiie subject of this Avork, it was enacted, 
that no connnodities should be imported into any settlement in Asia, Africa, 
or America, or exported I'rom them, but in vessels of Knglish or plantation 
built, whereof the master and three-t'ourths of the mariners shall be English 
subjects, under pain of torl'eiting ship and goods ; that none but natural 
born subjects, or such as have been naturalized, shall exercise the occupa- 
tion of merchant.pr I'aclor in any English settlen)ent, under pain of tor- 
feiting their goods and chattels ; that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, 
intligo. ginger, or wooils useil in dyeing, of the growth or manufacture of 
th colonies, shall be shipped tVom them to any other country but England ; 
and in order to secure the performance of this, a sufficient bond, with cue 
surety, shall be given before sailing by the owners, lor a specific sum pro- 
portional to the rate of the Aessel employed by them.* The productions 
subjected to this restriction are distinguished, in the language ot commerce 
and finance, by the name of e)iuincrated cohiiuodin't's ; and as industry in 
its progress I'urnished ne\v articles of value, these have been successively 
added to the roll, and subjected to the same restraint. Soon after [1663], 
the act of navigation was extended, and additional restraints were imposed, 
by ,a new law, which prohibited the importation of any European com- 
modity into the colonies, but what was laden in England in vessels navi- 
gated and manned as the act of navigation required. More etfectual pro- 
vision was made by this law t'or exacting the penalties to which the 
transgressors of the act of navigation were subjected ; and the principles 
of policy, on which the various regulations contained in both statutes are 
founded, were ojienly avowed in a declaration, that as the plantations 
beyond seas are inhabited and peopled by subjects of England, they may 
be kept in a firmer dependence upon it, and rendered yet more beneficial 
and advantageous unto it, in the further employment and increase of Eng- 
lish shipping and seamen, as well as in the vent ot English woollen and 
other manufactures and commodities ; and in making England a staple, not 
only of the commodities of those plantations, but aUo of the commodities 
ot other countries and places, for the supplying of them ; and it being the 
usage of other nations to keep the trade of their plantations to themselves.t 
In prosecution of those favourite maxims, the P'nglish legislature pro- 
ceeded a step further. As the act of navigation luad left the people ot the 
colonies at liberty to export the enumerated commodities from one planta- 
ti(jn to another without paying any duty [167-.!], it subjected them to a tax 
equivalent to Avhat was paid by the consumei-s of these commodities in 
England. I 
By these successive regulations, the plan of securing to England a rao 

• Car. II c 18 t 15 Car. H. c. 7. J 55 Car. U. C 7 



AMERICA. 428 

Ropoly of the commerce with its colonies, and of shutting: up every other 
chvinnel into which it might he diverted, was perfected, and reduced into 
complete system. On one side of tiie Atlantic these regulations havt; been 
extolled as an extraordinary effort of political sagacity, and iiave heen 
considered as the great charter of national cominerre, to which the parent 
state is indel)ted for all its opulence and power. On the other, they have 
been execrated as a code of oppression, more suited to the illiberality of 
mercantile ideas than to extensive views of legislative wisdom. Which of 
these opinions is best founded, I shall examine at lai-ge in another part of 
this work. But in writing the history of the English sel(l(;ments in 
America, it was necessary to trace the progress of those restraining laws 
with accuracy, as in every subsequent transaction we may observe a per- 
petual exertion, on the part of the mother country, to eniorce and extend 
them ; and on the part of the colonies, endeavours no less unremitting to 
elude or to obstruct their operation. 

Hardly was the act of tiavigation known in Virginia, and its effects begun 
to be felt, when the colony remonstrated against if as a grievance, and 

f)etitioned earnestly for relief Ihit the commercial ideas of Charles and 
lis ministers coincided so perfectly with those of parliament, that, instead 
of listening with a favourable ear to their apj)lications, they laboured 
assiduously to carry the act into strict execution. For this purpose, in- 
structions were issued to the governor, iorts were built on the banks of the 
principal rivers, and small vessels appointed to cruise on the coast. The 
Virginians, seeing no prospect of obtaining exemption from the act, set 
themselves to evade it ; and found means, notwithstanchng the vigilance 
with which I hey Ave re watched, of carrying on a considerable clandestine 
trade with foreigners, particularly with tlie Dutch settled on Hudson's 
River. Emboldened by observing disaflfection spread through the colony, 
some veteran soldiers who had served under Cromwell, and had been 
banished to Virginia, formed a design of rendering themselves masters of 
the country, and of asserting its intlepc'dence on England. This rash 
project was discovered by one of their associates, and disconcerted by 
the vigorous exertions of Sir William Berkeley. But the spirit of dis- 
content, though repressed, was not extinguished. Every day something 
occurred to revive and to nourish it. As it is with extreme (lifficulty that 
commerce can be turned into a new channel, tobacco, the staple of the 
colony, sunk prodigiously in value when they were compelled to send it all 
to one market. It was some time before England could finiiish them re- 
gularly full assortments of those necessary articles, without which the 
industry of the colony could not be carrietl on, or its prosperity secured. 
Encouraged by the symptoms of general languor and despondenry which 
this declining state of the colony occasioned, the Indians seated towards 
the heads of the rivers ventured first to attack the remote settlements, and 
then to make incursions into the interior parts of the country. Unexpected 
as these hostilities were, from a people who during a long period had lived 
in friendship with the English, a measure taken by the king seems to have 
excit(;d still greater terror among the most opulent people of the colony. 
Charles had imprudently imitated the example of his father, by granting 
such lai-ge tracts of lands in Vii^inia to several of bis courtiers, as tended 
to unsettle the distribution of property in the country, and to render the 
title of the most ancient planters to their estates precari(jus and questionable. 
From those various causes, which in a greater or less degree aflfected 
every individual in the colony, the indignation of the people became 
general, and was worked up to such a pitch, that nothing was wanting to 
precipitate them into the most desperate acts but some leader qualified to 
unite and to direct their operations.* 

• Clialmers's Annala. ch. 10. 13, 14, iiiusim. Boverlcy'g Hist, of Virg. p. 58, &.C. 



424 HISTORYOF [Book IX. 

Such a leader they found in Nathaniel Bacon, a colonel of militia, who, 
though he had been settled in Virginia only three years, had acquired, by 
popular manners, an insinuating' address, and the consideration derived 
from having; been regularly trained in England to the profession of law, 
such general esteem that he had been admitted into the council, and was 
regarded as one of the most respectable persons in the colony. Bacon 
was ambitious, eloquent, daring, and, prompted either by honest zesl to 
redress the public wrongs, or allured by hopes of raising himself to dis- 
tinction and power, he mingled with the malecontents ; and by his bold 
harangues and confident promises of removing all their grievances, he 
inflamed them almost to madness. As the devastations committed by the 
Indians was the calamity most sensibly felt by the people, ho accused the 
governor of having neglected the proper measures for repelling the inva- 
sions of the savages, and exhorted them to take arms in their own defence, 
and to exterminate that odious race. Great numbers assembled, and chose 
Bacon to be their general. He applied to the governor for a commission, 
confirming this election of the people, and offering to march instantly against 
the common enemy. Berkeley, accustomed by^ong possession of supreme 
command to high ideas of the respect due to his station, considered this 
tumultuary armament as an open insult to his authority, and suspected that, 
under specious appearances, Bacon concealed most dangerous designs. 
Unwilling, however, to give farther provocation to an incensed multitude 
by a direct refusal of what they demanded, he thought it prudent to nego- 
tiate in order to gain time ; and it was not until he found all endeavours 
to soothe them ineffectual, that he issued a proclamation, requiring them in 
the king's name, under the pain of being denounced rebels, to disperse. 

But Bacon, sensible that he had now advanced so far as rendered it 
impossible to recede with honour or safety, instantly took the only resolu- 
tion that remained in his situation. At the head of a chosen body of his 
followers, he marched rapidly to James Town, and surrounding the house 
where the governor and council were assembled, demanded the commission 
for which He had formerly applied. Berkeley, with the proud indignant 
spirit of a cavalier, disdaining the requisitions of a rebel, peremptorily 
refused to comply, and calmly presented his naked breast to the weapons 
which were pointed against it. The council, however, foreseeing the fatal 
consequences of driving an enraged multitude, in whose power they were, 
to the last extremities of violence, prepared a commission constituting 
Bacon general of all the forces in Virginin, and by their entreaties prevailed 
on the governor to sign it. Bacon with his troops retired in triumph. 
Hardly was the council delivered by his departure from the dread of 
present danger, when, by a transition not unusual in feeble minds, pre- 
sumptuous boldness succeeded to excessive fear. The commission granted 
to Bacon was declared to be null, having been extorted by force ; he was 
proclaimed a rebel, his followers were required to abandon his standard, 
and the militia ordered to arm, and to join the governor. 

Enraged at conduct which he branded with the name of base and treache- 
rous. Bacon, instead of continuing his march towards the Indian country, 
instantly wheeled about, and advanced with all his forces to James Town. 
The governor, unable to resist such a numerous body, made his escape, 
and fled across the bay to Acomack on the eastern shore. Some of the 
counsellors accompanied him thither, others retired to their own plantations. 
Upon the flight of Sir William Berkeley, and dispersion of the council, the 
frame of civil government in the colony seemed to be dissolved, and Bacon 
became possessed of supreme and uncontrolled power. But as he was 
sensible that his countrymen would not long submit with patience to 
a\ithority acquired and held merely by force of arms, he endeavoured to 
found it on a more constitutional basis, by obtaining the sanction of the 
people's approbation. With this view he called together the most con- 



AMERICA. 425 

siderable gentlemen in the colony, and having prevailed on them to bind 
themselves by oath to maintain his authority, and to resist every enemy 
that should oppose it, he from that time considered his jurisdiction as legally 
established. 

Berkeley, meanwhile, having collected some forces, made inroads into 
diiferent parts of the colony where Bacon's authority was recognised. 
Several sharp conflicts happened with various success. James Town was 
reduced to ashes, and the best cultivated districts in the province were laid 
waste, sometimes by one party and sometimes by the other. But it was 
not by his o\^'n exertions that the governor hoped to terminate the contest. 
He had early transmitted an account of the transactions in Virginia to the 
king, and demanded such a body of soldiers as would enable him to quell 
the insui^ents whom he represented as so exasperated by the restraint 
imposed on their trade, that they were impatient to shakeoffall dependence 
on the parent state. Charles, alarmed at a commotion no less dangerous 
than unexpected, and solicitous lo maintain his authority over a colony the 
value of which was daily increasing and more fully understood, speedily 
despatched a small squadron with such a number of regular troops as 
Berkeley had required. Bacon and his followers received information of 
this armament, but Avere not intimidated at its approach. They boldly 
determined to oppose it with open force, and declared it to be consistent 
with their duty and allegiance, to treat all who should aid Sir William 
Berkeley as enemies, until they should have an opportunity of laying their 
grievances before their sovereign.* 

But while both parties prepared, with equal animosity, to involve their 
country in the horrors of civil war [1677], an event happened, which quieted 
the commotion almost as suddenly as it had been excited. Bacon, when 
ready to take the field, sickened and died. None of his followers pos- 
sessed such talents, or were so much objects of the people's confidence, as 
entitled them to aspire to the supreme command. Destitute of a leader to 
conduct and animate them, their sanguine hopes of success subsided ; 
mutual distrust accompanied this universal despondency ; all began to wish 
for an accommodation ; and after a short negotiation with Sir William 
Berkeley, they laid down their arms, and submitted to his government, on 
obtaining a promise of general pardon, 

Thus terminated an insurrection, which, in the annals of Virginia, is dis- 
tinguished by the name of Bacon''s rebellion. During seven months this 
daring leader was master of the colony, while the royal governor was shut 
up in a remote and ill-peopled corner of it. What were the real motives 
that prompted him to take arms, and to what length he intended to carry 
his plans of reformation, either in commerce or government, it js not easy 
to discover, in the scanty materials from which we derive our information 
with respect to this transaction. It is probable, that his conduct, like that 
of other adventurers in faction, would have been regulated chiefly by 
events ; and accordingly as these proved favourable or adverse, his views 
and requisitions would have been extended or circumscribed. 

Sir William Berkeley, as soon as he was reinstated in his oflice, called 
together the representatives of the people, that by their advice and autho- 
rity public tranquillity and order might be perlectly established. Though 
this assembly met a few weeks after the death of Bacon, while the memory 
of reciprocal injuries was still recent, and when the passions excited by 
such a fierce contest had but little time to subside, its proceedings were 
conducted with a moderation seldom exercised by the successful party in 
a civil war. No man suffered capitally ; a small number were subjected 
to fines ; others were declared incapable of holding any oflice of trust; 
and with those exceptions the promise of general idemnity was confirmed 

* Devcrley's Hist. p. 75, 7fi 

Vol. I.— 54 20 



426 HISTORY OF [BookX. 

by law. Soon after Berkeley was recalled, and Colonel Jeffreys was 
appointed his successor. 

From that period to the Revolution in 1688, there is scarcely any memo- 
rable occurrence in the history of Virginia. A prace was concluded with 
the Indians. Under several successive governors, administration was carried 
on in the colony with the same arbitrary spirit that distinguished the latter 
years of Cliarles II. and the precipitate councils of James II. The Virgin- 
ians, with a constitution which in form resembled that of England, enjoyed 
hardly any portion of the liberty which that admirable system of policy is 
framed to secure. They were deprived even of the last consolation of 
the oppressed, the power of complaining, by a law which, under severe 
penalties, prohibited them from speaking disrespectfully of the governor, 
or defaming, either by words or writing, the administration of the colony.* 
Still, however, the laws restraining their commerce were ielt as an intole- 
rable grievance, and they nourished in secret a spirit of discontent, which, 
from the necessity of concealing it, acquired a greater degree of acrimony. 
But notwithstanding those unfavourable circumstances, the colony continued 
to increase. The use of tobacco was now become general in Europe ; 
and though it had fallen considerably in price, the extent of demand com- 
pensated that diminution, and by giving constant employment to the industry 
of the planters diffused wealth among them. At the Revolution the number 
of inhabitants in the colony exceeded sixty thousand,! and in the course 
of twenty-eight years its population had been more than doubled.^ 



BOOK X. 



When James I., in the year one thousand six hundred and six, made 
that magnificent partition, which has been mentioned, of a vast region in 
North America, extending from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth degree 
of latitude, between two trading companies of his subjects, he established 
the residence of the one in London, and of the other in Plymouth. The 
former was authorized to settle in the southern, and the latter in the_ 
northern part of this territory, then distinguished by the general name ot 
Virginia. This arrangement seems to have been formed upon the idea of 
some speculative refiner, who aimed at diffusing the spirit of industry, by 
fixing the seat of one branch of tlie trade that was now to be opened, on 
the east coast of the island, and the other on the west. But London pos- 
sesses such advantages of situation, that the commercial wealth and activity 
of England have always centered in the capital. At the beginning of the 
last century, the superiority of the metropolis in both these respects was so 
great, that though the powers and privileges conferred by the king on the 
two trading companies were precisely the same, the adventurers settled in 
Plymouth fell far short of those in London in the vigour and success of their 
efforts towards accomplishing the purpose of their institution. Though the 
operations of the Plymouth company were animated by the public-spirited 
zeal of Sir John Popham, chief justice of England, Sir Ferdinando (Jorges, 
and some other gentlemen of the west, all its exertions were feeble and 
unfortunate. o • i 

The first vessel fitted out by the company was taken by the Spaniards 
[lf)06]. In the year one thousand six hundred and seven, a feeble settle- 
ment was made at Sagahadoc ; but, on account of the rigour of the climate, 

* l^everlcy, p. 81. Chalniera p 3-U. * Chalmers's Annals, p. 35C. t Ibid. p. lii. 



AMERICA. 427 

was soon relinquished, and for some time nothing further was attempted 
than a few fishing voyages to Cape Cod, or a pitiful traffic with the natives 
for skins and oil. One of the vessels equipped for this purpose [1614] 
was commanded by Captain Smith, whose name has been so often 
mentioned with distinction in the History of Virginia. The adventure was 
prosperous and lucrative. But his ardent enterprising mind could not 
confine its attention to objects so unequal to it as the petty details of a 
trading voyage. He employed a part of his time in exploring the coast, 
and in delineating its bays and harbours. On his return, he laid a map of 
it before Prince Charles, and, with the usual exaggeration of discoverers, 
painted the beauty and excellence of the country in such glowing colours, 
that the young prince, in the warmth of admiration, declared, that it should 
be called New England ;* a name which effaced that of Virginia, and by 
which it is still distinguished. 

The favourable accounts of the country hy Smith, as well as the success 
of his voyage, seem to have encouraged private adventurers to prosecute 
the trade on the coast of New England with greater briskness ; but did 
not inspire the languishing company of Plymouth with such vigour as to 
make any new attempt towards establishing a permanent colony there. 
Something more than the prospect of distant gain to themselves, or ot 
future advantages to their country, was requisite in order to induce men to 
abandon the place of their nativity, to migrate to another quarter of the 
globe, and endure innumerable hardships under an untried climate, and 
in an uncultivated land, covered with woods, or occupied by fierce and 
hostile tribes of savages. But what mere attention to private emolu- 
ment or to national utility could not effect, was accomplished by the 
operation of a higher principle. Religion had gradually excited among a 
great body of the people a spirit that fitted them remarkably for encoun- 
tering the dangers, and surmounting the obstacles, which had hitherto 
rendered abortive the schemes of colonization in that part of America 
allotted to the company of Plymouth. As the various settlements in New 
England are indebted for their origin to this spirit, as in the course of our 
narrative we shall discern its influence mingling in all their transactions, 
and giving a peculiar tincture to the character of the people, as well as 
to their institutions both civil and ecclesiastical, it becomes necessary to 
trace its rise and progress with attention and accuracy. 

When the superstitions and corruptions of the Romish church prompted 
different nations of Europe to throw off its yoke, and to withdraw from 
its communion, the mode as well as degree ot their separation was various. 
Wherever reformation was sudden, and carried on by the people without 
authority from their rulers, or in opposition to it, the rupture was violent 
and total. Every part of the ancient fabric was overturned, and a different 
system, not only with respect to doctrine, but to church government, and 
the external rites of worship, was established. Calvin, who, by his abili- 
ties, learning, and austerity of manners, had acquired high reputation and 
authority in the Protestant churches, was a zealous advocate for this plan of 
thorough reformation. He exhibited a model of that pure form of eccle- 
siastical policy which he approved in the constitution of the church of 
Geneva. The simplicity of its institutions, and still more their repugnancy 
to those of the Popish church, were so much admired by all the stricter 
reformers, that it was copied, with some small variations, in Scotland, in 
the republic of the United Provinces, in the dominions of the House of 
Brandenburgh, in those of the Elector Palatine, and in the churches of the 
Hugonots in France. 

But in those countries where the steps of departure from the church of 
Rome were taken with greater deliberation, and regulated by the wisdom 

• Smith's Trnv. book vi. p. ^)'J, tec. Piirchas, iv. p. 1837. 



428 11 1 S T O R Y O F [Book X. 

or policy of the supreme magistrate, the separation was not so wide. Of 
all the reformed churches, that of England has deviated least from the 
ancient institutions. The violent but capricious spirit of Henry VIII., who, 
though he disclaimed the supremacy, revered the tenets of the Papal see, 
checked innovations in doctrine or worship during his reign. W hen his 
son ascended the throne, and the Protestant religion was established by 
law, the cautious prudence of Archbishop Cranmer moderated the zeal of 
those who had espoused the new opinions. Though the articles to be 
recognised as the system of national faith were framed conlbrmably to the 
doctrines of Calvin, his notions with respect to church government and the 
mode of v^orship were not adopted. As the hierarchy in England was 
incorporated with the civil policy of the kingdom, and constituted a 
member of the legislature, archbishops, and bishops, with all the subor- 
dinate ranks of ecclesiastics subject to them, were continued according to 
ancient form, and with the same dignity and jurisdiction. The peculiar 
vestments in Avhich the clergy performed their sacred functions, bowing 
at the name of Jesus, kneeling at receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper, the sign of the Cross in baptism, the use of the Ring in marrir-^e, 
with several other rights to which long usage had accustomed the peo{)le, 
and which time had rendered venerable, were still retained. But though 
Parliament enjoined the observance of these ceremonies under very severe 
penalties,* several of the more zealous clergy entertained scruples with 
respect to the lawfulness of complying with this injunction : and the vigi- 
lance and authority of Cranmer and Ridley, with difficulty saved their 
infant church from the disgrace of a schism on this account. 

On the accession of Mary, the furious zeal with which she persecuted 
all who had adopted the tenets of the reformers forced many eminent 
protestants, laymen as well as ecclesiastics, to seek an asylum on the 
continent. Francibrt, Geneva, Basil, and Strasburgh received them with 
affectionate hospitality as sufferers in the cause of truth, and the magistrates 
permitted them to assemble by themselves for religious worship. The 
exiles who took up their residence in the two tbrmer cities, modelled their 
little congregations according to the ideas of Calvin, and with a spirit 
natural to men in their situation, eagerly adopted institutions which appeared 
to be further removed from the superstitions of Popery that) those of their 
own church. They returned to England as soon as Elizabeth re-established 
the protestant religion, not only with more violent antipathy to the opinions 
and practice* of that church by Avhich they had been oppressed, but with 
a strong attachment to that mode of worship to which they had been for 
some years accustomed. As they were received by their countrymen with 
the veneration due to confessors, they exerted all the influence derived from 
that opinion in order to obtain such a reformation in the English ritual as 
might bring it nearer to the standard of purity in foreign churches. Some 
of the Queen's most confidential ministers were warmly disposed to 
co-operate with them in this measure. But Elizabeth paid little regard to 
the inclinations of the one or the sentiments of the other. Fond of pomp 
and ceremony, accustomed, according to the mode of that age, to study 
religious controversy, and possessing, like her father, such confidence in her 
own understanding, that she never doubted her capacity to judge and 
decide with respect to every point in dispute between contending sects,t 

* 2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1. 

T Of the high idea whicli Elizabeth entertained with respect to her own superior skill in theology, 
as well as the haughty tone in wliich she dictated to lier sub;ects what they ought to believe., we 
have a striking picture in her speech at tiie close of the parliament, A. D. 15Ho.— " One thing I may 
not ovcrskip— Keligion, tlie ground on which all other matters ought to take root ; and, being cor- 
rupted, may mar all the tree. And that there be some fault-finders wiih the order of the clergy, 
which so liiay make a slander to myself, and to the church, whose overruler God hath made me, 
whose nezligonce cannot be excused, if any schisms or errors heretical were suft'ered. Thus much 
I must sav, that sonic faults and neRligonces must grow and be, as in all other great charges it hap- 
feneth ; and what vocation williout 7 All which, if you, my lords of the clergy, do not amend, 



AMERICA. 42Sr 

she chose to act according to her own ideas, which led her rather to approach 
nearer to the church of Rome, in the parade of external worship, than to 
widen the breach by abolishing any rite already established.* An act of 
parliament, in the first year of her reign, not only required an exact con- 
formity to the mode of worship prescribed in the service book, under 
most rigorous penalties, but empowered the Q,ueen to enjoin the observance 
of such additional ceremonies as might tend, in her opinion, to render the 
public exercises of devotion more decent and edifying. j 

The advocates for a further reformation, notwithstanding this cruel 
disappointment of the sanguine hopes with which they returned to their 
native country, did not relinquish their design. They disseminated their 
opinions with great industry among the people. They extolled the purity 
of foreign churches, and inveighed against the superstitious practices with 
which religion was defiled in their own church. In vain did the defenders 
of the established system represent that these forms and ceremonies were 
in themselves things perfectly indifferent, which, ffom long usage, were 
viewed with reverence ; and by their impression upon the senses and 
imagination, tended not only to fix the attention, but to afifect the heart, 
and to warm it with devout and worthy sentiments. The Puritans (for 
by that name such as scrupled to comply with what was enjoined by the 
Act of Uniformity were distinguished) maintained that the rites in question 
were inventions of men, superadded to the simple and reasonable services 
required in the word of God ; that from the excessive solicitude with 
which conformity to them was exacted, the multitude must conceive such 
a high opinion of their value and importance as might induce them to rest 
satisfied with the mere form and shadow of religion, and to imagine that 
external observances may compensate for the want of inward sanctity ; 
that ceremonies which had been long employed by a society manifestly 
corrupt, to veil its own defects, and to seduce and fascinate mankind, ought 
now to be rejected as relics of superstition unworthy of a place in a church 
which gloried in the name of Reformed. 

The people, to whom in every religious controversy the final appeal is 
made, listened to the arguments of the contending parties ; and it is 
obvious to which of them, men who had lately beheld the superstitious 
spirit of popery, and felt its persecuting rage, would lend the most favour- 
able ear. The desire of a further separation from the church of Rome 
spread wide through the nation. The preachers who contended for this, 
and who refused to wear the surplice, and other vestments peculiar to their 
order, or to observe the ceremonies enjoined by law, were followed and 
admired, while the ministry of the zealous advocates for conformity was 
deserted, and their persons often exposed to insult. For some time the 
nonconformists were connived at ; but as their number and boldness 
increased, the interposition both of spiritual and civil authority was deemed 
necessary in order to check their progress. To the disgrace of Christians, 
the sacred rights of conscience and private judgment, as well as the charity 
and mutual forbearance suitable to the mild spirit of the religion which 
they professed, were in that age little understood. Not only the idea of 
toleration, but even the word ilself in the sense now affixed to it, was then 
unknov/n. Every church claimed a right to employ the hand of power 
for the protection of truth and the extirpation of error. The laws of her 

I mean to depose yoii. Look ye, therefore, well to your charccs. This may he anienrlert without 
needless or open exclamations. I am supposrd lo liavc many studies, hut most pliilctjophicHl. 
I must yield this to bo true, Ihat I sujiposo few (that he not prol^ssors) have ie;id ii.nre. 
And I need not tell you, that I am not so simple thai 1 undersstand not, nor sn forfioiful lhat 
I remember not; and yet amidst my many volumes, I hope God's book lialli not been my scldomesl 
lectures, in which we find that by which rea;;on all oujiht to heiievc, 1 see many ovcr-hnld with 
God Almizhiy, makins: too many subilc scanninps of his bletsod will. The presumption is so great 
that I may not sufi'er it," &c. D'Ewes's Journal, p. 328. 

* Neal's Hist, of tlie I'uiitans, i. 13S. 17G. 1 1 Eliz. c.2. 



430 H I S T O R Y OF [booK X. 

kingdom armed Elizabeth with ample authority for this purpose, and she 

was abundantly disposed to exercise it with full vigour. Many of the 
most eminent among the puritan clergy Avere deprivea of their benefices, 
others were imprisoned, several were fined, and some put to death. But 
persecution, as usually happens, instead of extinguishing, inflamed their 
zeal to such a height, that the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of law 
was deemed insulficient to suppress it, and a new tribunal was established 
under the title of the High Coinmission for Ecclesiastical ^1 flairs, whose 
powers and mode of procedure were hardly less odious or less hostile to 
the principles of justice than those of the Spanish Inquisition. Several 
attempts were made in the House of Commons to check these arbitrary 
proceedings, and to moderate the rage of persecution ; but the Queen 
always imposed silence upon those who presumed to deliver any opinion 
with respect to a matter appertaining solely to her preroo;ative, in a tone as 
imperious and arrogant as was ever used by Henry Vllf. in addressing his 
parliaments ; and so tamely obsequious were the guardians of the people's 
rights that they not only obeyed those unconstitutional commands, but con- 
sented to an act, by which every person who should absent himself from 
church durins; a month was subjected to punishment by fine and imprison- 
ment ; and it after conviction he did not within three months renounce his 
erroneous opinions and conform to the laws, he was then obliged to abjure 
the realm ; but if he either refused to comply with this condition, or returned 
from banishment, he should be put to death as a felon without benefit of 
clei"gy.* 

By this iniquitous statute, equally repugnant to ideas of civil and of reli- 
gious liberty, the puritans were cut off from any hope of obtaining either 
retormation in the church or indulgence to themselves. Exasperated by , 
this rigorous treatment, their antipathy to the established religion increased, 
and with the progress natural to violent passions, carried them far beyond 
what was their original aim. The first puritans did not entertain any scru- 
ples with respect to the lawfulness of episcopal government, and seem to 
have been very unwilling to withdrav/ I'rom conmmnion with the church 
of uhich they were members. But when they were thrown out of her 
bosom, and constrained to hold separate assemblies for the worship oi 
God, their followers no longer viewed a society hj which they were 
oppressed, with reverence or affection. Her government, her discipline, 
her ritual, were examined with minute attention. Ever}" error was pointed 
out, and everj- defect magnified. The more boldly any preacher inveighed 
against the corruptions of the church, he was listened to with greater ap- 
probation ; and the further he urged his disciples to depart from such an 
impure community, the more eagerly did they follow him. By degrees, 
ideas of ecclesiastical policy, altogether repugnant to those of the estab- 
lished church, gained footing in the nation. The more sober and learned 
puritans inclined to that form which is known by the name of Presbyterian. 
Such as were niore thoroughly possessed with the spirit of innovation ^ 
liowever much they might approve the equality of pastors which that sys- 
tem establishes, reprobated the authority which it vests in various judica- 
tories, descending from one to another in regular subordination, as incon- 
sistent with Christian liberty. 

These wild notions floated for some time in the minds of the people, and 
amused them with many ideal schemes of ecclesiastial policy. At length 
Robert Brown [1580], a popular declainier in high estimation, reduced 
them to a system, on which he modelled his own congregation. He taught 
that the church of England was corrupt and antichristian, its ministers not 
lawfully ordained, its ordinances and sacraments invalid ; and therefore 
he pronibited his people to hold conmiunion with it in any religious func- 

* 35 Eliz. c. J, 



AMClilCA. 431 

tion. He maintained, that a society of Ciiristians, uniting together to wor- 
ship God, constituted a church possessed of complete jurisdiction in the 
conduct of its own affairs, independent of any other society, and unaccount- 
able to any superior ; that the priesthood was neither a distinct order in 
the church, nor conferred an indelihle character ; but that every man quali- 
fied to teach might be set apart for that office by the election of the breth- 
ren, and by imposition of their hands ; in like manner, by their authority, 
he might be dischai^ed from that function, and reduced to the rank of a 
private Christian ; that every person when admitted a member of a church, 
ought to make a public confession of his faith, and give evidence of his 
being in a state of^ favour with God ; and that all the affairs of a church 
were to be regulated by the decision of the majority of its members. 

This democratical form of government, which abolished all distinction 
of ranks in the church, and conferred an equal portion of power on every 
individual, accorded so perfectly with the levelling genius of fanaticism, 
that it was fondly adopted by many as a complete model of Christian 
policy. From their founder they were denominated Brownists ; and as 
their tenets were more hostile to the established religion than those of other 
separatists, the fiercest storm of persecution fell upon their heads. Many 
of them were fined or imprisoned, and some put to death ; and though 
Brown, with a levity of which there are few examples among enthusiasts 
whose vanity has been soothed by being recognised as heads of a party, 
abandoned his disciples, conformed to the established religion, and accepted 
of a benefice in the church, the sect not only subsisted, but continued to 
spread, especially among persons in the middle and lower ranks of life. 
But as all their motions were carefully watched, both by the ecclesiastical 
and civil courts, which, as often as they were detected, punished thern 
with the utmost rigoui', a body of them, weary of living in a state of con- 
tinual danger and alarm, f^ed to Holland, and settled in Leyden, under the 
care of Mr. John Robinson their pastor. There they resided for several 
years unmolested and obscure. But many of their aged members dying;, 
and some of the younger marrying into Dutch families, while their church 
received no increase, either by recruits from England or by proselytes 
gained in the country, they began to be afraid that all their high attain- 
ments in spiritual knowledge would be lost, and that perfect fabric of 
policy which they had erected would be dissolved, and consigned to obli- 
vion, if they remained longier in a strange land. 

Deeply affected with the prospect of an event which to them appeared 
fatal to the interests of truth, they thought themselves called, in order to 
prevent it, to remove to some other place, where they might profess and 
propagate their opinions with greater success. America, in which their 
countrymen were at that time intent on planting colonies, presented itself 
to their thoughts. They flattered themselves with hopes of being per- 
mitted, in that remote region, to follow their own ideas in religion without 
disturbance. The dangers and hardships to which all former emigrants to 
America had been exposed did not deter them. " They were well weaned 
(according to their own description,) from the delicate milk of their mother 
country, and inured to the difficulties of a strange land. They were knit 
together in a strict and sacred band, by virtue of which they held them- 
selves obliged to take care of the good of each other, and of the whole. 
It was not with them, as with other men, whom small things could discou- 
rage, or small discontents cause to wish themselves at home again."* The 
first object of their solicitude was to secure the free exercise of their reli- 
gion. For this purpose they applied to the king ; and, though ./ames 
refused to give them any explicit assurance of toleration, they seem to have 
obtained from him some promise of his connivance, as long as they con- 

• Hutchinson's Iliat. of Maseach. p. 4. 



432 ins T O R Y O F Book X. 

tinued to demean themselves quietly. So eager were they to accomplish 
their favourite scheme, that, relying on this precarious security, they began 
to negotiate with the Virginian company for a tract of land within the 
limits of their patent. This they easily procured from a society desirous 
of encouraging migration to a vast country, of which they had hitherto 
occupied only a few spots. 

After the utmost efibrts, their preparations fell far short of what was 
requisite for beginning the settlement of a new colony. A hundred and 
twenty persons sailed from England [Sept. 6, 1620], in a single ship on 
this arduous undertaking. The place of their destination was Hudson's 
Kiyer, where they intended to settle ; but their captain having been 
bribed, as is said, by the Dutch, who had then formed a scheme, which 
they afterwards accomplished, of planting a colony there, carried them 
so far towards the north, that the first land in America which they made 
[Nov. 11], was Cape Cod. They were now not only beyond the pre- 
cincts of the territory which had been granted to them, but beyond those 
of the company from which they derived their right. The season, how- 
ever, was so far advanced, and sickness raged so violently among men 
unaccustomed to the hardships of a long voyage, that it became neccssaiy 
to take up their abode there. After exploring the coast, they chose for 
their situation a place now belonging to the province of Massachusetts Bay, 
to which they gave the name of New Plymouth, probably out of respect 
to that company within whose jurisdiction they now found themselves 
situated,* 

No season could be more unfavourable to settlement than that in which 
the colony landed. The winter, which, from the predominance of cold 
in America, is rigorous to a degree unknown in parallel latitudes of cur 
hemisphere, was already set in ; and they were slenderly provided with 
what was requisite for comfortable subsistence, under a climate consider- 
ably more severe than that for which they had made preparation. Above 
one half of them was cut off before the return of spring, by diseases, or by 
famine: the survivors, instead of having leisure to attend to the supply of 
their own wants, were compelled to take arrns against the savages in their 
neighbourhood. Happily for the English, a pestilence which raged in 
America the year before they landed, had swept off so great a number 
of the natives that they were quickly repulsed and humbled. The privi- 
lege of professing their own opinions, and of being governed by laws of 
their own framing, afforded consolation to the colonists amidst all their 
dangers and hardships. The constitution of their church was the same 
with that which they had established in Holland. Their system of civil 
government Avas founded on those ideas of the natural equality among 
men, to which their ecclesiastical policy had accustomed them. Every 
free man, who was a member of the church, was admitted into the supreme 
legislative body. The laws of England were adopted as the basis of their 
jurisprudence, though with some diversity in the punishments intlicted 
upon crimes, borrowed from the Mosaic institutions. The executive power 
was vested in a governor and some assistants, who were elected annually 
by the members of the legislative assembly.! So far their institutions 
afjpear to be founded on the ordinary maxims of human prudence. But 
it was a favourite opinion with all the enthusiasts of that age, that the 
Scriptures contained a complete system not only of spiritual instruction, 
but of civil wisdom and polity ; and without attending to the peculiar 
circumstances or situation of the people whose history is there recorded, 
they often deduced general rules for their own conduct Irom what happened 
among men in a very different state. Under the influence of this wild 

* Hubard'8 Pres. Slate, p. 3. Cotton's Magnalia, p. 7. Ilutcliinson's Hist. p. 3 ikc 
t Chaliners'n .^niialj, p. S7. 



AMERICA. 433 

notion, the colonists of New Plymouth, in imitation of the primitive Chris- 
tians, threw all their property into a common stook, and, like members of 
one family, carried on every work of industry by their joint labour for 
public behoof.* But, however this resolution might evidence the sincerity 
of their faith, it retarded the procuress of their colony. The same fatal 
effects flowed from this community of goods, and oT labour, which had 
formerly been experienced in Virginia ; and it soon became necessary to 
relinquish what was too refined to be capable of being accommodated to 
the affairs of men. But though they built a small town, and surrounded 
it with such a fence as afforded sufiicient security against the assaults of 
Indians, the soil around it was so poor, their religious principles were so 
unsocial, and the supply sent them by their friends so scanty, that at the 
end of ten years the number of people belonging to the settlement did 
not exceed three hundred.! During some years they appear not to have 
acquired right by any legal conveyance to the territory which they had 
occupied. At length [1630], they obtained a grant of property from the 
council of the New Plymouth Company, but were never incorporated as 
a body politic by royal charter.^ Unlike all the other settlements in 
America, this colony must be considered merely as a voluntary association, 
held together by the tacit consent of its 'members to recognise the autho- 
rity of laws, and submit to the jurisdiction of magistrates, framed and 
chosen by themselves. In this state it remained an independent but feeble 
community, until it was united to its more powerful neighbour, the colony 
of Massachusetts Bay, the origin and progress of which I now proceed to 
relate. 

The origmal company of Plymouth having done nothing effectual to- 
wards establishing any permanent settlement in America, James 1., in the 
year one thousand six hundred and twenty, issued a new charter to the 
Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Buckingham, and several other persons 
of distinction in his court, by which he conveyed to tbem a right to a ter- 
ritory' in America, still more extensive than what had been granted to the 
former patentees, incorporating them as a body politic, in order to plant 
colonies there, with powers and jurisdictions similar to those contained in 
his charters to the companies of South and North Virginia. This society 
was distinguished by the name of the Grand Council of Plymouth for 
planting and governing New England. What considerations of public 
utility could induce the king to commit such an undertaking to persons 
apparently so ill qualified for conducting it, or what prospect of private 
advantage prompted them to engage in it, the information we receive from 
contemporary writers does not enable us to determine. Certain it is, that 
the expectations of both were disappointed ; and after many schemes and 
arrangements, all the attempts of the new associates towards colonization 
proved unsuccessful. 

New England must have remained unoccupied, if the same causes 
which occasioned the emigration of the Brownists had not continued to 
operate. Notwithstanding the violent persecution to which puritans of 
every denomination were still exposed, their number and zeal daily in- 
creased. As they now despaired of obtaining in their own country any 
relaxation of the penal statutes enacted against their sect, many began to 
turn their eyes towards some other place of retreat, where they nn'ght pro- 
fess their own opinions with impunity. From the tranquillity which their 
brethren had hitherto enjoved in New Plymouth, they hoped to find this 
desired asylum in New Jlngland ; and by the activity of Mr. White, a 
nonconformist minister at Dorchester, an association v/as formed by several 
gentlemen who had imbibed puritanical notions, in order to conduct a 

* Chalmers's AnnaJA, n. 80. Douitlas's Siunroary, i. p. 370. f Cliaimcrs's AnnoUs p ST. 

♦ Ib'j. p. 97. 107. 

Vol. I.— 55 



434 HISTORY OF [Book X. 

colony thither. They purchased from the council of PlynKHjth [Marcb 
19, 1627], all the territory, extending in length from three miles north ot 
the river Merrimack, to three miles south of Charles River, and in breadth, 
from the Atlantic to the Southern Orean. Zealous as these proprietors 
were to accomplish their favourite purpose, they quickly perceived their 
own inability to attempt the population of such an immense region, and 
deemed it necessary to call in the aid of more opulent copartners.* 

Of these they found without difficulty, a sufficient number, chiefly in the 
capital, and among persons in the commercial and other industrious walks 
of lite, who had openlyjoined the sect of tlie puritans, or secretly favoured 
their opinions. These new adventurers, with the caution natural to men 
C9nversant in business, entertained doubts concerning the propriety of 
founding a colony on the basis of a grant from a private company of^ pa- 
tentees, who might convey a right of property in the soil, but could not 
confer jurisdiction, or the privilege of governing that society which they 
had in contemplation to establish. As it was only from royal authority that 
such powers could be derived, they applied for these ; and Charles granted 
their request, with a facility which appears astonishing, when we consider 
the principles and views of the men who were suitors lor the favour. 

Time has been considered as the parent of political wisdom, but its 
instructions are communicated slowly. Although the experience of above 
twenty years might have taught the English the impropriety of committing 
the government of settlements in America to exclusive corporations resident 
in Europe, neither the king nor his subjects had profited so much by what 
passed before their eyes as to have extended their ideas beyond those 
adopted by James in his first attempts towards colonization. The charter 
of Charles I. to the adventurers associated for planting the province of 
Massachusetts Bay, was perfectly similar to those granted by his father to 
the two Virginian companies and to the council of Plymouth. The new 
adventurers were incorporated as a body politic, and their right to the 
territory, which they had purchased from the council at Plymouth, being 
confirmed by the king, they were empowered to dispose of lands, and to 
govern the people who should settle upon them. The first governor of 
the company and his assistants were named by the crown ; the right of 
electing their successors was vested in the members of the corporation. 
The executive power was committed to the governor and assistants ; that 
of legislation to the body of proprietors, who might make statutes and 
orders for the good of the community, not inconsistent with the laws of 
England, and enforce the observance of them, according to the course of 
other corporations within the realm. Their lands were to be held by the 
same liberal tenure with those granted to the Virginian company. They 
obtained the same temporary exemption from internal taxes, and from 
duties on goods exported or imported ; and notwithstanding their migra- 
tion to America, they and their descendants were declared to be entitled to 
all the rights of natural born subjects.! 

The manifest object of this charter Avas to confer on the adventurers who 
undertook to people the territory on Massachusetts Bay, all the corporate 
rights possessed by the council of Plymouth, from which they had pur- 
chased it, and to form them into a public body, resembling other great 
trading companies, which the spirit of monarchy had at that time multiplied 
in the kingdom. The king seems not to have foreseen, or to have sus- 
jected the secret intentions of those who projected the measure ; for so 
ar was he from alluring emigrants, by any hopes of indulgence with re- 
spect to their religious scruples, or from promising any relaxation from the 
rigour of the penal statutes against nonconformists, that he expressly pro- 



I 



• Neal'i Hut of New England, 1. p. 128. t Hutchinson'* Collect of Original Papers, 

V-l, <MS. 



A M ERIC A. 436 

vides for having' the oath of supremacy administered to every person who 
shall pass to the colony, or inhabit thore.* 

But whatever were the intentions of the kinfr, the adventurers kept their 
own object steadily in view. Soon after their powers to establish a colony 
were rendered complete by the royal charter [1629], they fitted out five 
ships for New England ; on board of which embarked upwards of three 
hundred passengers, with a view of settling ihere. These were most 
zealous puritans, whose chief inducement to relinquish their native land 
was the hope of enjoying religious liberty in a country far removed from 
the seat of government and the oppression of ecclesiastical courts. Some 
eminent nonconformist ministers accompanied them as their spiritual in- 
structers. On their arrival in New England, they found the wretched re- 
mainder of a small body of emigrants, who had left England [June 29], 
the preceding year, under the conduct of Eridicott, a deep enthusiast, 
whom, prior to their incorporation by the royal charter, the associates had 
appointed deputy governor. They were settled at a place called by the 
Indians Naunekeag, and to which Endicott, with the fond affectation of 
fanatics of that age to employ the language and appellations of Scripture 
in the affairs of common life, had given the name of_ Salem. 

The emigrants under Endicott, and such as now joined them, coincided 
perfectly in religious principles. They were puritans of the strictest 
form ; and to men of this character the institution of a church was naturally 
of such interesting concern as to take place of every other object. In this 
first transaction, they displayed at once the extent of the reformation at 
which they aimed. Without regard to the sentiments of tnat monarch 
under the sanction of whose authority they settled in America, and from 
whom they derived right to act as a oody politic, and in contempt of the 
laws of England, with which the charter required that none of their acts 
or ordinances should be inconsistent, they adopted in their infant church 
that form of policy which has since been distinguished by the name of 
Independent. They united together in religious society [Aug. 6], by a 
solemn covenant with God and with one another, and in strict conformity, 
as they imagined, to the rules of Scripture. They elected a pastor, a 
teacher, and an elder, whom they set apart for their respective offices, by 
imposition of the hands of the brethren. All who were that day admitted 
members of the church signified their assent to a confession of iaith drawn 
up by their teacher, and gave an account of the foundation of their own 
hopes as Christians ; and it was declared that no person should hereafter 
be received into communion until he gave satisfaction to the church with 
respect to his faith and sanctity. The form of public worship which they 
instituted was without a liturgy, disencumbered of every superfluous cere- 
mony, and reduced to the lowest standard of Calvinistic simplicity. t 

It was with the utmost complacence that men passionately attached to 
their own notions, and who had long been restrained from avowing them, 
employed themselves in framing this model of a pure church. But in the 
first moment that they began to taste of Christian liberty themselves, they 
forgot that other men had an equal title to enjoy it. Some of their num- 
ber, retaining a high veneration for the ritual of the English church, were 
so much offended at the total abolition of it, that they withdrew from com- 

* HutcIiinsoTi's Collect, of Ori!». Papers, p. 18. — It is surprising that Mr. Neal, an indiistrions arnj 
generally well informed writer, should affirm, that " free liberty of conscience was granted by this 
charter to all who should settle in those parts, to worship God in their own way." Hist, of New 
Enjil. i. 121. This he repeats in bis History of the Puritans, >i. 2)0; and subseqnent historians havo 
copied him implicitly. No permi^-sion of this kind, however, is contained in tlie charter; and s;ieh 
an indul(.'ence would have been inconsirtent with all the nia.ximsof Cliarh? and h'3 ministers durir;^ 
the course of his reitfn. At the time when Charles issued the charter, the influence of Laud ove.t 
his ronrisels was at its height, the puritans were prosecuted wiih the greatest severity, and the 
kingdom was ruled entirely by prerogative This is not an era in whirh one can expect to niuet 
with concessions in favpuiof DonconJbi;niiRtB, fnaiia nrinoe of Chaijkis'scljaractor and prindple^ 

t Math. MagDBl, ^ lA NeiU's Hiac. of N. Pngf. i. ISii. Cbalmeic, b. 143. 



436 HISTORY OF [BookX. 

munion wilh the newly instituted church, and assembled separately for the 
■worship of God. With an inconsistency of which tliere are such flagrant 
instances among Christians of every denomination that it cannot be im- 
puted as a reproach peculiar to any sect, the very men who had themselves 
fled from persecution became persecutors ; and had recourse, in order to 
enforce their ov/n opinions, to the same unhallowed weapons, against the 
employment of which they had lately remonstrated wi*h so mucli violence. 
Endicott called the two chief malecontenls before him ; and though they 
were men of note, and among the number of original patentees, he expelled 
them from the society, and sent them home in the ships which were re- 
turning to England.* The colonists were now united in sentiments ; but, 
on the approach of winter, they suffered so much from diseases, which 
carried off almost one half of their number, that they made little progress 
in occupying the country. 

Meanwhile the directors of the company in England exerted their 
utmost endeavours in order to reinforce the colony with a numerous body 
of new settlers ; and as the intolerant spirit of Laud exacted conformity lo 
all the injunctions of the church with greater rigour than ever, the condition 
of such as had any scruples with respect to this became so intolerable tnal 
many accepted of their invitation to a secure retreat in New England. 
Several of these were persons of greater opulence and of better condition 
than any who had hitherto migrated to that country. But as they intended 
tb employ their fortunes, as well as to hazard their persons in establishing 
a permanent colony there, and foresaw many inconveniences from their 
subjection to laws made without their own consent, and framed by a 
society which must always be imperfectly acquainted with their situation, 
they insisted that the corporate powers of the compan}'^ should be trans- 
ferred from England to America, and the government of the colony be 
vested entirely in those who, by settling in the latter country, became 
members of it.j The company had already expended considerable sums 
in prosecuting the design of their institution, without having received 
almost any return, and had no prospect of gain, or even of reimbursement, 
but what was too remote and uncertain to be suitable to the ideas of mer- 
chants, the most numerous class of its members. They hesitated, however, 
with respect to the legality of granting the demand of the intended emi- 
grants. But such was their eagerness to be disengaged frora an unpro- 
mising adventure, that, " by general consent it was determined, that the 
charter should be transferred, and the government be settled in New 
England."! To the members of the corporation who chose to remain at 
home was reserved a share in the trading stock and profits of the company 
during seven ycai-s. 

In this singular transaction, to which there is nothing similar in the history 
of English colonization, two circumstances merit particular attention : one 
IS the power of the company to make this transference ; the other is the 
silent acquiescence with which the king permitted it to take place, li the 
validity of this determination of the company be tried by the charter 
which constituted it a body politic, and conveyed to it all the corporate 
powers Avith which it was invested, it is evident that it could neither ex- 
ercise those powers in any mode different from what the charter prescribed, 
nor alienate them in such a manner as to convert the jurisdiction of a 
trading corporation in England into a provincial government in America. 
But from the first institution of the company of Massachusetts Bay, its 
members seem to have been animated with a spirit of innovation in civil 
policy, as well as in religion; and by the habit of rejecting established 
usages in the one, they were prepared for deviating from them in the other. 

• Mather, p. 19. Neal, p. 129. t nutcliinson's Coll. of Papere, p. 35k J Uaiber, 

p. 20. llmchinson's Uist. p. 12. Cbalmen, p. 15U, 



AMERICA. 43T 

Tliey had applied for a royal charter, in order to give legal effect to their 
operations in England, as acts of a body politic; but the persons -whom 
they sent out to America, as soon as they landed there, considered them- 
selves as individuals united together by voluntary association, possessing 
the natural right of men who form a society, to adopt what mode of govern- 
ment, and to enact what laws they deemed most conducive to general 
felicity. Upon this principle of being entitled to judge and to decide for 
themselves, they established their church in Salem, without regard to the 
institutions of the church of England, of which the charter supposed them 
to be members, and bound of consequence to conformity with its ritual. 
Suitable to the same ideas, we shall observe them framing all their future 
plans of civil and ecclesiastical policy. The king, though abundantly 
vigilant in observing and checking slighter encroachments on his prerogative, 
was either so much occupied at that time with other cares, occasioned by 
his fatal breach with his parliament, that he could not attend to the pro- 
ceedings of the company ; or he was so much pleased with the prospect 
of removing a body of turbulent subjects to a distant country, where they 
might be useiul, and could not prove dangerous, that he was disposed to 
connive at the irregularity of a measure which facilitated their departure. 

Without interruption from the crown, the adventurers proceeded to carry 
their sclieme into execution. In a general court, John AVinthrop was 
appointed governor, and Thomas Dudley deputy governor, and eighteen 
assistants were chosen ; in wtiom, together with the body of freemen who 
should settle in New England, were vested all the corporate lights of the 
company. With such zeal and activity did they prepare for emigration, 
that in the course of the ensuing year seventeen ships sailed for Nev/' 
England, and aboard these above hfteen hundred persons, among whom 
Were several of respectable families, and in easy circumstances. On their 
arrival in New England, many were so ill satisfied Mith the situation of 
Salem, that they explored the country in quest of some better station ; and 
settling in different places around the Bay, according to their various 
fancies, laid the foundations of Boston, Charles Town, Dorchester, Ptox- 
borough, and other towns, which have since become considerable in the 
province. In each of these a church was established on the same model 
with that of Salem. This, together with the care of making provision for 
their subsistence during winter, occupied them entirely during some months. 
But in the tirst general court [Oct. 19], their disposition to consider them- 
selves as members of an independent society, unconfincd by the regulations 
of their charter, began to appear. The election of the governor and 
deputy governor, the appointment of all other officers, and even the power 
of making laws, all which were granted by the charter to the freemen, 
were taken from them, and vested in the council of assistants. But the 
aristocratical spirit of this resolution did not accord with the ideas of equality 
prevalent among the people, who had been surprised into an approbation 
of it. Next year [16"31] the freemen, whose nunjbers had been greatly 
augmented by the admission of new members, resumed their former rights. 

But, at the same time, they ventured to deviate from the charter in a 
matter of greater moment, which deejily affected all the future operations 
of the colony, and contributed greatly to ibrm that peculiar character by 
which the people of New England have been distinguished. A law was 
passed, declaring that none shall hereafter be admitted freemen, or be 
entitled to any share in the government, or be capable of being chofccn 
magistrates, or even of serving as jurymen, but such as have been recejved 
into the church as members.* By this resolution, cverj' person \\h6 did 
not hold the favourite opinions concerning the doctrines of religion, the 
discipline of the church, or the rites of worship, was at cnce cast out cf the 

• HutohinB< n, p. afl. Chaknerai p. 1311 



438 HISTORY OF [BookX. 

society, and stripped of all the privileg'es of a citizen. An uncontrolled 
power of approvirio- or rejecting the claims of those who applied for 
admission into cotmnunion with the church being vested in the ministers 
and leading men of each congregation, the most valuable of all civil rights 
was made to depend on their decision with respect to qualifications purely 
ecclesiastical. As in examining into these they proceeded not by any 
known or established rules, but exercised a discretionary judgment, the 
clergy rose gradually to a degree of influence and authority, from which 
the levelling spirit of the independent church policy was calculated to 
exclude them. As by their determination the political condition of every 
citizen was Hxed, all paid court to men possessed of such an important 
power, by assuming those austere and sanctimonious manners which were 
known to be the most certain recommendations to their favour. In con- 
sequence of this ascendant, which was acquired chiefly by the wildest 
enthusiasts among the clergy, their notions became a standard to which all 
studied to conform, and the singularities characteristic of the puritans in 
that age increased, of which many remakable instances will occur in the 
course of our narrative. 

Though a considerable number of planters was cut off by the diseases 
prevalent in a country so imperfectly cultivated by its original inhabitants 
as to be still almost one continued forest, and several, discouraged by the 
hardships to which they were exposed, returned to England, recruits suffi- 
cient to replace them arrived. At the same lime the small-pox, a dis- 
temper tatal to the people of the New World, swept away such multi- 
tudes of the natives, that some whole tribes disappeared ; and Heaven, by 
thus evacuating a country in which the English might settle without 
molestation, was supposed to declare its intention that they should 
occupy it 

As several of the vacant Indian stations were well chosen, such was the 
eagerness of the English to take possession of them, that their settlements 
became more numerous and more widely dispersed than suited the con- 
dition of an infant colony. This led to an innovation which totally altered 
the nature and constitution of the government. When a general court was 
to he held in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-four, the free- 
men instead of attending it in person, as the charter prescribed, elected 
representatives in their different districts, authorizing them to appear in 
their name, with full power to deliberate and decide concerninof every 
point that fell under the cognizance of the general court. Whether this 
measure was suggested by some designing leaders, or whether they found 
it prudent to soothe the people by complying with their inclination, is 
uncertain. The representatives were admitted, and considered themselves, 
in conjunction with the governor and assistants, as the supreme legislative 
assembly of the colony. In assertion of their own rights, they enacted 
that no law should be passed, no tax should be imposed, and no public 
officer should be appointed, but in the general assembly. The pretexts for 
making this PiOw arrangement were plausible. The number of freemen was 
greatly increased ; many resided at a distance from the places where the 
supreme courts were held ; personal attendance became inconvenient ; the 
form of government it; their own country had rendered familiar the idea of 
delegating their rights, and committing the guardianship of their liberties 
to representatives of their own choice, and the experience of ages had 
taught them that 'his important trust might with safety be lodged in their 
hands.^ Thus did the company of Massachusetts Bay, in less than six 
years from its incorporation by the king, mature and perfect a scheme 
which, I have already observed, some of its more artful and aspiring 
leaders seem to have bad in view, when the association tor peopling New 
England was first formed. The colony must henceforward be considered, 
not as a corporation whose powers were defined, and its mode of 



AMERICA. 439 

procedure regulated by its charter, but as a society, which, having acquired 
or assumed political liberty, had, by its own voluntary deed, adopted a 
constitution or government framed on the model of that in England. 

But however liberal their system oi civil policy might be, as their leli- 
gious opinions were no longer under any restraint of authority, the spirit oi 
fanaticism continued to spread, and became every day wilder and more 
extravagant. Williams, a minister of Salem, in high estimation, having 
conceived an antipathy to the cross of St. George in the standard of Eng- 
land, declaimed against it with so much vehemence, as a relic of super- 
stition and idolatry which ought not to be retained among a people so pure 
and sanctified, that Endicott, one of the members of the court ot assistants, 
in a transport of zeal, publicly cut out the cross from the ensign displayed 
before the governor's gate. This frivolous matter interested and divided 
the colony. Some of the militia scrupled to follow colours in which there 
was a cross, lest they should do honour to an idol ; others refused to serve 
under a mutilated banner, lest they should be suspected of having 
renounced their allegiance to the crown of England. After a long contro- 
versy, carried on by both parties with that heat and zeal which m trivial 
disputes supply the want of argument, the contest was terminated by a 
compromise. The cross was retained in the ensigns of forts and ships, but 
erased from the colours of the militia. Williams, on account of this, as 
well as of some other doctrines deemed unsound, was banished out of the 
colony.* 

The prosperous state of New England was now so highly extolled, and 
the simple trame of its ecclesiastic policy so much admired by all whose 
affections were estranged from the church of England, that crowds of new 
settlers flocked thither [l6S5]. Among these were two persons, whose 
names have been rendered memorable by the appearance which they 
afterwards made on a more conspicuous theatre ; one was Hugh Peters, the 
enthusiastic and intriguing chaplain of Oliver Cromwell : the other Mr. 
Henry Vane, son of Sir Henry Vane, a privy counsellor, high in office, and 
of great credit with the king ; a young man of a noble family, animated 
with such zeal for pure religion and such love of liberty as induced him 
to relinquish all his hopes in England, and to settle in a colony hitherto no 
further advanced in improvement than barely to afford subsistence to its 
members, was received with the fondest admiration. His mortified 
appearance, his demure look and rigid manners, carried even beyond the 
standard of preciseness in that society which he joined, seemed to indicate 
a man of high spiritual attainments, while his abilities and address in busi- 
ness pointed him out as worthy of the highest station in the community. 
With universal consent, and high expectations of advantage from his 
administration, he was elected governor in the year subsequent to his 
arrival [1636]. But as the affairs of an infant colony afforded not objects 
adequate to the talents of Vane, his busy pragmatical spirit occupied itself 
with theological subtilties and speculations unworthy of his attention. 
These were excited by a woman, whose reveries produced such effects 
both within the colony and beyond its precincts, that frivolous as they may 
now appear, they must be mentioned as an occurrence of importance in its 
history. 

It was the custom at that time in New England, among the chief men 
in every congregation, to meet once a week in order to repeat the sermons 
which they had heard, and to hold religious conference with respect to the 
doctrine contained in them. Mrs. Hutchinson, whose husband was among 
the most respectable members of the colony, regretting that persons of her 
sex were excluded from the benefit of those meetings, assembled statedly 
in her house a number of women, who employed themselves in pious exerciseg 

* Ncol's Hirt. of N Eng. p. 140, Sec. Hutcliiiwon, p. 37. Oh«Jmor», p. 150. 



440 HISTORY OF [EookX. 

similar to those of the men. At first she satisfied herself with repeating nhat 
she couJd recolJect of the discourses delivered by their teachers. She began 
afterwards to add illustrations, and at length proceeded to censure some of 
the cler2:y as unsound, and to vent opinions and fancies of her ov\'n. These 
were all founded on the system which is denominated Antinomian by 
divines, and tinged with the deepest enthusiasm. She taught, that sanctity 
of life is no evidence of justification, or of a state of favour with God ; and 
that such as inculcated the necessity of manifesting the reality of our faith 
by obedience preached only a covenant of works ; she contended that the 
Spirit of God dwelt personally in good men, and by inward revelations and 
impressions they received the fullest discoveries of the divine will. The 
fluency and a)nfidence with which she delivered these notions gained 
her many admirers and proselytes, not only among the vulgar but among 
the principal inhabitants. The whole colony was interested and agitated. 
Vane, whose sagacity and acuteness seemed to forsake him whenever they 
were turned towards religion, espoused and defended her wildest tenets. 
Many conlerences were held, days of fasting and humiliation were 
appointed, a general synod was called ; and, after dissensions so violent as 
threatened the dissolution of the colony, Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions were 
condemned as erroneous, and she herself banished [1637]. Several ot her 
disciples withdrew from the province of their own accord. Vane quitted 
America in disgust, unlamented even by those who had lately admired 
him; some of whom now regarded him as a mere visionary, and others as 
one of those dark turbulent spirits doomed to embroil every society into 
which they enter.* 

However much these theological contests might disquiet the colony of 
Massachusetts Bay, they contributed to the more speedy population of 
America. When Williams was banished from Salem in the year one 
thousand six hundred and thirty-four, such was the attachment of his hear- 
ers to a pastor whose piety they revered, that a good number of them volun- 
tarily accompanied him in his exile. They directed their march towards 
the south ; and having purchased from the natives a considerable tract of 
land, to which Williams gave the name of Providence, they settled there. 
They were joined soon after by some of those to whom, the proceedings 
against Mrs. Hutchinson gave disgust ; and by a transaction with the 
Indians they obtained a right to a fertile island in Narraganset Bay, which 
acquired the name of Rhode Island. Williams remained among them 
upwards of forty years, respected as the father and the guide of the colony 
which he had planted. His spirit differed from that of the puritans in 
Massachusetts ; it was mild and tolerating ; and having ventured himself 
to reject established opinions, he endeavoured to secure the same liberty 
to other men, by maintaining that the exercise of private judgment was a 
natural and sacred right; that the civil magistrate has no compulsive juris- 
diction in the concerns of religion; that the punishment of any person on 
account of his opinions was an encroachment on conscience, and an act of 
persecution.! These humane principles he instilled into his followers ; 
and all who felt or dreaded oppression in other settlements resorted to a 
community in Avhich universal toleration was known to be a fundamental 
maxim. \n the plantations of Providence and Rhode Island, political union 
was established by voluntary association, and the equality of condition 
among the members, as well as their religious opinions ; their form of 
government was purely democratical, the supreme power being lodged in 
the freemen personally assembled. In this state they remained untu ihey 
were incorporated by charter.| 

* Mallier, boo'; vii. c. 3. Hutchinson, p. 53. 74. Neal, p. 1. 144. 1G5, &c. Chalmers, p. JOS. 
t Ncal'.< Hist, ol" N. Eng. p. Ml. J HutclunBOii, p. 38. Neal, ii. lii. Dougl. Suui. ij. ^ 16, 
&U. (JJiuUuoia, >,. . i^ 



A xM E iU C A. 441 

To similar causes the colony of Connecticut is indebted for its origin. 
The livalship between Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker, two favourite minis- 
ters in the settlement of Massachusetts Bay, disposed the latter, who was 
least successful in this contest tor fame and power, to wish for some settle- 
ment at a distance from a competitor by whom his reputation was eclipsed. 
A good number of those who had imbibed Mrs. Hutchinson's notions, and 
were ofifended at such as combated them, offered to accompany him. 
Having employed proper persons to explore the country, they pitched upon 
the west side of the great river Connecticut as the most inviting station : 
and in the year one thousand six hundred and thirty-six, about a hundred 
persons, with their wives and families, after a fatiguing march of many 
days through woods and swamps, arrived there, and laid the foundation of 
the towns of Hartford, Springneld, and Weathersfield. This settlement 
was attended with peculiar irregularities. Part of the district noAv occu- 
pied lay beyond the limits of the territory granted to the colony of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, and yet the emigrants took a commission from the governor 
and court of assistants, empowering them to exercise jurisdiction in that 
country. The Dutch from Manhados or New York, having discovered 
the river Connecticut, and established some trading houses upon it, had 
acquired all the right that prior possession confers. Lord Say and Sele 
and Lord Brook, the heads of two illustrious families, were so much 
alarmed at the arbitrary measures of Charles L, both in his civil and eccle- 
siastical administration, that they took a resolution, not unbecoming young 
men of noble birth and liberal sentiments, of retiring to the New World, 
in order to enjoy such a form of religion as they approved of, and those 
liberties which they deemed essential to the well being of society. They, 
too, fixed on the banks of the Connecticut as their place of settlement, and 
had taken possession, by building a fort at the mouth of the river, which 
from their united names was called Say Brook. The emigrants from Mas- 
sachusetts, without regarding either the defects in their own right or the 
pretensions of other claimants, kept possession, and proceeded with vigour 
to clear and cultivate the country. By degrees they got rid of every com- 
petitor. The Dutch, recently settled in America, and too feeble to engage 
in a war, peaceably withdrew from Connecticut. Lord Say and Sele and 
Lord Brook made over to the colony whatever title they might have to 
any lands in that region. Society was established by a voluntary compact 
of the freemen ; and though they soon disclaimed all dependence on the 
colony of BLissachusetts Bay, they retained such veneration for its legisla- 
tive wisdom as to adopt a form of government nearly resembling its insti- 
tutions, with respect both to civil and ecclesiastical policy. At a subse- 
quent period, the colony of Connecticut was likewise incorporated by 
royal charter.* 

The history of the first attempts to people the provinces of New Hamp 
shire and Maine, which form the fourth and most extensive division in New 
England, is obscured and perplexed, by the interfering claims of various 
proprietors. The company of Plymouth had inconsiderately parcelled 
out the northern part of the territory contained in it? grant among different 

fjersons : of these only Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain Mason seem to 
lave had any serious intention to occupy the lands allotted to them. Their 
efforts to accomplish this were meritorious and persevering, but unsuccess- 
ful. The expense of settling colonies in an uncultivated country must 
necessarily be great and immediate ; the prospect of a return is often un- 
certain, and always remote. The funds of two private adventurers were 
not adequate to such an undertaking. Nor did the planters whom tbey 
sent out possess that principle of enthusiasm, which animated their neigh- 
bours of Massachusetts with vigour to struggle through all the hardships and 

* Hiitcliinsnn, p. 44, &o. Nea), I. 147. DougIa3, li. 153, to. Chalmera's Annals, ch. xJv 
VoJU. I.— 56 



442 HISTORY OF [BookX. 

dangers to "vvhich society in its infancy is exposed in a savage land. 
Gorges and Mason, it is probable, must have abandoned their design, if, 
from the same motives that settlements had been made in Rhode Island and 
Connecticut, colonists had not unexpectedly migrated into New Hamp- 
shire and Maine. Mr. Wheelwright, a minister of some note, nearly related 
to Mi-s. Hutchinson, and one of her most fervent admirers and partisans, 
had on this account been banished from the province of Massachusetts Bay.* 
In quest of a new station, he took a course opposite to the other exiles, 
and advancing towards the north, founded the town of Exeter on a small 
river flowing into Piscataqua Bay. His lollowers, few m number, but 
firmly united, were of such rigid principles, that even the churches of 
Massachusetts did not appear to them sufliciently pure. From time to time 
they received some recruits, whom love of novelty, or dissatisfaction with 
the ecclesiastical institutions of the other colonies prompted to join them. 
Their plantations were widely dispersed, but the country was thinly peo- 
pled, and its political state extremely unsettled. The colony of Massa- 
chusetts Bay claimed jurisdiction over them, as occupying lands situated 
within the limits of their grant. Gorges and Mason asserted the rights 
conveyed to them as proprietors by their charter. In several districts the 
planters, without regarding the pretensions of either party, governed them- 
selves by maxims and laws copied from those of their brethren in the adja- 
cent colonies.! The first reduction of the political constitution in the pro- 
vinces of New Hampshire and Maine into a regular and permanent form, 
was subsequent to the Revolution. 

By extending their settlements, the English became exposed to new 
danger. The tribes of Indians around Massachusetts Bay were feeble and 
unwarlike ; yet from regard to justice, as well as motives of prudence, the 
first colonists were studious to obtain the consent of the natives before they 
ventured to occupy any of their lands ; and though in such transactions the 
consideration given was often very inadequate to the value of the territory 
acquired, it was sufficient to satisfy the demands of the proprietors. The 
English took quiet possession of the lands thus conveyed to them, and no 
open hostility broke out between them and the ancient possessors. But 
the colonies of Providence and Connecticut soon found that they were sur- 
rounded by more powerful and martial nations. Among these the most 
considerable were the Narragansets and Pequods ; the former seated on the 
bay v/hich bears their name, and the latter occupying the territory which 
stretches from the river Pequods along the banks of the Connecticut. The 
Pequods were a formidable people, who could bring into the field a thou- 
sand warriors not inferior in courage to any in the New World. They 
foresaw, not only that the extermination of the Indian race must be the 
consequence of permitting the English to spread over tlie continent of 
America, but that, if measures were not speedily concerted to prevent it, 
the calamity would be unavoidable. With this view they applied to the 
Narragansets, requesting them to forget ancient animosities for a moment, 
and to co-operate with Ihem in expelling a common enemy who threatened 
both with destruction. They represented that, when those strangers first 
landed, the object of their visit was not suspected, and no proper precau- 
tions were taken to check their progress ; that now, by sending out colo- 
nies in one year towards three different quarters, their intentions were 
manifest, and the people of America must abandon their native seats to 
make way for unjust intruders. 

But the Narragansets and Pequods, like most of the contiguous tribes in 
America, were rivals, and there subsisted between them an hereditary and 
implacable enmity. Revenge is the darling passion of savages ; in order 

* Hutcliinson, p. TO. t Ibid. p. 103, &c. 17C. Douglae's Sum. ii. 22, &c. Chalmers's Annal*, 
ch. xvU. 



AMERICA. 443 

to secure tne indulgence of which there is no present advantage that they 
will not sacrifice, and no future consequence which they do not totally 
disregard. The Nairagansets, instead of closing with the prudent proposal 
of their neighbours, discovered their hostile intentions to the governor of 
Massachusetts Bay : and, eager to lay hold on such a favourable opportu- 
i:ity of wreaking their vengeance on their ancient foes, entered into an 
alliance with the English against them. The Fequods, more exasperated 
than discouraged by the imprudence and treacheiy of tlieir countrymen, 
took the field, and carried on the war in the usual mode of Americans. 
They surprised stragglers, and scalped them ; they plundered and burnt 
remote settlements ; they attacked Fort Say Brook without success, though 
garrisoned only by twenty men ; and when the English began to act 
^)fFensively, they retired to fastnesses which they deemed inaccessible. 
The ditt'ereiit colonies had agreed to unite against the common enemy, 
each t\irnishing a quota of men in proportion to its numbers. The troops 
of Connecticut, which lay most exposed to danger, were soon assembled. 
The march of those from Mussachusetts, which formed the most consider- 
able body, was retarded by the most singular cause that ever influenced 
the operations of a military force. When they were mustered previous to 
their departure, it was found that some of the officers, as well as of the 
private soldiers, were still under a covenant of works ; and that the 
blessing of God could not be implored or expected to crown the arms of 
such unhallowed men with success. The alarm was general, and many 
arrangements necessary in order to cast out the unclean, and to render this 
little band sufficiently pure to fight the battles of a people who entertained 
high ideas of their own sanctity.* 

Meanwhile the Connecticut troops, reinforced by a small detachment 
from Say Brook, found it necessary to advance towards the enemy. They 
were posted on a rising ground, in the middle of a swamp towards the 
head of the river Mistick, which they had surrounded with palisadoes, 
the best defence that their slender skill in the art of fortification had dis- 
covered. Th'iugh they knew that the English were in motion, yet, with 
the usual improvidence and security of savages, they took no measures 
either to observe their progress, or to guard against being surprised them- 
selves. The enemy, unperceived, reached the palisadoes [May 20] ; and 
if a dog had not given the alarm by barking, the Indians must have been 
massacred without resistance. In a moment, however, they started to 
arms, and, raising the war cry, prepared to repel the assailants. But at 
that early period of their intercourse with the Europeans, the Americans 
were little acquainted with the use of gunpowder, and dreaded its effects 
extremely. While some of the English galled them with an incessant fire 
through the intervals between the palisadoes, others forced their way by 
the entries into the fort, filled only with branches of trees ; and setting fire 
to the huts which were covered with reeds, the confusion and terror quickly 
became general. Many of the women and children perished in the 
flames ; and the warriors, in endeavouring to escape, were either slain by 
the English, or, filling into the hands of their Indian allies, who surrounded 
the fort at a distance, were reserved for a more cruel fate. Alter the junc- 
tion of the troops from Massachusetts, the English resolved to pursue their 
victory ; and hur)ting the Indians from one place of retreat to another, 
some subsequent encounters were hardly less fatal to them than the action 
on the Mistick. In less than three months the tribe of Fequods were ex- 
tirpated : a few miserable fugitives, who took refiige among the neigh- 
bouring Indians, being incorporated by them, lost their name as a distinct 
people. In this first essay of their arms, the colonists of New England 
seem to have been conducted by skilful and enterprising officers, and dis- 

Neai, 1. us. 



444 HISTORY OF [Book X 

played both cournpe and perseverance as soldiers. But they stained their 
laurels by the use which they made of victory. Instead of treating the 
Pequods as an independent people, who made a gallant efibrt to defend 
the property, the rights, and the freedom of their nation, ihey retaliated 
upon thein all the barbarities of American war. Scime they massacred in 
cold blood, other! they gave up to be tortured by their Indian allies, a con- 
siderable number they sold as slaves in Bermudas, the rest were reduced 
to servitude among themselves.* 

But reprehensible as this conduct of the English must be deemed, their 
vigorous efforts in this decisive campaign filled all the surrounding tribes 
of Indians vviih such a high opinion of their valour as secured a long tran- 
quillity to all their settlements. At the same time the violence of admin- 
istration in England continued lo increase their population and strength, by 
forcing many respectable subjects to tear themselves from all the tender 
connections that bind men to their native country, and to fly for refuge to a 
region of the New World, which hitherto presented to them nothing that 
could allure them thither but exemption from oppression. The number of 
those emigrants drew the attention of government, and appeared so formi- 
dable that a proclamation was issued, prohibiting masters of ships from 
carrying passengers to New England without special permission. On 
many occasions this injunction was eluded or disregarded. Fatally for the 
king, it operated with full effect in one instance. Sir Arthur Hasierig, 
John Hampden, Oliver Cromwell, and some other persons whose principles 
and views coincided with theirs, impatient to enjoy those civil and reli- 
gious liberties which they struggled in vain to obtain in Great Britain, 
hired som.e ships to carry them and their attendants to New England. By 
order of council, an embargo was laid on these when on the point of 
sailing; and Charles, far from suspecting that the future revolutions in his 
kingdoms were to be excited and directed by persons in such an humble 
sphere of life, forcibly detained the men destined to overturn his throne, 
and to terminate his days by a violent death.t 

But, in spite of all the eft(:>rts of government to check this spirit of 
migration, the measures of the king and his ministers were considered by 
a great body of the people as so hostile to those rights which they deemed 
most valuable, that in the course of the 3^ear one thousand six hundred and 
thirty-eight, about three thousand persons embarked for New England, 
choosing rather to expose themselves to all the consequences of disre- 
garding the royal proclamation than to remain longer under oppression. 
Exasperated at this contempt of his authority, Charles had recourse to a 
violent but eSectual mode of accomplishing what he had in view. A 
writ o{ quo warranto was issued against the corporation of Massachusetts 
Bay. The colonists had conformed so little to the terms of their charter 
that judgment was given against them without difficulty. They were 
found to have forfeited all their rights as a corporation, which of course 
returned to the crown, and Charles began to take measures for new model- 
ling the political frame of the colony, and vesting the administration of its 
affairs in other hands. But his plans were never carried into execution. 
In every corner of his dominions the storm now began to gather, which 
soon burst out with such fatal violence, that Charles, during the remainder 
of his unfortunate reign, occupied with domestic and more interesting cares, 
bad not leisure to bestow any attention upon a remote and inconsiderable 
province. J 

On the meeting of the Long Parliament, such a revolution took place 
in England that all the motives for migrating to the New World ceased. 

♦ Hutchinson, p. 58. 76, fee. Mather, Magnalia, b. vil. ch. fi. Hubbnrd'e State of N. Eng. p. 5. 
116, &c. t Mather, MaJ^l.•^lia, b. i. ch. 5. p. 03. Ncal'a Hist, of N. Eng. 1. 151. Chaimcie'B 

Aniiale, I. 153. ICO, &.o. i Uutchii\saD, p. 60. 503, &o. CtMlmera'B Aniiols, 1. lOL 



AMERICA. 446 

The maxims of the puritans with respect to the government both of church 
and state became predominant in the nation, and were enforced by the 
hand of power. Their oppressors were humbled ; that perfect sj^stem 
of reformed polity, which had long been the object of their admiration 
and desire, was established by law ; and amidst the intrigues and conflicts 
of an obstinate civil war, turbulent and aspiring spirits found such full oc- 
cupation that they had no inducement to quit a busy theatre, on which they 
had risen to act a most conspicuous part. From the year one thousand six 
hundred and twenty, when the first feeble colony was conducted to New 
England by the Brownists, to the year one thousand six hundred and forty, 
it has been computed that twenty-one thousand two hundred British 
subjects had settled there. The money expended by various adventurers 
during that period, in fitting out ships, in purchasing stock, and transporting 
settlers, amounted on a moderate calculation, nearly to two hundred thou- 
sand pounds :* a vast sum in that age, and which no principles, inferior in 
force to those wherev>'ith the puritans were animated, could have persuaded 
men to lay out on the uncertain prospect of obtaining an establishment in 
a remote uncultivated region, whicli, from its situation and climate, could 
allure them with no hope but that of finding subsistence and enjoying 
freedom. For some years, even subsistence was procured with ditHculty ; 
and it was towards the close of the period to which our narrrative is arrived, 
before the product of the settlement yielded the planters any return for 
their stock. About that time they began to export corn in small quantities 
to the \Vest Indies, and made some feeble attempts to extend the fishery, 
and to open the trade in lumber, which have since proved the staple 
articles of commerce in the colony. t Since the year one thousand six 
hundred and forty, the number of people with which New England has 
recruited the population of the parent state, is supposed at least to equal 
what may have been drained from it by occasional migrations thither. 

But though the sudden change of system in Great Britain stopped 
entirely the influx of settlers into New England, the principles of the 
colonists coincided so perfectly with those ol the popular leaders in par- 
liament that they were soon distinguished by peculiar marks of their 
brotherly affection. By a vote of the House of Commons in the year one 
thousand six hundred and forty-two, the people in all the different planta- 
tions of New England were exempted from payment of any duties, either 
upon goods exported thither, or upon those which they imported into the 
mother country, until the House shall take further order to the contrary. 
This was afterwards confirmed [1646] by the authority of both Houses. 
Encouraged by such an extraordinary privilege, industry made rapid pro- 
gress in all the districts of New England, and population increased along 
with it. In return for those favours, the colonists applauded the measures 
of parliament, celebrated its generous efforts to viixlicate the rights and 
liberties of the- nation, prayed for the success of its arms, and framed regu- 
lations in order to prevent any exertion in favour of the king on the other 
side of the Atlantic. J 

Relying on the indulgent partiality with which all their proceedings 
were viewed by men thus closely united with them in sentiment and 
wishes, the people of New England ventured on a measure which not 
only increased their security and power, but may be regarded as a con- 
siderable step towards independence. Under the impression or pretext of 
the danger to which they ^vere exposed from the surrounding tribes of 
Indians, the four colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and 
New Haven, entered into a league of perpetual confederacy, offensive and 
defensive [May 19, 1643] ; an idea familiar to several leading men in the 

♦ Mather, b. i ch 4. p. 17. ch. 5. p. 23. Hutchinson, p. 193. Chalmnrs's Annals, p. 105. 
t Hutcluuson, p. 91, 93. } Ibid. p. 114. App. 517. Chalnicre's Annals, J. 174. 176. 



4i6 HISTORY OF [BookX 

colonies, as it was framed in imitation of the famous bond of union among 
the Dutch provinces, in whose dominions the Brownists had long resided. 
It was stipulated that the confederates should henceforth be distinguished 
by the name of the United Colonies of New England ; that each colony- 
should remain separate and distinct, and have exclusive jurisdiction within 
its own territory ; and that in every war, offensive or defensive, »^ach of 
the confederates shall furnish his quota of men, provisions, and money, 
at a rate to be fixed from time to time, in proportion to ihe number of 
people in each settlement ; that an assembly composed of two commis- 
sioners from each colony shall be held annually, with power to deliherate 
and decide in ail points of common concern to the confederacy ; and every 
determination, in which six of their number concur, shall be binding on 
the whole.* In this transaction the Colonies of New England seem to 
have considered themselves as independent societies, possessing all the 
rights of sovereignty, and free from the control of any superior power. 
The governing party in England, occupied with affairs of more urgent 
concern, and nowise disposed to observe the conduct of their brethren in 
America with any jealous attention, suffered the measure to pass without 
animadversion. 

Emboldened by this connivance, the spirit of independence gathered 
strength, and soon displayed itself more openly ; some persons of note in 
the colony of Massachusetts, averse to the system of ecclesiastical polity 
established there, and preferring to it the government and discipline of the 
churches of England or Scotland, having remonstrated to the general court 
against the injustice of depriving them of their rights as freemen, and of 
their privileges as Christians [1646], because they could not join as mem- 
bers with any of the congregational churches, petitioned that they might 
no longer be bound to obey laws to which they had not assented, nor be 
subjected to taxes imposed by an assembly in which they were not repre- 
sented. Their demands were not only rejected, but they were imprisoned 
and fined as disturbers of the public peace; and when they apprintcd 
some of their number to lay their grievances before parliament, the annual 
court, in order to prevent this appeal to the supreme power, attempted 
first to seize their papers, and to obstruct their embarkation for England. 
But though neither of these could be accomplished, such was the address 
and influence of the Colony's agents in England, that no inquiry seems to 
have been made into this transaction.! This was followed by an indica- 
tion, still less ambiguous, of the aspiring spirit prevalent among the people 
of Massachusetts. Under eveiy form of government the right of coining 
money has been considered as a prerogative peculiar to sovereignty, and 
which no subordinate member in any state is entitled to claim. Regardless 
of this established maxim, the general court ordered a coinage of silver 
money at Boston [1652], stamped with the name of the colony, and a tree 
as an apt symbol of its progressive vigour.J Even this usurpation escaped 
without notice. The Independents, havmg now humbled all rival sects, 
engrossed the whole direction of affairs in Great Britain, and long accustomed 
to admire the government of New England, framed agreeably to those 
principles which they had adopted as the most perfect model of civil and 
ecclesiastical polity, they were unwilling to stain its reputation by censuring 
any part of its conduct. 

When Cromwell usurped the supreme power, the colonies of New 
England continued to stand as high in his estimation. As he had deeply 
imbibed all the fanatical notions of the Independents, and was perpetually 
surrounded by the most eminent and artful teachers of that sect, he kept 
a constant correspondence with the leading men in the American settle- 

* Neal's Hist, of N, Eiiii. i. 202, &r. Hiitrliinsnn p. 12t. Dialmprs'? Annals, p. 177. t Noal'* 
Hisl. of N. Eng. i. 121. Uuldiin^otrs Hist. 14."), .tc f^ollrct. 188, &c. Chalm. Am. 179. Malher, 
Uagaai. b. iii. cti. i. p 30. ; Hutchinson's Hist. 177, I7S. Obatinere'i Ansals, p. 181 



AMERICA. 447 

. mcnts, who seem to have looked up to him as a zealous patron.* He in 
return considered them as his most devoted adherents, attached to him no 
less by affection than by principle. He soon gave a striking proof of this. 
On the conquest of Jamaica, he formed a scheme for the security and 
improvement of the acquisition made by his victorious arms, suited to the 
ardour of an impetuous spirit that delighted in accomplishing its ends by 
extraordinary means. He proposed to transport the people of New 
England to that island, and employed every argument calculated to make 
impression upon them, in order to obtain their consent. He endeavoured 
to rouse their religious zeal by representing what a fatal blow it would be 
to the man of sin, if a colony of the faithful were settled in the midst of 
his territories in the New World. He allured them with prospects of 
innnense wealth in a fertile region, which would reward the industry of 
those who cultivated it with all the precious productions of the torrid zone, 
and expressed his iervent wish that they might take possession of it, in 
order to fulfil God's promise of making his people the head and not the 
tail. He assured them of being supported by the whole force of his 
authority, and of vesting all the powers of government entirely in thcrr 
hands. But by this time the colonists were attached to a country in which 
they had resided for many years, and where, though they did not attain 
opulence, they enjoyed the comforts of life in great abundance ; and they 
dreaded so much the noxious climate of the West Indies, which had proved 
fatal to a great number of the English who first settled in .Jamaica, that 
they declined, though in the most respectful terms, closing with the Pro- 
LCtor's proposition.! 

•Hutchinwjn, App. 520, (kc. Collect, p. 233 t Hutdiinson,p. 190,&c. Chiilmerf, p 188 



[ 44» I 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Note [1]. Page 1^. 

Tyre was situated at such a distance from the Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, a? 
made it impracticable to convey commodities from thence to that city by land 
carriiij;e. This induced the Phoenicians to render themselves masters of Rhino- 
crura or Rhinocolura, the nearest port in the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. 
They landed the cargoes which they purchased in Arabia, Ethiopia, and India, 
at Elath, the safest harbour in the Red Sea tovi^ards the North. Thence they 
were carried by land to Rhinocolura, the distance not being very considerable ; 
and, being re-shipped in that port were transported to Tyre, and distributed over 
the world. Strabon. Geogr. edit. Casaub. lib. xvi. p. 1128. Diodor. Sicul. 
Biblioth. Histor. edit. Wesselingii, lib. i. p. 70. 

Note [2]. Page 21. 

The Periplus Hannonis is the only authentic monument of the Carthaginian 
skill in naval affairs, and one of the most curious fiagments transmitted to us 
by antiquity. The learned and industrious Mr. Dodwcll, in a dissertation 
prefixed to the Periplus of Hanno, in the edition of the Minor Geographers 
published at Oxford, endeavours to prove that this is a spurious work, the 
composition of some Greek, who assumed Hanno's name. But M. de Montes- 
quieu, in his TEsprit des Loix, lib. xxi. c. 8. and M. de Bougainville, in a dis- 
sertation published tom. xxvi. of the Mcmoires de TAcad^mie des Inscriptions, 
&.C. have established its authenticity by arguments which to me appear un- 
answerable. Ramusio has accompanied his translation of this curious voyage 
with a dissertation tending to illustrate it. Racolte de Viaggi, vol. i. p. 112. 
M. dc Bougainville has, with great learning and ability, treated the same subject. 
It appears that Hanno, according to the mode of ancient navigation, undertook 
this voyage in small vessels so constructed that he could keep close in with the 
coaot. He sailed from Gedes to the island of Cerne in twelve days. Tiiis is 
probably what is known to the moderns by the name of the Isle of Arguim. 
It became the chief station of the Carthaginians on that coast ; and M. de 
Bougainville contends, that the cisterns found there are monuments of the Car- 
thaginian power and ingenuitj'. Proceeding from Cernc, and still following 
the winding of the coast, he arrived in seventeen days, at a promontory which 
he called The West Horn, probably Cape Palmas. From this he advanced to 
another promontory, which he named The Soulh Horn, and which is manifestly 
Cape de Trcs Puntas, about five degrees north of the line. All the circumstances 
contained in the short abstract of his journal, which is handed down to us, con- 
cerning the appearance and state of the countries on the coast of Africa, arc 
confirmed and illustrated by a comparison with the accounts of modern naviga- 
tors. Even those circumstances which, from their seeming improbability, have 
been produced to invalidate the credibility of his relation, tend to confirm it. 
He observes, that in the country to the south of Cerne, a profound silence 
reigned through the day ; but during the night innumerable fires were kindled 
along the banks jf the rivers, and the air resounded with tho noiso cf pipes 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 449 

atid drums and cries of joy. The same thing, as Ramusio observes, still takea 
place. The excessive heat obliges the Negroes to take shelter in the woods, or 
in their houses, during the day. As soon as the sun sets, they sally out, and by 
torchlight enjoy the pleasure of music and dancing, in which they spend the 
night. Ramus, i. 113. F. In another place, he mentions the sea as burning 
with torrents of fire. What occurred to M. Adanson, on the same coast, may 
explain this : " As soon," says he, " as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, and 
night overspread the earth with darkness, the sea lent us its friendly light. 
While the prow of our vessel ploughed the foaming surges, it seemed to set them 
all on fire. Thus we sailed in a luminous inclosure, which surrounded us lite 
a large circle of rays, from whence darted in the wake of the ship a long stream 
of a light." Voy. to Senegal, p. 176. This appearance of the sea, observed by 
Hunter, has been mentioned as an argument against the authenticity of the 
Periplus. It is, however, a phenomenon very common in warm climates. Cap- 
tain Cook's second voyage, vol. i. p. 15. The Periplus of Hanno has been 
translated, and every point with respect to it has been illustrated with much 
learning and ingenuity, in a work published by Don Pedr. Rodrig. Campomanes, 
entitled, Antiguedad maritima de Cartago, con el Periplo desu General Hannon 
traducido e illustrado. Mad. 1756. ^to. 

Note [3]. Page 21 

Long after the navigation of the Phoenicians and of Eudoxus round Africa, 
Polybius, the most intelligent and best informed historian of antiquity, and par- 
ticularly distinguished by his attention to geographical researches, affirms, that 
it was not known, in histime, whether Africa was a continued continent stretching 
to the south, or whether it was encompassed by the sea. Polybii Hist. lib. iii. 
Pliny the naturalist asserts, that there can be no communication between the 
southern and northern temperate zones. Plinii Hist. Natur. edit, in usum. 
Delph. 4to. lib. ii. c. 68. If they had given full credit to the accounts of those 
voyages, the former could not have entertained such a doubt, the latter could 
not have delivered such an opinion. Strabo mentions the voyage of Eudoxus, 
but treats it as a fabulous tale, lib. ii. p. 155 ; and, according to his account of 
it, no other judgment can be formed with respect to it. Strabo seems not to 
have known any thing with certainty concerning the form and state of the 
southern parts of Africa. Geogr. lib. xvii. p. 1180. Ptolemy, the most inquisi- 
tive and learned of all the ancient geographers, was equally unacquainted with 
any parts of Africa situated a few degrees beyond the equinoctial line ; for he 
supposes that this great continent was not surrounded by the sea, but that it 
stretched, without interruption, towards the south pole ; and he so far mistakes 
its true figure that he describes the continent as becoming broader and broader 
as it advanced towards the south. Ptolemsei Geogr. lib. iv. c. 9. Brietii Parallela 
Geogr. veteris et novae, p. 86. 

Note [4]. Page 24. 

A FACT rocordcd by Strabo affords a very strong and singular proof of the 
ignorance of the ancients with respect to the situation of the various parts of 
the earth. When Alexander marched along the banks of the Hydaspes and 
Acesine, two of the rivers which fall into the Indus, he observed that there were 
many crocodiles in tliose rivers, and that the coujjtry produced beans of the 
same species with those which were common in Egypt. From these circum- 
stances he concluded that he had discovered the source of the Nile, and prepared 
a fleet to sail down the Hydaspes to Egypt. Strab. Geogr. lib. xv. p. 1020. 
This amazing error did not arise from any ignorance of geography peculiar to 
that monarch ; for we are informed by Strabo, that Alexander applied with 
particular attention in order to acquire the knowledge of this science, and had 
accurate maps or descriptions ol the countries through which he marched. Lib. 
ii. p. 120. But in his age the knowledge of the Greeks did not extend beyond 
the limits of the Mediterranean. 

Vol. I.-67 ^^ 



450 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Note [5]. Page 24. 

As the flux and reflux of the sea is remarkably great at the mouth of tn» 
river Indus, this would render the phenomenon more formidable to the Greeks. 
Varen Geogr. vol. i. p. 251, 

Note [6]. Page 25. 

It is probable that the ancients were seldom induced to advance so far as the 
mouth of the Ganges, either by motives of curiosity or views of commerciaJ 
advantage. In consequence of this, their idea concerning the position of that 
great river was very erroneous. Ptolemy places that branch of the Ganges, 
which he distinguishes by the name of tiie Great Mouth, in the hundred and 
forty-sixth degree of longitude from his first meridian in the Fortunate Islands. 
But its true longitude, computed from that meridian, is now determiiied, by 
astronomical observations, to ho only a hundred and five degrees. A geographer 
so eminent must have been betrayed into an error of this magnitude by the 
imperfection of the information which he had received concerning those distant 
regions; and this iflfords a striking proof^f the intercourse with them being 
extremely rare. With respect to the countries of India beyond the Ganges, 
his intelligence was still more defective, and his errors more enoimous. I shall 
have occasion to observe, in another place, that he has placed the country of 
the Seres, or China, no less than sixty degrees further east than its true position. 
M. d'AnviUe, one of the most learned and intelligent of the modern geographers, 
has set this matter in a clear light, in two dissertations published in Mem. de 
I'Academ. dcs Inscript. &c. torn, xxxii. p. 573. 604. 

Note [7]. Page 25. 

It is remarkable, tliat tlie discoverie;5 of the ancients were made chiefly by 
land; those of the moderns are carried on chiefly by sea. The progress of 
conquest led to the former, that of commerce to the latter. It is a judicious 
observation of Strabo, that the conquests of Alexander the Great made known 
the East, those of the Romans opened the West, and those of Mithndates King 
of Pontus the North. Lib. i. p. 26. When discovery is carried on by land 
alone, its progress must be slow and its operations confined. When it is carried 
on only by sea, its sphere may be more extensive, and its advances more rapid; 
but it labours under peculiar defects. Though it may make known the position 
of difljercnt countries, and ascertain their boundaries as far as these are deter- 
mined by the ocean, it leaves us in ignorance with respect to their interior state. 
Above two centuries and a half have elapsed since the Europeans sailed round 
the southern promontory of Africa, and have traded in most of its ports; but, 
in a considerable part of that great continent, they have done little more than 
survey its coasts, and mark its capes and harbours. Its interior regions are in a 
great measure unknown. The ancients, vvho had a very imperfect knowledge 
of its coasts, except where they are washed by the Mediterranean or Red Sea, 
were accustomed to penetrate into its inland provinces, and, if we may rely on 
the testimony of Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, had explored many parts of 
it now altogether unknown. Unless both modes of discovery be united, tho 
geographical knowledge of the earth must remain incomplete and inaccurate. 

Note [8]. Page 27. 

The notion of the ancients concerning such an excessive degree of heat in 
tho torrid zone as rendered it iniinhabitaiilc, and their persistiu;' in tliis error 
long after they began to have some commercial intercour:-e with several parts 
of India lying within the tropics, must appear so singular and absurd, that it 
may not be unacceptable to some of my readers to produce e\'idence of their 
holding this opinion, and to accountfor the apparent inconsistence of their theory 
with their experience. Cicero, who had bestowed attention upon every part 
of philosophy known to the ancients, seems to have believed that the torrid zone 
was uninhabitable, and, of consequence, that there could be no intercourse 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 451 

between the northern and southern temperate zones. He introduces Africanus 
thus addressing the younger Scipio: "You see this earth encompassed, and as 
it were bound in by certain zones, of which two, at the greatest distance from 
each other, and sustaining the opposite poles of heaven, are frozen with perpetual 
cold ; the middle one, and the largest of all, is burnt with the heat of the sun; 
two are habitable; the people in the southern one are antipodes to us, with 
whom we have no connection." Somnhtm Scipionis, c. 6. Geminus, a Greek 
philosopher, contemporary with Cicero, delivers the same doctrine, not in a 
popular work, but inhisE/cra^aoj^ u( ^-Jtvofxiva.^ a treatise purely scientific. "When 
we speak," says he, "of the southern temperate zone and its inhabitants, and 
concerning those who are called antipodes, it must be always understood, that 
we have nocertain knowledge or information concerning the southern temperate 
zone, whetlier it be inliabited or not. But from the spherical figure of the earth, 
and the course which the sun holds between the tropics, we conclude that there 
is another zone situated to the south, which enjoys the same degree of tempera- 
ture with the northern one which we inhabit." Cap. xiii. p. 31. ap. Petavii 
Opus de Doctr. Tempor. in quo Uranologium sive Systemata var, Auctorum, 
Amst. 1705. vol. 3. The opinion of Pliny the naturalist, with respect to both 
Jiese points, was the same : " There are five divisions of the earth, which arc 
sailed zones. All that portion which lies near to the two opposite poles is 
oppressed with vehement cold and eternal frost. There, unblessed with 
the aspect of milder stars, perpetual darkness reigns, or at the utmost, a 
feeble light reflected from surrounding snows. The middle of the earth, in 
which is the orbit of the sun, is scorched and burnt up with flames and fiery 
vapour. Between these torrid and frozen districts lie two other portions of 
the earth, which are temperate ; but, on account of the burning region inter- 
posed, there can be no communication between them. Thus Heaven has de- 
prived us of three parts of the earth." Lib. ii. c. 68. Strabo delivers his opinion 
to the same effect, in terms no less explicit: "The portion of the earth which 
lies near the equator, in the torrid zone, is rendered uninPiabitable by heat." 
Lib. ii. p. 154. To these I might add the authority of many jlher respectable 
philosophers and historians of antiquity. 

In order to explain the sense in which this doctrine was generally received, we 
may observe, that Parmenides, as we are informed by Strabo, was the first who 
divided the earth into five zones, and extended the limits of the zone which he 
supposed to be uninhabitable on account of heat beyond the tropics. Aristotle, 
as wc learn likewise from Strabo, fixed the boundaries of the different zones in 
the same manner as they are defined by modern geographers. But the progress 
of discovery having gradually demonstrated that several regions of the earth 
which lay within the tropics were not only habitable, but populous and fertile, 
this induced later geographers to circumscribe the limits of the torrid zone. It 
is not easy to ascertain with precision the boundaries which the}' allotted it. 
From a passage in Strabo, who, as far as I know, is the only author of antiquity 
from whom we receive any hint concerning this subject, I should conjecture, 
that those who calculated according to the measurement of the earth by Era- 
tosthenes, supposed the torrid zone to comprehend near sixteen degrees, about 
eight on each side of the equator; whereas such as followed the computation 
of Posidonius allotted about twenty-four degrees, or somewhat more than 
twelve degrees on each side of tlie equator to the torrid zone. Strabo, lib, ii. p. 
151. According to the former opinion, about two-thirds of that portion of tlie 
earth which lies between the tropics was considered as habitable ; according to 
the latter, about one-half of it. With this restriction, the doctrine of the 
ancients concerning the torrid zone appears less absurd ; and we can conceive 
the reason of their asserting this zone to be uninhabj; ible, even after they had 
opened a communication with several jilaces within the tropics. When men 
of science spoke of the torrid ionc, they considered it as it was limited by the • 
definition of geographers to sixteen, or at the utmofi to twentj'-four degrees; 
and as they knew almost nothing of the countries nearer to the equator, they 
might still suppose them to be uninhabitable. In loose and popular discourse, 
the name of the torrid zone continued to be given to all tiiat portion of the 
earth which lies within the tropics. Cicero seems to have been unacquainted 
with those ideas of the later geographers ; and, adhering to tho division of 



452 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Parmetiides, describes the torrid zone as the largest of the five. Some of the 
ancients rejected the notion concerning the intolerable heat of the torrid zone 
as a popular error. This we are told by Plutarch was the sentiment of Pythago- 
ras; and we learn from Strabo, that Eratosthenes and Polybius had adopted 
the same opinion, lib. ii. p. 154. Ptolemy seems to have paid no regard to the 
ancient doctrine and opinions concerning the torrid zone. 

Note [9]. Page 35. 

The court of Inquisition, which effectually checks a spirit of liberal inquiry, 
and of Uterary improvement, wherever it is established, was unknown in Por- 
tugal in the fifteenth century, when the people of that kingdom began their 
voyages of discovery. More than a century elapsed before it was introduced 
by John III., whose reign commenced A. D. 1521. 

Note [10]. Page 38. 

An instance of this is related by Hakluyt, upon the authority of the Portu 
guese historian Garcia de Resende. Some English merchants having resolved 
to open a trade with the coast of Guinea, John II. of Portugal despatched 
ambassadors to Edward IV., in order to lay before him the right which he had 
acquired by the Pope's bull to the dominion of that country, and to request of 
him to prohibit his subjects to prosecute their intended voyage. Edward was 
so much satisfied with the exclusive title of the Portuguese, that he issued his 
orders in the terms which they desired. Hakluyt, Navigations, Voyages, and 
Traffics of the English, vol. ii. part ii. p. 2. 

Note [11]. Page 42. 

The time of Columbus's death may be nearly ascertained by the followmg 
circumstances. It appears from the fragment of a letter addressed by him to 
Ferdinand and Isabella, A. D. 1501, that he had at that time been engaged forty 
years in a seafaring life. In another letter he informs them that he went to 
sea at the age of fourteen : from those facts it follows, that he was born A. D. 
1447. Life of Christa. Columbus, by his son Don Ferdinand. Churchill's 
Collection of Voyages, vol. ii. p. 484, 485. 

Note [12]. Page 44. 

The spherical figure of the earth was known to tlie ancient geographers. 
They invented the method, still in use, of computing the longitude and latitude 
of different places. According to their doctrine, the equator, or imaginary line 
which encompasses the earth, contained three hundred and sixty degrees ; these 
they divided into twenty-four parts, or hours, each equal to fifteen degrees. 
The country of the Seres or Sina, being the furthest part of India known to 
the ancients, was supposed by Marinus Tyrius, the most eminent of tlie ancient 
geographers before Ptolemy, to be fifteen hours, or two hundred and twenty- 
five degrees to the cast of the first meridian, passing through the Fortunate 
Islands. Ptolema;i Geogr. lib. i. c. 11. If this supposition was well founded, 
the country of the Seres, or Clrina, was only nine hours, or one hundred and 
thirty-five degrees west from the Fortunate or Canary Islands ; and the navi- 
gation in that direction was much shorter than by the course which the Portu- 
guese were pursuing. Marco Polo, in his travels, had described countries, 
particularly the island of Cipango or Zipangri, supposed to be Japan, con- 
siderably to the east of any part of Asia known to the ancients. Mr^rcus Paulus 
de Region. Oriental, lib. ii. c. 70. lib. iii. c. 2. Of course, this comatry, as it 
extended further to the east, was still nearer to the Canary Islands. The con- 
clusions of Columbus, though drawn from inaccurate observations, were just. 
If the suppositions of Marinus had been well founded, and if the countries 
which Marco Polo visited, had been situated to the east of those whose longitude 
Marinus had ascertained, the proper and nearest course to the East Indies must 
have been to steer directly west. Herrera, dec. I. lib. i. c. 2. A more extensive 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 453 

knowledge of the globe has now discovered the great error of Marinas, in 
supposing China to be fifteen hours, or two hundred and twenty-five degrees 
east from the Canary Islands; and that even Ptolemy was mistaken, when he 
reduced the longitude of China to twelve hours, or one hundred and eighty degrees. 
The longitude of the western frontier of that vast empire is seven hours, or one 
himdred and fifteen degrees from the meridian of the Canary Islands. But 
Columbus followed the hght which his age afforded, and reUed upon the 
authority of writers, who were at that time regarded as the instructers and 
guides of mankind in the science of geography. 

Note [13]. Page 53. 

As the Portuguese, in making their discoveries, did not depart far from the 
coast of Africa, they concluded that birds, whose flight they observed with 
great attention, did not venture to any considerable distance from land. In 
the infancy of navigation it was not known that birds often stretched their flight 
to an immense distance from any shore. In sailing towards the West Indian 
Islands, birds are often seen at the distance of two hundred leagues from the 
nearest coast. Sloane's Nat. Hist, of Jamaica, vol. i. p. 30. Catesby saw an 
owl at sea when the ship was six hundred leagues distant from land. Nat. 
Hist, of Carolina, pref. p. 7. Hist. Naturelle de M. Buffon, tom. xvi. p. 32. 
From which it appears, that this indication of land, on which Columbus seems 
to have rehed with some confidence, was extremely uncertain. This observa- 
tion is confirmed by Capt. Cook, the most extensive and experienced navigator 
of any age or nation. "No one yet knows (says he) to what distance any of 
the oceanic birds go to sea; for my own part, I do not believe that there is one 
in the whole tribe that can be relied on in pointing out the vicinity of land." 
Voyage towards the South Pole, vol. i. p. 275. 

Note [14]. Page 58. 

In a letter of the Admiral's to Ferdinand and Isabella, he describes one of 
the harbours in Cuba with all the enthusiastic admiration of a discoverer. — "I 
discovered a river which a galley might easily enter : the beauty of it induced 
ine to sound, and I found from five to eight fathoms of water. Having pro- 
ceeded a considerable way up the river, every thing invited me to settle there. 
The beauty of the river, the clearness of the water through which I could see 
the sandy bottom, the multitude of palm trees of different kinds, the tallest 
and finest I had seen, and an infinite number of other arge and flourishing trees, 
the birds, and the verdure of tlie plains are so wonderfully beautiful, that this 
country excels all others as far as the day surpasses the night in brightness and 
splendour, so that I often said, that it would be in vain for me to attempt to 
give your Highnesses a full account of it, for neither my tongue nor my pen 
could come up to the truth ; and indeed I am so much amazed at the sight of 
such beauty, that I know not how to describe it." Life of Columb. c. 30 

Note [15]. Page 59. 

The account which Columbus gives of the humanity and orderly behaviour 
of the natives on this occasion is very striking. " The king (says he in a letter 
to Ferdinand and Isabella) having been informed of our misfortune, expressed 
great grief for our loss, and immediately sent aboard all the people in the place 
in many large canoes ; we soon unloaded the ship of every thing that was upon 
deck, as the king gave us great assistance : he himself, with his brothers and 
relations, took all possible care that every thing should be properly done, both 
aboard and on shore. And, from time to time, he sent some of his relations 
weeping, to beg of me not to be dejected, for he would give me all that he had. 
I can assure your Highnesses, that so much care could not have been taken in 
securing our effects in any part of Spain, as all our property was put together 
in one place near his palace, until the houses which he wanted to prepare for 
the custody of it were emptied. He immediately placed a guard of armed men, 
who watched during the whole night, and those on shoro lamented as if they 



454 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

had been much interested in our loss. 'Die people are so affectionate, so tractablOf 
Uid so peaceable, tliat 1 swear to your HigJinesscs, that there is not a better race 
of men, nor a better country in the world. They love their neighbour as them- 
selves ; their conversation is tlie sweetest and mildest in the world, cheerful and 
always accompanied with a smile. And althoug^h it is true that they go naked, 
yet your flighnesses may be assured that they have many very commendable 
customs ; the king is served with great state, and his behaviour is so decent that 
it is pleasant to see him, as it is likewise to observe the wonderful memory 
which these people have, and their desire of knowing every thing, which leads 
them to inquire into its causes and effects." Life of Columbus, c. 32. It is 
probable that the Spaniards were indebted for this officious attention to the 
opinion which the Indians entertained of them as a superior order of beings. 

Note [16]. Page 62. 

Every monument of such a man as Columbus is valuable, A letter wluch 
he wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella, describing what passed on this occasion, 
exhibits a most striking picture of his intrepidity, his humanity, his prudence, 
his public spirit, and courtly address. " I would have been less concerned for 
this misfortune had I alu)ie been in danger, both because my life is a debt that 
I owe to the Supreme Creator, and because I have at other times been exposed 
to the most imminent hazard. But what gave me infinite grief and vexation 
was, that after it had pleased our Lord to give me faith to undertake this enter- 
prise, in which I had now been so successful, thai my opponents would have 
been convinced, and the glory of your Highnesses, and the extent of your ter- 
ritory, increased by me ; it should please the Divine Majesty to stop all by my 
death. All this would have been more tolerable had it not been attended with 
the loss of those men whom I had carried with me, upon promise of the greatest 
prosperity, who, seeing themselves in such distress, cursed not only their 
coming along with me, but tiiat fear and awe of me which i)revented them 
from returning, as they often had resolved to have done. But besides all this, 
niy sorrow was greatly increased by recoKecting that I had left my two sons at 
school at Cordova, destitute of friends, in a foreign country, when it could not 
in all probability bo known that I had done such Ksrvices as might induce Your 
Highnesses to remember them. And thougli I comforted myself with the laith 
that our Lord would not permit that which tended so much to the glory of his 
Church, and which I liad brought about with so much trouble, to remain im- 
perfect, yet I considered, that, on account of my sins, it was his will to deprive 
me of that glory which I might have attained in this world. Wliile in this 
confused state, 1 thought on the good fortune which accompanies Your High- 
nesses, and imagined that although I should perish, and the vessel be lost, it 
was possible that you might somehow come to the knowledge of my voyage, 
and the success ^^il,n which it was attended. For that reason I wrote upon 
parchment with tue brevity which the situation required, that I had discovered 
tlie lands which I promised, in how many days I had done it, and what course 
I liad followed. I mentioned the goodness of the country, the character of the 
inhabitants, and that Your Highnesses' subjects were left in possession of all 
that I had discovered. Having sealed this writing, I addressed it to Your 
Highnesses, and promised a thousand ducats to any person who should deliver 
it sealed, so that if any foreigner found it, the promised reward might prevail 
on them not to give the information to another. I then caused a great cask to 
be brought to me, and wrapping up the parchment in an oiled cloth, and after- 
wards in a cake of wax, I put it into the cask, and having stopped it well, I 
cast it into the sea. All the men believed that it was some act of devotion. 
Imagining that this might never chance to be taken up, as the ships approached 
nearer to Spain, I made another packet like the first, and placed it at the top 
of the poop, so that, if the ship sunk, the cask remaining above water might 
be committed to the guidance of fortune." 

Note [17]. Page G4. 

Some Spanish authors, with tlie meanness of national jealousy, have endea- 
voured to detract from the glory of Columbua, by insinuating that he was led 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 456 

vo Ihe discovery of the New World, not by his own inventive or enterprising 
genius, but by information which he had received. According to tlieir ac- 
count a vessel having been driven from its course by easterly winds, was 
carried before them far to the west, and landed on the coast of an unknown 
country, from which it returned with dilficulty ; the pilot and three sailors 
being the only persons v/ho survived tJie distresses which the crow sutiered 
from want of provisions and fatigue in this long voyage. In a few days after 
their arrival, all the four died ; but the pilot having been received into the house 
of Columbus, liis intimate friend disclosed to him before his death, the secret 
of the discovery which he had accidentally made, and left him his papers con- 
taining a journal of the voyage, which served as a guide to Columbus in his 
undertaking. Gomara, as far as I know, is the first author who published this 
story. Hist. c. 13. Every circumstance is destitute of evidence to support it. 
Neither the name of the vessel nor its destination is known. Some pretend 
that it belonged to one of the seaport towns in Andalusia, and was sailing 
either to tltc Canaries or to Madeira ; others, that it was a Biscayner in its way 
to England ; others, a Portuguese ship trading on the coast of Guinea. The 
name of the pilot is alike unknown, as well as that of the port in which he 
landed on his return. According to some, it was in Portugal; according to 
others, in Madeira, or the Azores. The year in which this voyage was made is 
no less uncertain. Monson's Nav. Tracts. Churchill, iii. 371. No mention is 
made of this pilot, or his discoveries, by And. Bernaldes, or Pet. Martyr, the 
contemporaries of Columbus. Herrera, with his usual judgment, passes over 
it in silence. Oviedo takes notice of this report, but considers it as a tale fit 
only to amuse the vulgar. Hist. lib. ii. c. 2. As Columbus held his course 
directly west from the Canaries, and never varied it, some later authors have 
supposed that this uniformity is a proof of his being guided by some previous 
information. But thcj' do not recollect the piinciples on which he founded all 
his hopes of success, that by holding a westerly course he mast certainly arrive 
at those regions of the east described by the ancients. His finn belief of his 
own system led him to take that course, and to pursue it without deviation. 

The Spaniards are not the only people who have called in question Columbus's 
claim to the honour of having discovered America. Some German authors 
ascribed this honour to Martui Behaim their countryman. He was of the noblo 
family of the Behaims of Schvvartzbach, citizens of the fi-rst rank in the imperial 
town of Nuremberg. Having studied under the celebrated John Muller, better 
known by the name of Regiomontanus, he acquired such knowledge of cos- 
mography as excited a desire of exploring those regions, the situation and 
qualities of which he had been accustomed, under that able master, to investi- 
gate and describe. Under the patronage of the Dutchess of Burgundy he re- 
paired to Lisbon, whither the fame of the Portuguese discoveries invited all 
the adventurous spirits of the age. There, as we learn from Herman Schedel, 
of whose Chronicon Mnndi, a German translation was printed at Nuremberg, 
A. D. 1493, his merit as a cosmographer raised him, in conjunction with 
Diego Cano, to the command of a squadron fitted out for discovery in the year 
1483. In that voyage he is said to have discovered the kingdom of Congo. 
He settled in the island of Fayal, one of the Azores, and was a particular friend 
of Columbus. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. i. c. 2. Magellan had a terrestrial globe 
made by Behaim, on which he demonstrated the course tliat he proposed to 
hold in search of the communication with the South Sea, which he afterwards 
discovered. Gomara Hist. c. 19. Herrera, dec. 11. lib. ii. c. 19. In the year 
1492, Behaim visited his relations in Nuremberg, and left with them a map 
drawn with his own hand, which is still preserved among the archives of the 
family. Thus far the story of Martin Behaim seems to be well authenticated ; 
but the account of his having discovered any part of the New World appear* 
to be merely conjectural. 

In the first edition, as I had at that time hardly any knowledge of Behaiin 
but what I derived from a frivolous dissertation ' De vero Novi Orbis Inven- 
tore,' published at Frankfort, A. D. 1714, by .lo. Frid. Stuvenius, I was induced, 
by the authority of Herrera, to suppose that Behaim was not a native of Ger- 
many ; but from more full a id accurate information, communicated to me by 
the learned Dr. John Rcinhold Forster. I am now satisfied that I was mistaken. 



4j»6 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Dr. Forster has been likewise so good as to favour me with a copy of Bchaim's 
map, as published by Doppelmayer in his account of the Mathematicians and 
Artists of Nuremberg. From this map the imperfection of cosmographical 
knowledge at that period is manifest. Hardly one place is laid down in its 
true situation. Nor can I discover from it any reason to suppose that Behaim 
had the least knowledge of any region in America. He delineates, indeed, an 
island to which he gives the name of St. Brandon. This, it is imagined, may 
be some part of Guiana, supposed at first to be an island. He places it in the 
eamc latitude with the Cape Verd isles, and 1 suspect it to be an imaginary 
island which has been admitted into some ancient maps on no better authority 
than the legend of the Irish St. Brandon or Brendan, whose story is so childishly 
fabulous as to be unworthy of any notice. Girald. Cambrcnsis ap. Missingham 
Florilegium Sanctorum, p. 427. 

The pretensions of the Welsh to the discovery of America seem not to rest 
on a foundation much more solid. In the twelflli century, according to Powell, 
a dispute having arisen among the sons of Owen Guyneth, King of North 
Wales, concerning the succession to his crown, Madoc, one of their number, 
weary of this contention, betook himself to sea in quest of a more quiet settle- 
ment. He steered due west, leaving Ireland to the north, and arrived in an 
unknown country, which appeared to him so desirable, that he returned to 
Wales and carried thither several of liis adherents and companions. This is 
said to have happened about the year 1170, and after that, he and his colony 
were heard of no more. But it is to be observed, that Powell, on whose tes- 
timony the authenticity of this story rests, published his history above four 
centuries from the date of the event which he relates. Among a people as 
rude and as illiterate as the Welsh at that period, the memory of a transaction 
so remote must have been very imperfectly preserved, and would require to be 
confirmed by some author of greater credit, and nearer to the era of Madoc 's 
voyage than Powell. Later antiquaries have indeed appealed to the testimony 
of Meredith ap Rees, a Welsh bard, who died A. D. 1477. But he too lived at 
such a distance of time from the event, that he cannot be considered as a wit- 
ness of much more credit than Powell. Besides, his verses, published byHakluyt, 
vol. iii. p. 1., convey no information, but that Madoc, dissatisfied with his 
domestic situation, employed himself in searching the ocean for new possessions. 
But even if we admit the authenticity of Pov/cll's story, it does not follow that 
the unknown country which Madoc discovered by steering west, in such a 
course as to leave Ireland to the north, was any part of America. The naval 
skill of the Welsli in the twelfth century was hardly equal to such a voyage. 
If he made any discovery at all, it is more probable that it was Madeira, or 
some other of the western isles. The affinity of the Welsh language with some 
dialects spoken in America,has been mentioned as a circumstance which confirms 
the truth of Madoc's voyage. But that affinity has been observed in so few in- 
stances, and in some of these is so obscure, or so fanciful, that no conclusion 
can be drawn from the casual resemblance of a small number of words. There 
is a bird, which, as far as is yet known, is found only on the coasts of South 
America, from Port Desire to the Straits of Magellan. It is distinguished 
by the name of Penguin. This word in the Welsli language signifies JVhitc- 
head. Almost all the authors who favour the pretensions of the Welsh to the 
discovery of America, mention this as an irrefragable proof of the affinity of 
the Welsh language with that spoken in this region of America. But Mr. 
Pennant, who has given a scientific description of the Penguin, observes that 
all the birds of this genus have black heads, " so that we must resign every 
hope (adds he) founded on this hypothesis of retrieving the Cambrian race in 
the New World." Philos. Transact, vol. Iviii. p. 91, &c. Besides this, if the 
Welsh, towards the close of the twelfth century, had settled in any part o^ 
America, some remains of the Christian doctrine and rites must have been 
found among their descendants, when they were discovered about three hundred 
j'ears posterior to their migration ; a period so short that, in the course of it, 
we cannot well suppose that all European ideas and arts would be totally for- 
gotten. Lord Lyttleton, in his notes to the fifth book of his History of Henry 
II., p. 371, has examined what Powell relates concerning the discoveries madeby 
Madoc,and invalidates the truth of his story by other arguments of great weight 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 457 

The pretensions of the Norwegians to the discovery of America seem to Lo 
better founded than those of the Germans or Welsh. The inliabitants of 
Scandinavia were remarkable in the middle ages for the boldness and extent 
of their maritime excursions. In 874, the Norwegians discovered and planted 
a colony in Iceland. In 982, they discovered Greenland, and established settle- 
ments there. From that, some of their navigators proceeded towards tJie 
west, and discovered a country more inviting than those horrid regions with 
which they were acquainted. According to their representation, this country 
was sandy on the coasts, but in the interior parts level and covered with wood, 
on which account they gave it the name of Helle-land, and Mark-land, and 
having afterwards found some plants of the vine which bore grapes, they called 
it Win-land. The credit of this story rests, as far as I know, on the authority 
of the saga, or chronicle of King Olaus, composed by Snorro Sturlonides, or 
Sturlttsons, published by Perinskiold, at Stockholm, A. D. 1697. As Snorro 
was born in the year 1179, his chronicle might be compiled about two centuries 
after the event which he relates. His account of the navigation and discoveries 
of Biorn, and his companion Lief, is a very rude confused tale, p. 104. 110. 
326. It is impossible to discover from him what part of America it was in 
which the Norwegians landed. According to his account of the length of the 
days and nights, it must have been as far north as the fifty-eighth degree of 
latitude, on some part of the coast of Labradore, approaching near to the entry 
of Hudson's Straits. Grapes certainly are not the production of th^t country. 
Torfeus supposes that there is an error in the text, by rectifying of which the 
place where the Norwegians landed may be supposed to be situated in latitude 
49°. But neither is that the region of the vine in America. From perusing 
Snorro 's tale, I should think that the situation of Newfoundland corresponds 
best with that of the country discovered by the Norwegians. Grapes, however, 
are not the production of that barren island. Other conjectures are mentioned 
by M. Mallet, Introd. k I'Hist. de Dannem, 175, &c. I am not sufficiently ac- 
quainted with the literature of the north to examine them. It seems manifest, 
that if the Norwegians did discover any part of America at that period, their 
attempt to plant colonies proved unsuccessful, and all knowledge of it was 
soon lost. 

Note [18]. Page 64. 

Peter Martyr, ab Angleria, a Milanese gentleman, residing at that time in 
the court of Spain, whose letters contain an account of the transactions of 
that period, in the order wherein they occurred, describes the sentiments with 
which he himself and his learned correspondents were affected in very striking 
terms. " Prse Icetitia prosiluisse te, vixque a lachrymis pree gaudio temperasse, 
quando literas adspexisti meas quibus, de antipodum orbe latenti hactenus, te 
certiorem feci, mi suavissime Pomponi, insinuasti. Ex tuis ipse literis coUigo, 
quid senseris. Sensisti autem, tantique rem fecisti, quanti virum summa doc- 
trina insignitum decuit. Quis namque cibvis sublimibus prsBstari potest ingeniis, 
isto suavior? quod condimentum gratius .'' A me facio conjecturam. Beati 
sentio spiritus meos, quando accitos alloquor prudentes aliquos ex his qui ab ea 
redeunt provincia. Implicent animos pecuniarum cumulis augendis miseri 
avari, libidinibus obscoeni ; nostras nos mentes, postquam Deo pleni aliquando 
fuerimus, contemplando, hujuscemodi rerum notitia demulciamus." Epist. 152, 
Pomponio Laeto. 

Note [19]. Page 69. 

So firmly were men of science, in that age, persuaded that the countries 
which Columbus had discovered were connected with the East Indies, that Be- 
naldes, the Cura de los Palacios, who seems to have been no inconsiderable 

firoficient in the knowledge of cosmography, contends that Cuba was not an 
sland, but a part of the continent, and united to the dominions of the Great 
Khan. This he delivered as his opinion to Columbus himself, who was his 
guest for some time on his return from his second voyage ; and he supports it 
by several arguments, mostly founded on the authority of Sir Jolm Mandevillc. 
Vol. I.— 58 



458 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

MS. penes me. Antonio Gallo, who was secretary to the magistracy of Genoa 
towards the close of the fifteenth century, published a short account of the 
navigations and discoveries of his countryman Columbus, annexed to his 
Opuscula Ilistorica de Rebus Populi Genuensis: in which he informs us, from 
letters of Columbus which he hunself had seen, that it was his opinion, founded 
upon nautical observations, that one of the islands he had discovered was dis- 
tant only two hours or thirty degrees from Cattigara, which, in the charts of the 
geographers of that age, was laid down, upon the authority of Ptolemy, lib. 
vii. c. 3, as the most easterly place in Asia. From this he concluded, that if 
some unknown continent did not obstruct the navigation, there must be a short 
and easy access, by holding a westerlj' course, to this extreme region of the 
East. Muratori Scriptores Rer. Italicarum, vol. xxiii. p. 304. 

Note [20]. Page 71. 

Bernalues, the Cura or Rector de los Palacios, a contemporary writer, says, 
that five hundred of these captives were sent to Spain, and sold publicly in 
Seville as slaves ; but that, by the change of climate and their inability to 
bear the fatiguo of labour, they all died in a short time. MS. penes me. 

■ Note [21]. Page 76. 

Colu.nbus seems to have formed some very singular opinions concerning tne 
countries which he had now discovered. The violent swell and agitation of 
the waters on the coast of Trinidad led him to conclude this to be the highest 
part of the terraqueous globe, and he imagined that various circumstances 
concurred in proving that the sea was here visibly elevated. Having adopted 
this erroneous principle, the apparent beauty of the country induced him to 
fall in with a notion of Sir John Mandeville, c. 102, that the terrestrial paradise 
was the highest land in the earth ; and he believed that he had been so fortunate 
as to discover this happy abode. Nor ought we to think it strange that a person 
of so much sagacity should be influenced by the opinion or reports of such a 
fabulous author as Mandeville. Columbus and the other discoverers were 
obliged to follow such guides as they could find ; and it appears from several 
passages in the manuscript of Andr. Bernaldes, the friend of Columbus, that 
no inconsiderable degree of credit was given to the testimony of Mandeville in 
that age. Bernaldes frequently quotes him, and always with respect. 

Note [22]. Page 81. 

It is remarkable that neither Gomara nor Oviedo, the most ancient Spanish 
historians of America, nor Herrera, consider Ojeda, or his companion V'espucci, 
as the first discoverers of the continent of America. They uniformly ascribe 
this honour to Columbus. Some have supposed that national resentment 
against Vespucci, for deserting the service of Spain, and entering into that of 
Portugal, may have prompted these writers to conceal the actions which he 
performed. But Martyr and Benzoni, both Italians, could not be warped by 
the same prejudice. Martyr was a contemporary author; he resided in the 
court of Spain, and had the best opportunity to be exactly informed with respect 
to all public transactions ; and yet neither in his Dccads, the first general history 
published of the New World, nor in his Epistles, which contain an account of 
all the remarkable events of his time, does he ascribe to Vespucci the honour 
of having first discovered the continent. Eenzoni went as an adventurer to 
A.merica in the year 1541, and resided there a considerable time. He appears 
to have been animated with a warm zeal for the honour of Italy, his native 
country, and yet does not mention the exploits and discoveries of Vespucci. 
Herrera, who compiled his general history of America from the most authentic 
records, not only follows those early writers, but accuses Vespucci of falsifying 
the dates of both the voyages, which he made to the New World, and of con- 
founding the one with the other, in order that he might arrogate to himself the 
glory of having discovered the continent. Her. dec. 1. lib. iv. c. 2. He asserts, 
that ill a judicial inquiry into this matter by the royal fiscal, it was proved by 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 459 

tho testimony of Ojcda himself, tiial he touched at Hispaniola when returning' 
to Spain from his first voyage; whereas Vespucci gave out that they relumed 
directly to Cadiz from the coast of Paria, and touched at Hispaniola only in 
their second voyage ; and that he had finished the voyage- in five niontlis ; 
whereas, accordmg to Vespucci's account, he had employed seventeen months 
in performing it. Viaggio primo do Am. Vespucci, p. 36. Viag. secundo, p. 45. 
Herrera gives a more full account of this inquest in another pa/t of his Decads, 
and to the same effect. Her. dec. 1. lib. vii. c. 3. Columbus was in Hispaniola 
when Ojeda arrived there, and had by that time come to an agreement with 
Roldan, who opposed Ojeda's attempt to excite a new insurrection, and, of 
consequence, his voyage must have been posterior to that of the admiral. 
Life of Columbus, c. 84. According to Vespucci's account, he set out on his 
first voyage May 10th, 1497. Viag. primo, p. 6. At that time Columbus 
was in the court of Spain preparing for his voyage, and seems to have en- 
joyed a considerabla degree of favour. The affairs of the New World v;ere 
at this juncture under the direction of Antonio Torres, a friend of Columbus. 
It is not probable that, at that period, a commission would be granted to another 
person to anticipate the admiral by undertaking a voyage which he himself 
intended to perform. Fonseca, who patronized Ojeda, and granted the license 
for his voyage, was not recalled to court, and reinstated in the direction of 
Indian affairs, until the death of Prince John, which happened September, 1497, 
(P. Martyr, Ep. 182,) several months posterior to the time at which Vespucci 
pretends to have set out upon his voyage. A life of Vespucci was published 
at Florence by the Abate Bandini, A. D. 1745, 4to. It is a work of no merit, 
written with little judgment, and less candour. He contends for his country- 
man's title to the discovery of the continent with all the blind zeal of national 
partiality, but produces no new evidence to support it. Wo learn from hiip 
that Vespucci's account of his voyage was published as early as the year 1510, 
and probably sooner. Vita di y^m. Vesp. p. 52. At what time the name of 
America came to be first given to the New World is not certain. 

Note [23]. Page 99. 

The form employed on this occasion served as a model to the Spaniards in 
all their subsequent conquests m America. It is so extraordinary in its nature, and 
gives us such an idea of the proceedings of the Spaniards, and the principles upon 
which they founded their right to the extensive dominions which they acquired 
in the New World, that it well merits the attention of the reader. " I Alonso de 
Ojeda, servant of the most high and powerful kings of Castile and Leon, the 
conquerors of barbarous nations, their messenger and captain, notify to you, and 
declare in as ample form as I am capable, that God our Lord, who is one and 
eternal, created the heaven and the earth, and one man and one woman, of 
whom 3'ou and we, and all the men who have been or shall be in the world, 
are descended. But as it has come to pass through the number of generation*! 
during more than five thousand years, that they have been dispersed into 
diflerent parts of the world, and are divided into various kingdoms and pro- 
vinces, because one country was not able to contain them, nor could they have 
found in one the means of subsistence and preservation : therefore God our 
Lord gave the charge of all those ])cople to one man named St. Peter, whom 
he constituted the lord and head of all the human race, that all men, in what- 
ever place they are born, or in whatever faith or place they are educated, might 
yield obedience unto him. He hath subjected the whole world -to his jurisdic- 
tion, and commanded him to establish his residence in Rome, as the most 
proper place for the government of the world. He likewise promised and gave 
him power to establish his authority in every other part of the world, and to 
judge and govern all Christians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and all other people 
of whatever sect or faith they may be. To him is given the name of Pope, 
which signifies admirable, great father and guardian, because he is the father 
and governor of all men. Those who lived in the time of this holy father 
obeyed and acknowledged him as their Lord and King, and the superior of the 
aniverse. The same has been observed with respect to them who, since his 



460 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

time, have been chosen to the pontificate. Thus it now continues, and will 
continue to the end of the world. 

" One of these Pontiffs, as lord of the world, hath made a grant of these 
islands, and of the Tierra Firme of the ocean sea, to the Catholic Kings of 
Castile, Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, of glorious memory, and their 
successors, our sovereigns, with all they contain, as is more fully expressed in 
certain deeds passed upon that occasion, which you may see if you desire it. 
Thus His Majesty is King and lord of these islands, and of the continent, in 
virtue of this donation ; and, as King and lord aforesaid, most of the islands 
to which his title hath been notified, have recognised His Majesty, and now 
yield obedience and subjection to him as their lord, voluntarily and without 
resistance ; and instantly, as soon as they received information, they obeyed 
the religious men sent by the King to preach to them, and to instruct them in 
our holy faith ; and all these, of their own free will, without any recompense 
or gratuity, became Christians, and continue to be so ; and His Majesty having 
received them graciously under his protection, has commanded that they should 
be treated in the same manner as his other subjects and vassals. You are 
bound and obliged to act in the same manner. Therefore I now entreat and 
require you to consider attentively what I have declared to you ; and that you 
may more perfectly comprehend it, that you take such time as is reasonable in 
order that you may acknowledge the Church as the superior and guide of the 
universe, and likewise the holy fatlier called the Pope, in his own right, and 
his Majesty, by his appointment, as King and sovereign lord of these Islands, 
and of the Tierra Firme ; and that you consent that the aforesaid holy fathers 
shall declare and preach to you the doctrines above mentioned. If you do this, 
you act well, and perform that to which you are bound and obliged ; and His 
Majesty, and I in his name, will receive you with love and kindness, and will 
leave you, your wives and children, free and exempt from servitude, and in 
the enjoyment of all you possess, in the same manner as the inhabitants of 
tlie islands. Besides this, His Majesty will bestow upon you many privileges, 
exemptions, and rewards. But if you will not comply, or maliciously delay to 
obey my injunction, then, with the help of God, I will enter your country by 
force, I will carry on war against you with the utmost violence, I will subject 
you to the yoke of obedience to the Church and King, I will take your wives 
and children, and will make them slaves, and sell or dispose of them according 
to His Majesty's pleasure ; I will seize your goods, and do you all the mischief 
in my power, as rebellious subjects, who will not acknowledge or submit to 
their lawful sovereign. And I protest, that all the bloodshed and calamities 
which shall follow are to be imputed to you, and not to His Majesty, or to me, 
or the gentlemen who serve under me ; and as I have now made this declara- 
tion and requisition unto you, I require the notary here present to grant me a 
certificate of this, subscribed in proper form." Herrera, dec. 1. lib. vii. c. 14. 

Note [24]. Page 105. 

Balboa, in his letter to the king, observes that of the hundred and ninety 
men whom he took with him, there were never above eighty fit for service at 
one time. So much did they suffer from hunger, fatigue, and sickness. Her- 
rera, dec. 1. lib. X. c. 16. P. Mart, decad. 226. 

Note [25]. Paoe 110. 

FoNSECA, Bishop of Palencia, the principal director of American Affairs, had 
eight hundred Indians in property ; the commendator Lope de Conchillos, his 
chief associate in that department, eleven hundred ; and other favourites had 
considerable numbers. They sent overseers to the islands, and Iiired but those 
slaves to the planters. Herrera, dec. 1. lib. ix. c. 14. p. 325. 

Note [26]. Page 119. 

Thodgh America is more plentifully supplied with water than tho other 
regions of the globe, there is no river or stream of water in Yucatan. This 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 461 

peninsula projects from the continent a hundred leagues, but, where broadest, 
does not extend above twenty-five leagues. It is an extensive plain, not only 
without mountains, but almost witliout any inequality of ground. The in- 
habitants are supplied with water from pits, and, wherever they dig them, find 
it in abundance. It is probable, from all those circumstances, that this country 
was formerly covered by the sea. Herreraj Descriptio Indise Occidentalis, p. 
14. Histoire Naturelle, par M. de Buffon, torn, i, p. 593. 

Note [27]. Page 120. 

M. Clavigero censures me for having represented the Spaniards who sailed 
with Cordova and Grijalva, as fancying in the warmth of their imagination, 
that they saw cities on the coast of Yucatan adorned with towers and cupolas. 
I know not what translation of my history he has consulted (for his quotation 
from it is not taken from the original), but I never imagined that any building 
erected by Americans could suggest the idea of a cupola or dome, a structure 
which their utmost skill in architecture was incapable of rearing. My words 
are, that they fancied the villages which they saw from their ships " to be 
cities adorned with towers and pinnacles." By pinnacles I meant some eleva- 
tion above the rest of the building ; and the passage is translated almost 
literally from Herrera, dec. 2. lib. iii. c. 1. In almost all the accounts of new 
countries given by the Spanish discoverers in that age, this warmth of admira- 
tion is conspicuous ; and led them to describe these new objects in the most 
splendid terms. When Cordova and his companions first beheld an Indian 
village of greater magnitude than any they had beheld in the islands, they dig- 
nified it by the name of Grand Cairo. B. Diaz, c. 2. From the same cause 
Grijalva and his associates thought the country, along the coast of which they 
held their course, entitled to the name of New Spain. 

Note [28]. Page 123. 

The height of the most elevated point in the Pyrenees is, according to M. 
Cassini, six thousand six hundred and forty-six feet. The height of the moun- 
tain Gemmi, in the canton of Berne, is ten thousand one hundred and ten feet. 
The height of the Peak of Teneriffe, according to the measurement of P. 
Feuill^, is thirteen thousand one hundred and seventy-eight feet. The height 
of Chimborazo, the most elevated point of the Andes, is twenty thousand 
two hundred and eighty feet ; no less than seven thousand one hundred and 
two feet above the highest mountain in the ancient continent. Voyage de D. 
Juan Ulloa, Observations Astron. et Physiq. torn. ii. p. 1 14. The line of con- 
gelation on Chimborazo, or that part of the mountain which is covered per- 
petually with snow, is no less than two thousand four hundred feet from its 
summit. Prevot Hist. G6n6r. des Voyages, vol. xiii. p. 636. 

Note [29]. Page 123. 

As a particular description makes a stronger impression than general asser- 
tions, I shall give one of Rio de la Plata by an eye-witness, P. Cattanco, a 
Modenese Jesuit, who landed at Buenos Ayres in 1749, and thus represents 
what he felt when such new objects were first presented to his view. " While 
I resided in Europe, and read in books of history or geography, that the mouth 
of the river de la Plata was a hundred and fifty miles in breadth, I considered 
it as an exaggeration, because in this hemisphere we have no example of such 
vast rivers. When I approached its mouth, I had the most vehement desire to 
ascertain the truth with my own eyes ; and I found the matter to bo exactly as 
it was represented. This I deduce particularly from one circumstance : When 
we took our departure from Monte Video, a fort situated more than a hundred 
miles from the mouth of the river, and where its breadth is considerably di- 
minished, we sailed a complete day before we discovered the land on the op 
posite bank of the river ; and when we were in the middle of the channel, we 
could not discern land on either side, and saw nothing but the sky and water as 
if we had been in some great ocean. Indeed wo should have taken it to bo see, 



4(52 NOTES A^D ILLUSTRATIONS. 

if the fresh water of the river, which was turbid hke the Po, had not satisfied 
us that it was a river. Moreover, at Buenos Ayres, another hundred miles 
up the river, and where it is still much narrower, it is not only impossible to 
discern the opposite coast, which is indeed very low, but perceive the houses 
or the tops ol" the steeples in the Portuguese settlement at Colonia on the other 
side of the river." Lettera prima, published by Muratori, II Christianesimo 
FeUce, Sec. i. p. 257. 

Note [30]. Page 124. 

Newfoundland, part of Nova Scotia, and Canada, are the countries which 
lie in the same parallel of latitude with the Kingdom of France ; and in every 
part of these the water of the rivers is frozen during winter to the thick- 
ness of several feet ; the earth is covered with snow as deep ; almost all the 
birds fly during that season from a climate where they could not live. The 
country of the Eskimaux, part of Labrador, and the countries on the south 
of Hudson's Bay, are in the same parallel with Great Britain ; and yet in all 
these the cold is so intense that even the industry of Europeans has not at- 
tempted cultivation. 

Note [31]. Page 125. 

AcosTA is the first philosopher, as far as I know, who endeavoured to ac- 
count for the different degrees of heat in the old and new continents, by the 
agency of the winds which blow in each. Histoire Moral. &c. lib. ii. and iii. 
M. de Buffon adopts this theory, and has not only improved it by new observa- 
tions, but has employed his amazing powers of descriptive eloquence in em- 
bellishing and placing it in the most striking light. Some remarks may bo 
added, which tend to illustrate more fully a doctrine of much importance in 
every inquiry concerning the temperature of various climates. 

When a cold wind blows over land, it must in its passage rob the surface of 
s-ome of its heat. By means of this the coldness of the wind is abated. But 
if it continue to blow in the same direction, it will come, by degrees, to pass 
over a surface already cooled, and will suffer no longer any abatement of its 
own keenness. Thus, as it advances over a large tract of land, it brings on all 
the severity of intense frost. 

Let the same wind blow over an extensive and deep sea ; the superficial 
water must be immediately cooled to a certain degree, and the wind propor- 
tionally warmed. But the superficial and colder v\ ater, becoming specifically 
heavier than the warmer water below it, descends ; what is warmer supplies 
its place, which, as it comes to be cooled in its turn, continues to warm the air 
v/hich passes over it, or to diminish its cold. This change of the superficial 
water and successive ascent of that which is warmer, and the consequent suc- 
cessive abatement of coldness in the air, is aided by the agitation caused in the 
sen by the mechanical action of the wind, and also by the motion of the tides. 
This will go on, and the rigour of the wind will continue to diminish until the 
whole water is so far cooled, that the water on the surface is no longer removed 
from the action of the wind fast enough to hinder it from being arrested by 
frost. Whenever the surface freezes, the wind is no longer warmed by the 
water from below, and it goes on with undiminished cold. 

From those principles may be explained the severity of winter frosts in ex- 
tensive continents; their mildness in small islands; and the superior rigour of 
winter in those parts of North America with which we are best acquainted. 
Ill the north-west parts of Europe, the severity of winter is mitigated b;. the 
west winds, which usually blow in the months of November, December, and 
part of January. 

On the other hand, when a warm wind blows over land, it heats the surface, 
which must therefore cease to abate the fervour of the wind. But the same 
wind blowing over water, agitates it, brings up the colaer water from below, 
and tlius is continually losing somewhat of its own heat. 

But the great power of the sea to mitigate the heat of the wind or air passing 
over it, proceeds from the following circumstance : — that on account of the 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 463 

trauispajency of the sea, its surface cannot be heated to a great degree by the 
sun's rays; whereas the ground, subjected to their influence, very soon acquires 
great heat. When, tliercfore, the wind blows over a torrid continent, it is 
soon raised to a heat ahnost intolerable; but during its passage over an exten- 
sive ocean, it is gradually cooled ; so that on its arrival at the furthest shore 
it is again fit for respiration. 

Those principles will account for the sultry heats of large continents in the 
torrid zoae : for the mild climate of islands in the same latitude ; and for mo 
superior warmth in summer which large continents, situated in the temperate 
or colder zones of the earth, enjoy when compared with that of islands. The 
heal of a climate depends not only upon the immediate effect of tlie sun's 
rays, but on their continued operation, on the effect which they have formerly 
produced, and which remains for some time in the ground. This is the reason 
why the day is warmest about two in the afternoon, tlu summer warmest about 
the middle of July, and the winter coldest about the middle of January. 

Tiie forests which cover America, and hinder the sunbaems from heating the 
ground, are a great cause of the temperate climate in the equatorial parts. The 
ground, not being heated, cannot heat the air ; and the leaves, which receive 
the rays intercepted from the 'Tround, have not a mass of matter suificient to 
absorb heat enough for this purpose. Besides, it is a known fact, that the vege- 
tative power of a plant occasions a perspiration from the leaves in proportion 
to the heat to which they are exposed : and, from the nature of evaporation, 
this perspiration produces a cold in the leaf proportional to the perspiration. 
Thus the effect of the leaf in heatmg the air in contact with it is prodigiously 
diminished. For those observations, which throw much additional light on 
this curious subject, I am indebted to my ingenious friend, Mr. Robison, pro- 
fessor of natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh. 

Note [32]. Page 125. 

The climate of Brazil has been described by two eminent naturalists, Piso 
and ^largrave, who observed it with a philosophical accuracy for which we 
search in vain m the accounts of many other provinces in America. Both 
represent it as temperate and mild when compared with the climate of Africa. 
They ascribe this chiefly to the refreshing wind which blows continually from 
the sea. The air is not only cool, but ciiilly through the night, insomuch that 
the natives kindle fires every evening in their huts. Piso deMedicina Brasiliensi, 
lib. i. p. 1, &c. Margravius Histor. Rcrum Natural. Brasiliae, lib. viii. c. 3. p. 
264. Nieuhoff. who resided long in Brazil, confirms their description. Churchill's 
Collection, vol. ii. p. 26. Guimlla, who was a missionary many years among 
the Indians upon the river Oronoco, gives a similar description of the tempera- 
ture of the climate there. Hist, de rOronoqua, torn. i. p. 26. P. Acugna felt 
a very considerable degree of cold in the countries on the banks of the river 
Amazons. Relat. vol. ii. p. 56. M. Biet, who lived a considerable time in 
Cayenne, gives a similar account of the temperature of that climate, and 
ascribes it to the same cause. Voyage de la France, Equi.iox, p. 330. Nothing 
can be more different from tliese descriptions than tfiat of the burning heat of 
the African coast given by M. Adanson. Voyage to Senegal, passim 

Note [33]. Page 126. 

Two French fngates v/ere sent upon a voyage of discovery in the year 1739. 
In latitude 44'^ couth, they began to leel a considerable degree of cold. In 
latitude 48°, ''ley met Vi'ith Islands of floating ice. Histoire dcs Navigations 
aux Torres Australes, torn. ii. p. 256, fee. Dr. Halley fell in w'lli ice in latitude 
59^. Id. tom. i. p. 47. Commodore Byron, when on the coast of Patagonia, 
latitude 50° 33' south, on the fifteenth of December, '. hich is inidsummer in 
tiidt part of the globe, the twenty-first of December being the longest day 
there, compares the climate to that of England in tlie middle of winter. 
Voyages by Hawkesworth, i. 25. Mr. Barks having landed on Terra del 
Fuego, in the Bay of Good Success, latitude 55°, on the sixteenth of January, 
which corresponds to the month of July in our hemisphere, two of his attend- 



464 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ants died in one night of extreme cold, and all the party were in the moat 
imminent danger of perishing. Id. ii. 51, 52. By the fourteenth of March, 
corresponding to September in our liemisphere, winter was set in with rigour, 
and the mountains were covered with snow. Ibid. 72. Captain Cook, in hi» 
voyage towards the South Pole, furnishes new and striking instances of the 
extraordinary predominance of cold in tliis region of the globe. " Who would 
have thought (says he) that an island of no greater extent than seventy leagues 
in circuit, situated between the latitude of 54° and 55°, should in the very 
height of summer be, in a manner, wholly covered, many fathoms deep, with 
frozen snow ; but more especially the S. W. coast .'' The very summits of the 
lofty mountains were cased with snow and ice ; but the quantity that lay in 
the valleys is incredible ; and at the bottom of the bays, the coast was ter- 
minated by a v;all of ice of considerable height." Vol. ii. p. 217. 

In some places of the ancient continent, an extraordinary degree of cold 
prevails in very low latitudes. Mr. Bogle, in his embassy to the court of the 
Delai Lama, passed the winter of the year 1774, at Chanmanning, in latitude 
31°39'N. He often found the thermometer in his room twenty-nine degrees 
under the freezing point by Fahrenheit's scale : and in the middle of April the 
standing waters were all frozen, and heavy showers of snow frequently fell. 
The extraordinary elevation of the country seems to be the cause of this ex- 
cessive cold. In travelling from Indostan to Thibet, the ascent to the sum- 
mit of the Boutan Mountains is very great, but the descent on the other side 
is not in equal proportion. The kingdom of Thibet is an elevated region, ex- 
tremely bare and desolate. Account of Thibet, by Mr. Stewart, read in the 
Royal Society, p. 7. The extraordinary cold in low latitudes in America cannot 
be accounted for by the same cause. Those regions are not remarkable for 
elevation. Some of them are countries depressed and level. 

The most obvious and probable cause of the superior degree of cold towards 
the southern extremity of America, seems to be the form of the continent there. 
Its breadth gradually decreases as it stretches from St. Antonio southwards, 
and from the bay of St. Julian to the Straits of Magellan its dimensions are 
much contracted. On the east and west sides it is washed by the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans. From its southern point it is probable that a great extent of 
sea, without any considerable tract of land, reaches to the Antarctic pole. 
In whichever of these directions the wind blows, it is cooled before it approaches 
the Magellanic regions, by passing over a vast body of water ; nor is the land 
there of such extent, that it can recover any considerable degree of heat in its 
progress over it. These circumstances concur in rendering the temperature of 
the air in this district of America more similar to that of an insular, than to 
that of a continental climate, and hinder it from acquiring the same degree of 
summer heat with places in Europe and Asia in a correspondent northern lati- 
tude. The north wind is the only one that reaches this part of America, after 
blowing over a great continent. But from an attentive survey of its position, 
this will be found to have a tendency rather to diminish than augment the 
degree of heat. The southern extremity of America is properly the termina- 
tion of the immense ridge of the Andes, which stretches nearly in a direct line 
from north to south, through the whole extent of the continent. The most 
sultry regions in South America, Guiana, Brazil, Paraguay, and Tucuman, lie 
many degrees to the east of the Magellanic regions. The level country of 
Peru, which enjoys the tropical heats, is situated considerably to the west of 
them. The north wind then, though it blows over land, does not bring to thq 
southern extremity of America an increase of heat collected in its passage 
over torrid regions ; but before it arrives there, it must have svvept along the 
summits of the Andes, and becomes impregnated with the cold of that frozen 
region. 

Though it be now demonstrated that there is no southern continent in that 
region of the globe which it was supposed to occupy, it appears to be certain 
from Captain Cook's discoveries, that there is a large tract of land near the 
south pole, which is the source of most of the ice spread over the vast southern 
ocean. Vol. ii. p. 230. 239, &c. Whether the influence of this remote frozen 
continent may reach the southern extremity of America, and affect its clinaate, 
ts an inquiry not unworthy of attention. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 46S 



Note [34]. Page 127. 

M. CoNDAMiNK is One of the latest and most accurate observers of the in- 
terior state of South America. " After descending from the Andes (says he,) 
one beholds a vast and uniform prospect of water and verdure, and nothing 
more. One treads upon the earth, but does'not see it ; as it is so entirely 
covered with luxuriant plants, weeds, and shrubs, that it would require a con- 
siderable degree of labour to clear it for the space of a fool." Relation abr^- 
gee d'un Voyage, &c. p. 48. One of the singularities in the forests is a sort of 
osiers, or withes, called bej'ucos by the Spaniards, lianes by the French, and nibbes 
by the Indians, which are usually employed as ropes in America. This is one 
of the parasitical plants, which twists about the trees it meets with, and rismg 
above tlieir highest branches, its tendrils descend perpendicularly, strike liito 
the ground, take root, rise up around another tree, and thus mount and descend 
alternately. Other tendrils are carried obliquely by the wind, or some accident, 
and form a confusion of interwoven cordage, which resembles the rigging of a 
ship. Bancroft, Nat. Hist, of Guiana, 99. These withes are often as thick as 
the arm of a man. Id. p. 75. M. Boguer's account of the forests in Peru 
perfectly resembles this description. Voyages au Peru, p. 16. Oviedo gives a 
similar dtscripti^.i of the forests in other parts of Amenca. Hist. lib. ix. p. 
144. D. The country of the Moxos is so much overflowed, that they are 
obliged to reside on the summit of some rising ground during some part of the 
year, and have no communication with their countrymen at any distance. 
Lettres Edifiantes, torn. x. p. 187. Garcia gives a full and just description of 
the rivers, lakes, woods, and marshes in those countries of America which lie 
between the tropics. Origen de los Indies, lib. ii. c. 5. i 4, 5. The incredible 
hardships ' > which Gonzalez Pizarro was exposed in attcmnting to march into 
the country to the east of the Andes, convey a very striking idea of that part 
of America in its original uncultivated state. Garcil. de la Vega, Roval Com- 
ment, of Peru, part ii. book iii. c. 2 — 5. 

Note [35]. Page 128. 

TiiK animals of America seem not to have been always of a size inferior to 
those in other quarters of the globe. From antlers of the moose-deer which 
have been found in America, it appears to have been an animal of great size. 
Near the banks of the Ohio, a considerable number of bones of an imiuenso 
magnitude have been found. The place where this discovery has been made 
lies about one hundred and ninety miles below the junction of the river Scioto 
with the Ohio. It is about four miles distant from the banks of the latter, on 
the side of the marsh called the Salt lick. The bones lie in vast quantities 
about five or six feet under ground, and the stratum is visible in the bank on 
the edge of the Lick. Journal of Colonel George Croglan, MS. penes me. 
This spot seems to be accurately laid down by Evans in his map. These bones 
must have belonged to animals of enormous bulk ; but naturalists being ac- 
quainted with no living creature of such size, were at first inclined to think 
that they were mineral substances. Upon receiving a greater number of speci- 
mens, and after inspecting them more narrowly, they are now allowed to be 
the bones of an animal. As the elephant is the largest known quadruped, and 
the tusks wnich were found, nearly resembled, both in form and quality, tho 
tusks of an elephant, it was concluded that the carcasses deposited on the 
Ohio were of that species. But Dr. Hunter, one of the persons of our age 
best qualified to decide with respect to this point, having accurately examined 
several parcels of tusks, and grinders, and jaw-bones, sent from the Ohio to 
London, gives it as his opinion that they did not belong to an elephant, but to 
some huge carnivorous animal of an unknown species. Phil. Transact, vol. 
Iviii. p. 34. Bones of the same kind, and as remarkable for their size, have 
been found near the mouths of the great rivers Oby, Jeniseia, and Lena in 
Siberia. Strahlenberg, Descript. of Korth and East Parts of Europe and /Isia- 
p. 402, itc. The elephant seems to be confined in his range to the torrid zone, 

Vol. I.— 59 



466 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

and never multiplies beyond it. In such cold regions as those bordering on the 
frozen sea, he could not live. The existence of such large animals in America 
might open a wide field for conjecture. The more we contemplate the face of 
nature, and consider the variety of her productions, the more we must be satisfied 
that astonishing changes have been made in the terraqueous globe by convul- 
sions and revolutions, of which no account is preserved in history. 

Note [36]. Page 128. 

This degeneracy of the domestic European animals in America may bo im- 
puted to some of these causes. In the Spanish settlements, which are situated 
either within the torrid zone, or in countries bordering upon it, the increase of 
heat and diversity of food prevent sheep and horned cattle from attaining the 
same size as in Europe. They seldom become so fat, and their flesh is not so 
juicy, or of such delicate flavour. In North America, where the climate is 
more favourable, and similar to that of Europe, the quality of the grasses 
which spring up naturally in their pasture grounds is not good. Mitchell, p. 
151. Agriculture is still so much in its infancy, that artificial food for cattle is 
not raised in any quantity. During a winter, long in many provinces, and rigo- 
rous in all, no proper care is taken of their cattle. The general treatment of 
their horses and horned cattle is injudicious and harsh in' all the English colonies. 
These circumstances contribute more, perhaps, than any thing peculiar in the 
quality of the climate, to the degeneracy of breed in the horses, cows, and 
sheep of many of the North American provinces. 

TE [37]. Page 128. 

In the year 1518, the island of Hispaniola was afflicted with a dreadful visita- 
tion of those destructive insects, the particulars of which Herrera describes, 
and mentions a singular instance of the superstition of the Spanish planters. 
After trying various methods of exterminating the ants, they resolved to im- 
plore protection of the saints ; but as the calamity was new, they were at a loss 
to find out the saint who could give them the most effectual aid. They cast 
lots in order to discover the patron whom they should invoke. The lots de- 
cided in favour of St. Saturninus. They celebrated his festival with great 
solemnity, and immediately, adds the historian, the calamity began to abate. 
Herrera, dec. 2. lib. iii. c. 15. p. 107. 

Note [38]. Page ISP'. 

The author of Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains supposes this 
difference in heat to be equal to twelve degrees, and that a place thirty degrees 
from the equator in the old continent is as warm as one situated eighteen degrees 
from it in America, tom. i. p. 11. Dr. Mitchell, after observations carried on 
during thirty years, contends that the difference is equal to fourteen or fifteen 
degrees of latitude. Present State, &c. p. 257. 

Note [39]. Page 129. 

January 3d, 17G5, Mr. Bertram, near the head of St. John's river, in East 
Florida, observed a frost so intense that in one night the ground was frozen an 
inch thick upon the banks of the river. The limes, citrons, and banana trees, 
at St. Augustin, were destroyed. Bertram's Journal, p. 20. Other instances 
of the extraordinary operations of cold in the southern provinces of North 
America are collected by Dr. Mitchell. Present State, p. 206, &c. February 
7th, 1747, the frost at Charleston was so intense, thai a person having carried 
two quart bottles of hot water to bed, in the morning they were split to pieces, 
and the water converted into solid lumps of ice. In a kitchen where there was 
a fire, the water in a jar in which there was a live large eel, was frozen to the 
bottom. Almost all the orange and olive trees were destroyed. Description af 
South Carolina, 8vo. Lond. 1761. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 46T 



Note [40]. Page 129. 

A REMARKABLE instance of this occurs in Dutch Guiana, a country every 
^rhere level, and so low, that during the rainy seasons it ia usually covered with 
water near two feet in height. This renders the soil so rich, that on the surface, 
ifor twelve inches in depth, it is a stratum of perfect manure, and as such has 
been transported to Barbadoes. On the banks of the Essequibo, thirty crops of 
ratan canes have been raised successively; whereas in the West Indian islands 
not more than two is ever expected from the richest land. The expedients by 
which the planters endeavour to diminish this excessive fertility of soil are va- 
rious. Bancroft, Nat. Hist, of Guiana, p. 10, &c. 

Note [41]. Page 134. 

MuLLER seems to have beheved, without sufficient evidence, that the Cape 
had been doubled, tom. i. p. 11, &c. ; and the imperial academy of St. Peters- 
burgh give some countenance to it by the manner in which Tschukotskoi-noss 
is laid down in their charts. But I am assured, from undoubted authority, that 
no Russian vessel has ever sailed round that cape ; and as the country of Tshuiki 
is not subject to the Russian empire, it is very imperfectly known. 

Note [42]. Page 135. 

Were this the place for entering into a long and intricate geographical dis 
{juisition, many curious observations might arise from comparing the accounts of 
the two Russian voyages and the charts of their respective navigations. One 
remark is applicable to both. We cannot rely with absolute certainty en the 
position which they assign to several of the places which they visited. The 
weather was so extremely foggy, that they seldom saw the sun or stars ; and 
the position of the islands and supposed continents was commonly determined 
by reckoning, not by observation. Behring and Techirikow proceeded much 
further towards the east than Krenitzin. The land discovered by Behring, which 
he imagined to be part of the American continent, is in the 236th degree of 
longitude from the first meridian in the isle of Ferro, and in 58° 28' of latitude. 
Tschirikow came upon the same coast in longitude 241°, latitude 56°. Muller, 
i. 248, 249. The former must have advanced 60 degrees from the port of 
Petropawlowski, from which he took his departure, and the latter 65 degrees. 
But from the chart of Krenitzen's voyage, it appears that he did not sail further 
towards the east than to the 208th degree, and only 32 degrees from Petropaw- 
lowski. In 1741, Behring and Tschirikow, both in going and returning, held a 
course which was mostly to the south of that chain of islands, which they dis- 
covered; and observing the mountainous and rugged aspect of the headlands 
which they descried towards the north, they supposed them to be promontories 
belonging to some part of the American continent, which, as they fancied, 
stretched as far south as the latitude 56. In this manner they are laid down 
in the chart published by Muller, and likewise in a manuscript chart drawn by 
a mate of Behring's ship, communicated to mo by Mr. Prot"essor Robison. 
But in 1769, Krenitzin, after wintering iia the island Alaxa, stood so far towards 
the north in his return, that his course lay through the middle of what Behring 
and Tschirikow had supposed to be a continent, which he found to be an open sea, 
and that they had mistaken rocky isles for the headlands of a continent. It is 
probable, that the countries discovered in 1741, towards the east, do not belong 
to the American continent, but are only a continuation of the chaui of islands. 
The number of volcanos in this region of the globe is remarkable. There are 
several in Kamtchatka, and not one of the islands, great or small, as far as the 
Russian navigation extends, is without them. Many are actually purning. and 
the mountains in all bear marks of having been once in a state of eniptiot^. 
Were I disposed to admit such conjectures as have found place in other inquiries 
concerning the pcophng of America, I might suppose that this part of the 
earth, having manifestly suffered violent convulsions from earthquakes and 



468 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

volcanog, an isthmus, which may have formerly united Asia to America, has 
been broken, and formed into a cluster of islands by the shock. 

It is singular, that at the very time the Russian navigators were attempting 
to make diucoveries in the north-west of America, the Spaniards were prose- 
cuting tha same design from another quarter. In 1769, two small vessels 
sailed from Loretto in California to explore the coasts of th^ couniry to tlie 
nortli of that peninsula. They advanced no further than the port of Monte- 
Rey, in latitude 36. But, in several successive expeditions fitted out from the 
port of St. Bias in New Galicia, the Spaniards have advanced as far as the 
latitude 58. Gaeeta de Madrid, March 19, and May 14, 1776. But as the 
journals of those voyages have not yet been published, I cannot compare their 
progress with that of the Russians, or show how near the navigators of the 
two nations have approached to each other. It is to be hoped th?'t the enlight- 
ened minister who ha:; now the direction of American afiUirs in Spain, will not 
withhold this information from the pubUc. 

Note [43]. Page 136. 

Our knowledge of the vicinity of the two continents of Asia and America, 
which was very imperfect when I published the History of America in the year 
1777, is now complete. Mr. Coxe's account of the Russian Discoveries between 
Asia and America, printed in the year 1780, contains many curious and im- 
portant facts with respect to the various attempts of the Russians to open a com- 
munication with the New "World. The history of the great voyage of Discovery, 
begun by Captain Cook in 1776, and completed by Captains Clerk and Gore, 
published in the year 1780, communicates all the information that the curiosity 
of mankind could desire with regard to this subject. 

At my request, my friend, Mr. Playfair, Professor of Mathematics in '. la 
University of Edinburgh, has compared the narrative and charts of those illus- 
trious navigators with the more imperfect relations and maps of the Russians. 
The result of this comparison I communicate in his own words, with much 
greater confidence in his scientific accuracy, than I could have ventured to 
place in any observations which I myself might have made upon the subject. 

" The discoveries of Captain Cook in his last voyage have confirmed the 
conclusions which Dr. Robertson had drawn, and have connected together the 
facts from which they were deduced. They have now rendered it certain that 
Behring and Tschirikow touched on the coast of America in 1741. The former 
discovered land in latitude 58°, 28', and about 236° east from Ferro. He has 
given such a description of the Bay in which he anchored, and the high moun- 
tain to the westward of it which he calls St. Elias, that though the account of 
his voyage is much abridged in the English translation. Captain Cook recognised 
the place as he sailed along the western coast of America in the year 177(J. 
Tlie isle of St. Hermogenes, near the mouth of Cook's river, Schumagins isles 
on the coast of Alashka, and Foggy Isle, retain in Captain Cook's chart the 
names which they had received from the Russian navigator. Cook's Voy. vol. 
ii. p. 347. 

" Tschirikow came upon the same coast about 2° 30' farther south than Beh- 
ring, near the Mount Edgecumbe of Captain Cook. 

" With regard to Krenitzin, we learn from Coxe's Account of the Russian 
Discoveries, that he sailed from the mouth of the Kamtchatka river with twd 
ships in the year 1768. With his own ship he reached the island of Oonolashka, 
in wnich there had been a Russian settlement since the year 1762, where he 
wintered probably in the same harbour or bay where Captain Cook afterwards 
anchored. The other ship wintered at Alaslika, which was supposed to be an 
island, though it be in fact a part of the American continent. Krenitzin 
according/y returned without knowing that either of his ships had been on the 
coajst of America ; and this is the more surprising, because Captain Cook has 
informed us that Alashka is understood to be a great continent, both by the 
Russians and the natives at Oonolashka. 

" According to Krenitzin, the ship which had wintered at Alashka had hardly 
Bailed 30° to the eastward of the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul in Kamt- 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 469 

ehatka ; out, according to the more accurate charts of Captain Cook, it had 
sailed no less than 37° 17' to the eastward of that harbour. There is nearly 
the same mistake of 3° in the longitude which Krenitzin assigns to Oonolashka. 
It is remarkable enough, that in the chart of those seas, put into the hand of 
Captain Cook by the Russians on that island, there was an error of the same 
kind, and very nearly of the same extent. 

" But what is of most consequence to be remarked on the subject is, that 
ihe discoveries of Captain Cook have fully verified Dr. Robertson's conjecture 
• that it is probable that future navigators in those seas, by steering farther 
to the north than Beliring and Tschirikow or Krenitzin had done, may find 
that the continent of America approaches still nearer to that of Asia.' See p. 
134. It has accordingly been found that these two continents, which, in the 
parallel of 55°, or that of the southern extremity of Alashka, are about four 
hundred leagues asunder, approach continually to one another as they strctcii 
together toward the north, until, within less than a degree from the polar circle, 
they are terminated by two capes only thirteen leagues distant. The east cape 
of Asia is in latitude 66° 6' and in longitude 190° 22' east from Greenwich ; tiie 
western extremity oi America, or Prince of Wales' Cape, is in latitude 65° 4G', 
and in longitude 191° 45'. Nearly in the middle of the narrow strait (Behring s 
Strait) which separates these capes, are the two islands of St. Diomede, from 
which both continents may be seen. Captain King informs us, that as lie 
was sailing through this strait, July 5, 1779, the fog having cleared away, he 
enjoyed the pleasure of seeing from the ship the continents of Asia and 
America at the same moment, together with the islands of St. Diomede lying 
between them. Cook's Voy. vol. iii. p. 244. 

" Beyond this point the strait opens towards the Arctic Sea, and the coasts 
of Asia and America diverge so fast from one another, that in the parallel of 
69° they are more than one hundred leagues asunder. lb. p. 277. To the 
couth of the strait there are a number of islands, Clerk's, King's, Anderson's, 
&c., which, as well as those of St. Diomede, may have facilitated the migra- 
tions of the natives from the one continent to the other. Captain Cook, 
however, on the authority of the Russians at Oonolashka, and for other good 
reasons, has diminished the number of islands which had been inserted in 
former charts of the northern Archipelago. He has also placed Alashka, or 
the promontory which stretches from the continent of America S. W. towards 
Kamtchatka, at the distance of five degrees of longitude farther from the coast 
of Asia than it was reckoned by the Russian navigators. 

" The geography of the Old and New World is therefore equally indebted to 
the discoveries made in this memorable voyage ; and as many errors have been 
corrected, and many deficiencies supplied, by means of these discoveries, so the 
accuracy of some former observations has been established. The basis of the 
map of the Russian empire, as far as regarded Kamtchatka, and the country of 
the Tschutzki, was the position of four places, Yakutsh, Ochotz, Bolcheresk, and 
Petropawlowski, which had been determined by the astronomer Krassilnicow in 
the year 1744. Nov. Comment. Petrop. vol. iii. p. 465, &c. But the accuracy of 
h's observations was contested by M.Engel, and M. Robert dc Vaugondy; Coxe, 
Append, i. No. 2. p. 267. 272. and the former of these geographers ventured to take 
away no less than 28 degrees from the longitude, which, on the faith of Kras- 
silnicow's observations, was assigned to the eastern boundary of the Russian 
empire. With how little reason this was done, will appear from considering 
that our British navigators, having determined the position of Petropawlowski 
by a great number of very accurate observations, found the longitude of that 
port 158° 43' E. from Greenwich, and its latitude 53° 1'; agreeing, the first to 
less than seven minutes, and the second to less than half a minute, with the 
calculations of the Russian astronomer : a coincidence which, in the situation 
of so remote a place, does not leave an uncertainty of more than four English 
miles, and which, for the credit of science, deserves to be particularly remarked. 
The chief error in the Russian maps has been in not extending the boundaries 
of that empire sufficiently towards the east. For as there was nothing to con- 
nect the land of the Tschutzki and the north-east point of Asia with those 
places whereof the position had been carefully ascertained, except the imperfect 
accoimts of Behring's and Synd's voyages, considerable errors could not fail to 



470 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

he introduced, and that point was laid down as not more than 23° 2' east of 
the meridian of Petropawlowski. Coxe, App. i. No. 2. By the observations 
of Captain King, the difference of longitude between Petropawlowski and the 
East Cape is SP 9' ; that is 8° 7' greater than it was supposed to be by the 
Russian geographers." — It appears from Cook's and King's Voy. iii. p. 272, 
that the continents of Asia and America are usually joined together by ico 
during winter. Mr. Samwell confirms this account of his superior olhcer. 
" At tJiis place, viz. near the latitude of 66° N. the two coasts are only thirteen 
leagues asunder, and about midway between them lie two islands, the distance 
from each to either shore is short of twenty miles. At this place th3 natives 
of Asia could find no difficulty in passing over to the opposite coast, which 
is in sight of their own. That in a course of years such an event would happen, 
either through design or accident, cannot admit of a doubt. The canoes which 
we saw among the Tschutzki were capable of performing a much longer voyage ; 
and, however rude they may have been at some distant period, we can scarcely 
suppose them unequal to a passage of six or seven leagues. People might 
have been carried over by accident on floating pieces of ice. They might 
also have travelled across on sledges or on foot ; for we have reason to believe 
that the strait is entirely frozen over in the winter ; so that, during that season, 
the continents, with respect to the communication between them, may be con- 
sidered as one land." Letter from Mr. Samwell, Scot's Magazine for 1788, p. 
604. It is probable that this interesting portion of geographical knowledge 
will, in the course of a few years, receive farther improvement. Soon after 
the publication of Captain Cook's last voyage, the great and enlightened 
Sovereitrn of Russia, attentive to every thing that may contribute to extend 
the bounds of science, or to render it more accurate, formed tlie plan of a new 
voyage of discovery, in order to explore those parts of the ocean lying between 
Asia and America, which Captain Cook did not visit, to examine more accu- 
rately the islands which stretch from one continent almost to the other, to sur- 
vey the north-east coast of the Russian empire, from the mouth of the Kovyma, 
or Kolyma, to the North Cape, and to settle, by astronomical observations, the 
position of each place worth notice. The conduct of this important enterprise 
is committed to Captain Billings, an English officer in the Russian service, of 
whose abilities for that station it will be deemed the best evidence, that he 
accompanied Captain Cook in his last voyage. To render the expedition more 
extensively useful, an eminent naturalist is appointed to attend Captain Billings. 
Six years will be requisite for accomplishing the purposes of the voyage. 
Coxe's Supplement to Russian Discoveries, p. 27, &;c. 

Note [44]. Page 141. 

Few travellers have had such opportunity of observing the natives of Amo 
rica, in its various districts, as Don Antonio Ulloa. In a work lately published 
by him, he thus describes the characteristical features of the race: "Avery 
small forehead, covered with hair towards its extremities, as far as the middle 
of the eye-brows ; little eyes ; a thin nose, srtaU and bending towards the 
upper lip ; the countenance broad ; the ears large ; the hair very black, lank, 
and coarse ; the limbs well turned, the feet small, the body of just proportion ; 
and altogether smooth and free from hair, until old age, when they acquire 
some beard, but never on the cheeks." Noticias Americanas, &c. p. 307. M. 
le Chevalier de Pinto, who resided several years in a part of America which 
Ulloa never visited, gives a sketch of the general aspect of the Indians there. 
" They are all of cooper colour with some diversity of shade, not in proportion 
to their distance from the equator, but according to the degree of elevation of 
the territory which they inhabit. Those who live in a high country are tairer 
than those in the marshy low lands, on the coast. Their face is round, further 
removed, perhaps, than that of any people from an oval shape. Their forehead 
is small, the extremity of their ears far Irom the face, their lips thick, their nose 
flat, their eyes black, or of a chesnut colour, small, but capable of discerning 
objects at a great distance. Their hair is always thick and sleek, and without 
any tendency to curl. They have no hair on any part of their body but the 
head. At the first aspect a southern American appears to be mild and innocent. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 47\ 

but on a more attentive view, one discovers in his countenance something wild, 
distrustful, and sullen." MS. penes me. The two portraits drawn by hands 
very different from those of common travellers, have a near resemblance. 

Note [45]. Page 141. 

Amazing accounts are given of the persevering speed of the Americana. 
Adair relates the adventures of a Chikkasah warrior, who ran through woods 
and over mountains, three hundred computed miles, in a day and a half and 
two nights. Hist, of Amer. Ind. 396. 

Note [46]. Page 143 

M. GoDiN LE Jeune, who resided fifteen years among the Indians of Peru 
and Quito, and twenty years in the French colony of Cayenne, in which there 
is a constant intercourse with the Galibis and other tribes on the Oronoco, ob- 
serves, that the vigour of constitution among the Americans is exactly in pro- 
portion to their habits of labour. The Indians in warm cUmates, such as those 
on the coasts of the South Sea, on the river of Amazons, and the river Orinoco, 
are not to be compared for strength with those in cold countries ; and yet, says 
he, boats daily set out from Para, a Portuguese settlement on the river of Ama- 
zons, to ascend that river against the rapidity of the stream, and with the same 
crew they proceed to San Pablo, which is eight hundred leagues distant. No 
crew of white people, or even of Negroes, would be found equal to a task of 
such persevering fatigue, as the Portuguese have experienced ; and yet the 
Indians being accustomed to this labour from their infancy, perform it. MS. 
penes me. 

Note [47]. Page 145. 

Don Antonia Ulloa, who visited a great part of Peru and Chili, the king- 
dom of New Granada, and several of the provinces bordering on the Mexican 
Gulf, while employed in the same service with the French Mathematicians 
during the space of ten years, and who afterwards had an opportunity of 
viewing the North Americans, asserts " that if we have seen one American, 
we may be said to have seen them all, their colour and make are so nearly the 
same." Notic. Americanas, p. 328. A more early observer, Pedro de Cieca 
de Leon, one of the conquerors of Peru, who had likewise traversed many 
provinces of America, affirms that the people, men and women, although there 
is such a multitude of tribes or nations as to be almost innumerable, and such 
diversity of climates, appear nevertheless like the children of one father and 
mother. Chronica del' Peru, parte i. c. 19. There is, no doubt, a certain com- 
bination of features, and peculiarity of aspect, which forms what may be called 
a European or Asiatic countenance. There must likewise be one that may be 
denominated American, common to the whole race. This may be supposed to 
strike the traveller at first sight, while not only the various shades, which dis- 
tinguish people of different regions, but the peculiar features which discriminate 
individuals, escape the notice of a transient observer. But when persons who 
had resided so long among the Americans concur in bearing testimony to the 
similarity of their appearance in every climate, we may conclude that it is 
more remarkable than that of any other race. See likewise Garcia Origen de 
los Indies, p. 54. 242. Torquemada Monarch. Indiana, ii. 571. 

Note [48]. Page 146. 

M. LE Chevalier de Pinto observes, that in the interior parts of Brazil, he 
had been informed that some persons resembling the white people of Darien 
had been found ; but that the breed did not continue, and their children becama 
like other Americans. This race, however, is very imperfectly known. MS 
-penu m». ^•' 



472 NOTES Al^D IX.LUSTRATIONS. 



Note [49]. Page 147. 

The testimonies of different travellers, concerning the Patagonians, have 
been collected and stated with a considerable degree of accuracy by the author 
of Recherchcs Philosophiques, &c. torn. i. 281, &c. iii. IBl, &c. Since the 
publication of his work, several navigators have visited the Magellanic regions, 
and like their predecessors, differ very widely in their accounts of its inhabitants. 
By Commodore Byron and his crew, who sailed through the Straits in 1764, 
the common Size of the Patagonians was estimated to be eight feet, and many 
of them much taller. Phil. Transact, vol. Ivli. p. 78. By Captains Wallis and 
Carteret, who actually measured them in 1766, they were found to be from six 
feet to six feet five and seven inches in height. Phil. Trans, vol. Ix. p. 22. 
These, however, seem to have been the very people whose size had been rated 
so high in the year 1764 ; for several of them had beads and red baize of the 
same kind with what had been put on board Captain Wallis's ship, and he 
naturally concluded that they had got these from Mr. Byron. Hawkcsw. i. 
In 1767 they were again measured by M. Bougainville, whose account differs 
little from that of Captain Wallis. Voy. 129. To these I shall add a testi- 
mony of great weight. In the year 1762, Don Bernardo Ibegnez de Echavarri 
accompanied the Marquis de Valdelirios to Buenos Ayres, and resided there 
several years. He is a very intelligent author, and his reputation for veracity 
unimpeached among his countrymen. In speaking of the country towards the 
southern extremity of America, " By what Indians," says he, " is it possessed? 
Not certainly by the fabulous Patagonians who are supposed to occupy this 
district. I have from many eye-witnesses, who have lived among those Indians, 
and traded much with them, a true and accurate description of their persons. 
They are of the same stature with the Spaniards. I never saw one who rose 
in height two varas and two or throe inches," i. e. about 80 or 81 '332 inches 
English, if Echavarri makes his computation according to the vara of Madrid. 
This agrees nearly with the measurement of Captain Wallis. Reyno Jesuitico, 
238. Mr. Falkner, who resided as a missionary forty years in the southern 
parts of America, says that " the Patagonians, or Puelches, are a large bodied 
people ; but I never heard of that gigantic race which others have mentioned, 
though I have seen persons of all the different tribes of southern Indians." 
Introd. p. 26. M. Dobrizhoffer, a Jesuit, who resided eighteen years in Para- 
guay, and who had seen great numbers of the various tribes which inhabit the 
countries situated upon the Straits of Magellan, confirms, in every point, the 
testimony of his brother missionary Falkner. Dobrizhoffer enters into some 
detail with respect to the opinions of several authors concerning the stature of 
the Patagonians. Having mentioned the reports of some early travellers with 
regard to the extraordinary size of some bones found on that coast which were 
supposed to be human ; and having endeavoured to show that these bones 
belonged to some large marine or land animal, he concludes, " de hisce ossibus 
crede quicquid libuerit, dummodo, me suasore, Patagones pro gigantibus desinas 
habere." Hist, de Abissonibus, vol. ii. p. 19, &:c. 

Note [50]. Page 149 

Antonio Sanchks Ribeiro, a learned and ingenious physician, published a 
dissertation in the year 1765, in which he endeavours to prove that this disease 
was not introduced from America, but took its rise in Europe, and was brought 
on by an epidemical and malignant disorder. Did I choose to enter into a dis- 
quisition on this subject, which I should not have mentioned if it had not been 
intimately connected with this part of my inquiries, it would not be difficult to 
point out some mistakes with respect to the facts tipon which he foimds, as 
well as some errors in the consequences which he draws from them. The rapid 
communication of this disease from Spain over Europe, seems however to 
resemble the progress of an epidemic, rather than that of a disease transmitted 
by infection. The first mention of it is in the year 1493, and before the year 
1497, it had made its appearance in most countries of Europe,with such alarming 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 473 

Binnptoms as rendered it necessary for the civil magistrate to interpose, in order 
to check its career. — Since the publication of fliis work, a second edition of 
Dr. Sanchez's Dissertation has been communicated to me. It contains several 
additional facts in confirmation of his opinion, which is supported with such 
plausible arguments, as render it a subject of inquiry well deserving the atten- 
tion of learned physicians. 

Note [51]. Page 150. 

The people of Otaheite have no denomination for any number above two 
hundred, wliich is sufficient for their transactions. Voyages by Hawkesworth, 
ii. 228. 

Note [52]. P.iGE 152. 

As the view which I have given of rude nations is extremely different from 
that exhibited by very respectable authors, it may be proper to produce some of 
the many authorities on which I found my description. The manners of the 
savage tribes in America have never been viewed by persons more capable of 
observing them with discernment, than the philosophers employed by France 
and Spain, in the year 1735, to determine the figure of the earth, M. Bouguer, 
D. Antonio d'Ulloa, and D. Jorge Juan, resided long among the natives of the 
least civilized provinces in Peru. M. de la Condamine had not only the same 
advantages with them for observation, but, in his voyage down the Maragnon, 
he had an opportunity of inspecting the state of the various nations seated on 
its banks, in its vast course across the continent of South America. There is a 
wonderful resemblance in their representation of the character of the Ameri- 
cans. " They are all extremely indolent," says M Bouguer, " they are stupid ; 
they pass whole days sitting in the same place, without moving, or speaking a 
single word. It is not easy to describe the degree of their indifference for 
wealth, and all its advantages. One does not well know what motive to pro- 
pose to them, when one would persuade them to perform any service. It is 
vain to offer them money; they answer, that they are not hungry." Voyage 
au Perou, p. 102. " If one considers them as men, the narrowness of their 
understanding seems to be incompatible with the excellence of the soul. Their 
imbecility is so visible that one can hardly form an idea of them different from 
what one has of the brutes. Nothing disturbs the tranquillity of their souls, 
equally insensible to disasters and to prosperity. Though half naked, they 
are as contented as a monarch in his most splendid array. Riches do not 
attract thera in the smallest degree, and the authority of dignities to which 
they may aspire are so little the objects of their ambition, that an Indian will 
receive with the same indifference the office of a judge (Alcade) or that of a 
hangman, if deprived of the former and appointed to the latter. Nothing can 
move or change them. Interest has no power over them, and they often refuse 
to perform a small service, though certain of a great recompense. Fear makes 
no impression upon them, and respect as little. Their disposition is so singular 
that there is no method of influencing them, no means of rousing them from 
that indifference which is proof against all the endeavours of the wisest persons; 
no expedient which can indues them to abandon that gross ignorance, or lay 
aside that careless negligence which disconcert the prudence and disappoint 
the care of such as are attentive to their welfare." Voyage d'Ulloa, tom. i. 
335. 356. Of tho^e singular qualities he produces many extraordinary instances, 
p. 336 — 347. " InsensibiUty," says M. de la Condamine, "is the basis of the 
American character. I leave others to determine, whether this should be dig- 
nified with the name of apathy, or disgraced with that of stupidity. It arises, 
without doubt, from the small number of their ideas, which do not extend 
beyond their wants. Gluttons even to voracity, when they have wherewithal 
to satisfy their appetite. Temperate, when necessity obliges them, to such a 
degree, that they can endure want without seeming to desire any thing. Pusil- 
lanimous and cowardly to excess, unless when they are rendered desperate by 
drunkenness. Averse to labour, indifferent to every motive of glory, honour, 
or gratitude ; occupied entirely by the object that is presfsnt. and always de- 

VoL. I.— 60 22 



474 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

termined by it alone, without any solicitude about futurity; incapable of fore- 
sight or of reflection ; abandoning themselves when under no restraint, to a 
puerile joy, which they express by frisking about and immoderate fits of laugh- 
ter ; without object or design, they pass their life without thinking, and grow 
old without advancing beyond childhood, of which they retain all the defects. 
If this description were applicable only to the Indians in some provinces of 
Peru, who are slaves in every respect but the name, one might believe, that this 
degree of degeneracy was occasioned by the servile dependence to which they 
are reduced ; the example of the modern Greeks being proof how far servitude 
may degrade the human species. But the Indians in the missions of the Jesuits, 
and the savages who still enjoy unimpaired liberty, being as limited in their 
faculties, not to say as stupid, as the other, one cannot observe without humilia- 
tion, that man, when abandoned to simple nature, and deprived of the ad- 
vantages resulting from education and society, differs but little from the brute 
creation." Voyage de la Riv. de Amaz. 52, 63. M. de Chanvalon, an intelli- 
gent and pliilosophical observer, who visited Martinico in 175], and resided 
there six years, gives the following description of the Caraibs: "It is not the 
red colour of their complexion, it is not the singularity of their features, which 
constitutes the chief difference between them and us. It is their excessive sim- 
plicity : it is the limited degree of their faculties. Their reason is not mora 
enlightened or more provident than the instinct of brutes. The reason of the 
most gross peasants, that of the negroes brought up in the parts of Africa 
most remote from intercourse with Europeans, is such, that we discover ap- 
pearances of intelligence, which, though imperfect, is capable of increase. But 
of this the understanding of the Caraibs seems to be nardly susceptible. If 
sound philosophy and religion did not afford us their light, if we were to decide 
according to the first impression which the view of that people makes upon 
the mind, we should be disposed to believe that they do not belong to the sam^ 
species with us. Their stupid eyes are the true mirror of their souls ; it appears 
to be without functions. Their indolence is extreme ; they have never the 
least solicitude about the moment which is to succeed that which is present." 
Voyage k la Martinique, p. 44, 45. 51. M. de la Borde, Tertre, and Rochefort, 
confirm this description. " The characteristics of the Californians," says P. 
Venegas, " as well as of all other Indians, are stupidity and insensibility ; want 
of knowledge and reflection ; inconstancy, impetuosity, and blindness of appe- 
tite ; an excessive sloth, and abhorrence of all labour and fatigue ; an excessive 
love of pleasure and amusement of every kind, however trifling or brutal ; 
pusillanimity ; and, in fine, a most wretched want of every thing which con- 
stitutes the real man, and renders him rational, inventive, tractable, and useful 
to himself and society. It is not easy for Europeans, who never were out of 
their own country, to conceive an adequate idea of those people ; for, even in 
the least frequented corners of the globe, there is not a nation so stupid, of 
such contracted ideas, and so weak both in body and mind, as the unhappy 
Californians. Their understanding comprehends little more than what they 
see ; abstract ideas, and much less a chain of reasoning, being far beyond their 
power ; so that they scarce ever improve their first ideas, and these are in 
general false, or at least inadequate. It is in vain to represent to them any 
future advantages which will result to them from doing or abstaining from 
tliis or that particular immediately present ; the relation of means and ends 
being beyond the stretch of their faculties. Nor have they the least notion of 
pursuing such intentions as will procure themselves some future good, or guard 
them against future evils. Their will is proportional to their faculties, and all 
their passions move in a very narrow sphere. Ambition they have none, and 
are more desirous of being accounted strong than valiant. Tlie objects of 
ambition with us, honour, fame, reputation, titles, posts, and distinctions of 
superiority, are unknown among them ; so that this powerful spring of action, 
the cause of so much seeming good and real evil in the world, has no power 
here. This disposition of mind, as it gives them up to an amazing languor and 
lassitude, their lives fleeting away in a perpetual inactivity and detestation of 
labour, so it likewise induces them to be attracted by the first object which their 
own fancy, or the persuasion of another, places before them ; and at the sama 
time renders them as prone to alter their resolutions with the same facility. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 475 

They look with indifference upon any kindness done them; nor is even the 
bare remembrance of it to bo expected from them. In a word, the unhappy 
mortals may be compared to children, in whom the developement of reason is 
not completed. They may indeed be called a nation who never arrive at man- 
hood." Hist, of California, English Transl. i. 64. 67. Mr. Ellis gives a similar 
account of the want of foresight afnd inconsiderate disposition of the people 
adjacent to Hudson's Bay. Voyage, p. 194, 195. 

The incapacity of the Americans is so remarkable, that negroes from all the 
different provinces of Africa are observed to be more capable of improving by 
instruction. They acquire the knowledge of several particulars which the 
Americans cannot comprehend. Hence the negroes, though slaves, value them- 
selves as a superior order of beings, and look down upon the Americans with 
contempt, as void of capacity and of rational discernment. Ulloa Notic 
Americ. 322, 323. 

Note [53]. Page 155. 

DoBRizHOFFER, the last traveller I know who has resided among any tribe of 
the ruder Americans, has explained so fully the various reasons which have 
induced their women to suckle their children long, and never to undertake 
rearing such as were feeble or distorted, and even to destroy a considerable 
number of their offspring, as to throw great light on the observations I have 
made, p. 144. 154. Hist, de Abissonibus, vol. ii. p. 107.221. So deeply were 
these ideas imprinted in the minds of the Americans, that the Peruvians, a 
civilized people when compared with the barbarous tribes whose manners I am 
describing, retained them ; and even their intercourse with the Spaniards has 
not been able to root them out. When twins are born in any family, it is still 
considered as an ominous event, and the parents have recourse to rigorous acts 
of mortification, in order to avert the calamities with which they are threatened. 
When a child is born with any deformity, they will not, if they can possibly 
avoid it, bring it to be baptised, and it is with difficulty they can be brought to 
rear it, Arriaga Extirpac. de la Idolat. del Peru, p. 32, 33. 

Note [54]. Page 156. 

The number of the fish in the rivers of South America is so extraordinary 
as to merit particular notice. "In the Maragnon (says P. Acugna,) fish are 
so plentiful, that, without any art, they may take them with the hands." p. 138. 
" In the Orinoco (says P. Gumilla,) besides an infinite variety of other fish, 
tortoise or turtle abound in such numbers, that I cannot find words to express 
it. I doubt not but that such as read my account will accuse me of exaggera- 
tion: but I can affirm that it is as difficult to count them as to count the sands 
on the banks of that river. One may judge of their number by the amazing 
consumption of them ; for all the nations contiguous to the river, and even 
many who are at a distance, flock thither at the season of breeding, and not 
only find sustenance during that time, but carry off great numbers both of the 
turtles and of their eggs," &c. Hist, de I'Orenoque, ii. c. 22. p. 59. M. de la 
Condamine confirms their accounts, p. 159. 

Note [55]. Page 156. 

Piso describes two of these plants, the Cururuape and the Guajana-Timbo. 
It is remarkable, that though they have this fatal effect upon fishes, they are 
BO far from being noxious to the human species, that they are used in medicine 
with success. Piso, lib. iv. c. 88. Bancroft mentions another, the Hiarree, a 
small quantity of which is sufficient to inebriate all the fish to a considerable 
distance, so that in a few minutes they float motionless on the sxirface of the 
water, and are taken with ease. Nat. Hist, of Guiana, p. 106. 

Note [56]. Page 157. 

Remarkable instances occur of the calamities which rude nations suffer by 
famine. Alvar Nugnez Caboca do Vara, one of the most ^jallant and virtuous 



476 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

of the Spanish adventurers, resided almost nine years among the savages of 
Florida. They were unacquainted with every species of agriculture. Their 
subsistence was poor and precarious. "They live chiefly (says he) upon roots 
of different plants, which they procure with great difficulty, wandering from 
place to place in search of them. Sometimes they kill game, sometimes they 
catch fish, but in such small quantities, that their hunger is so extreme as com- 
pels them to eat spiders, the eggs of anls, worms, Uzards, serpents, a kind of 
unctuous earth, and, I am persuaded, that if in this country there were stones, 
thoy would swallow these. They preserve the bones of fishes and serpents, 
which they grmd into powder and eat. The only season when they do not 
suffer much from famine, is when a certain fruit, which he calls Tunas, is ripe. 
This is the same with the Opuntia, or prickly pear, of a reddish and yellow 
colour, with a sweet insipid taste. They are sometimes obliged to travel far 
from their usual place of residence in order to find them. Naufragios, c. xviii. 
p. 20, 21, 22. In another place he observes, that they are frequently reduced 
to pass two or three days without food, c. xxiv. p. 27. 

Note [57]. Page 138. 

M. Fermin has given an accurate description of the two species of manioc, 
with an account of its culture, to which he has added some experiments, in 
order to ascertain the poisonous qualities of the juice extracted from that 
species which he calls the bitter cassava. Among the Spaniards it is known 
by the name of Yuca brava. Descr. de Surin. tom. i. p. 66. 

Note [58]. Page 158. 

The plantain is found in Asia and Africa, as well as in America. Oviedo 
contends, that it is not an indigenous plant of the New World, but was intro- 
duced into the Island of Hispaniola, in the year 1516, by Father Thomas de 
Berlanga, and that he transplanted it from the Canary Islands, whither the 
original slips had been brought from the East Indies. Oviedo, hb. viii. c. 1. 
But the opinion of Acosta and other naturalists, who reckon it an American 
plant, seems to be better founded. Acosta Hist. Nat. lib. iv. 21. It was culti- 
vated by rude tribes in America, who had little intercourse with the Spaniards, 
and who were destitute of that ingenuity which disposes men to borrow what 
is useful from foreign nations. Gumil. iii. 186. Wafer's Voyage, p. 87. 

Note [59]. Page 159. 

It is remarkable that Acosta, one of the most accurate and best informed 
writers concerning the West Indies, a(firnis that maize, though cultivated in the 
continent, was not known in the islands, the inhabitants of which had none 
but cassada bread. Hist. Nat. lib. iv. c. 16. But P. Martyr, in the first book oi 
his first Decad, which was written in the year 1493, upon the return of Columbus 
from his first voyage, expressly mentions maize as a plant which the islanders 
cultivated, and of which they made bread, p. 7. Gomara likewise asserts that 
they were acquainted with the culture of maize. Histor. Gener. cap. 28. 
Oviedo describes maize without any intimation of its being a plant that was 
not natural to Hispaniola. Lib. vii. c. 1. 

Note [60]. Page 161. 
New Holland, a country which formerly was only known, has lately been 
visited by intelligent observers. It lies in a region of the globe where it must 
enjoy a very favourable climate, as it stretches from the 10th to the 38th degree 
of southern latitude. It is of great extent, and from its square form must be 
nmch more than equal to all Europe. The people who inhabit the various 
parts of it appear to be of one race. They are evidently ruder than most of 
the Americans, and have made still less progress in improvement and the arta 
of life. There is not the least appearance of cultivation in any part of this 
vast region. The inhabitants are extremely few, so that tho country appears 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 477 

almost desolate. Their tribes are still more inconsiderable than those of 
America. They depend for subsistence almost entirely on fishing. They do 
not settle in one place, but roam about in quest of food. Both sexes go stark 
naked. Their habitations, utensils, &c. are more simple and rude than those 
of the Americans. Voyages, by Hawkesworth, iii. 622, &c. This, perhaps, 
is the country where man has been discovered in the earliest stage of his pro- 
gress, and exhibits a miserable specimen of his condition and powers in that 
uncultivated s'ate. If this country shall be more fully explored by future 
navigators, the comparison of the manners of its inhabitants with those of the 
Americans will prove an instructive article in the history of the human speiies. 

Note [61]. Page 161. 

P. Gabriel Marest, who travelled from his station among the Illinois to 
Michilimackinac, thus describes the face of the country: — "We have marched 
twelve days without meeting a single human creature. Sometimes wt found 
ourselves in vast meadows, of which we could not see the boundaries, through 
which there flowed many brooks and rivers, but without any path to conduct 
us. Sometimes we were obliged to open a passage across thick forests, through 
bushes, and im^erwood filled with briars and thorns. Sometimes we had to 
pass through deep marshes, in which we sunk up to the middle. After being 
fatigued through the day, we had the errth for our bed, or a few leaves, ex- 
posed to the wind, the rain, and all the injuries of the air." Lettr. Edifiantes, 
ii. 360. Dr. Bicknell, in an excursion from North Carolina towards the moun- 
taiiis, A. D. 1730, travelled fifteon days without meeting with a human creature. 
Nat. Hist, of North Carolina, 389. Diego de Ordas, in attempting to make a 
settlement in South America, A. D. 1532, marched fifty days through a country 
without one inhabitant. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. i. c, 11. 

Note [62]. Page 162. 

I siTvONGLY suspect that a community of goods, and an undivided store, are 
known only among the rudest tribes of hunters ; and that as soon as any spe- 
cies of agriculture or regular industry is known, the idea of an exclusive right 
of property to the fruits of them is introduced. I am confirmed in this opi- 
nion by accounts which I have received concerning the state of property among 
the Indians in very difi^erent regions of America. " The idea of the natives of 
Brazil concerning property is, that if any person cultivate a field, ho alone 
ought to enjoy the produce of it, and no other has a title to pretend to it. If 
an individual or family go a hunting or fishing, what is caught belongs to the 
individual or to the family, and they communicate no part of it to any but to 
their cazique, or to such of their kindred as happen to be indisposed. If any 
person in the villpge come to their hut. he may sit down freely, and eat without 
asking liberty. But this is the consequence of their general principle of hos- 
pitality; for I never observed any partition of the increase of their fields, or 
the produce of the chase, which I could consider as the result of any idea con- 
cerning a community of goods. On the contrary, they are so much attached 
to what chey deem to be their property, that it would be extremely dangerous 
to encroach upon it. As far as I can see or can learn, there is not one tribe of 
Indians in South America among whom the community of goods which has 
been so highly extolled is known. The circumstance in the government of the 
Jesuits, most irksome to the Indians of Paraguay, was the community of goods 
which those fathers introduced. This was repugnant to the original ideas of 
the Indians. They were acquainted with the rights of private exclusive pro- 
perty, and they submitted with impatience to regulations which destroyed 
them." M. le Cheval, de Pinto, MS. penes me. " Actual possession (says a 
missionary who resided several years among the Indians of the five nations) 
gives a right to the soil ; but, whenever a possessor sees fit to quit it, another 
has as good right to take it as he who left it. This law, or custom, respects 
not ordy the particular spot on which he erects his house, but also his planting- 
ground. If a man has prepared a particular spot of ground on which he 
designs in future to build or plant, no man lias a right to incommode him, 



478 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

much less to the fruit of his labours, until it appears that he voluntarily give« 
up his views. But I never heard of any formal conveyance from one Indian 
to another in their natural state. The limit of every canton is circumscribed ; 
that is, they are allowed to hunt as far as such a river on this hand, and such a 
mountain on the other. This area is occupied and iniproved by individuals and 
their families : individuals, not the community, have the use and profit of their 
own labours, or success in hunting." MS. of Mr. Gideon Hawley, penes me. 

Note [63]. Page 162. 

This difference of temper between the Americans and Negroes is so remark- 
able, that it is a proverbial saying in the French islands, " Regarder un sauvage 
de travers, c'est le battre ; le battre, c'est le tuer; battrc un Negre, c'est le 
nourrir." Tertre, ii. 490. 

Note [64]. Page 163. 

The description of the political state of the people of Cinaloa perfectly 
resembles that of the inhabitants of North America. " They have neither 
laws nor kings (says a missionary who resided long among them) to punish any 
crime. Nor is there among them any species of authority, or political govern- 
ment, to restrain them in any part of their conduct. It is true that they ac- 
knowledge certain caziques, who are heads of their families or villages ; but 
their authority appears chiefly in war, and the expeditions against their enemies. 
This authority the caziques obtain not by hereditary right, but by their valour 
in war, or by the power and number of their families and' relations. Sometimes 
they owe their pre-eminence to their eloquence in displaying their own ex- 
ploits." Ribas Histor. de las Triumph, &:c. p. 11. The state of the Chiquitos 
in South America is nearly the same. " They have no regular form of govern- 
ment or civil life, but in matters of public concern they listen to the advice of 
their old men, and usually follow it. The dignity of Cazique is not hereditary, 
but conferred according to merit, as the reward of valour in war. The union 
among them is imperfect. Their society resembles a republic without any 
head, in which every man is master of himself, and, upon the least disgust, 
separates from those with whom he seemed to be connected." Relacion His- 
torical de las Missiones de los Chiquitos, por P. Juan, Patr. Fernandei, p. 32, 33. 
Thus, under very different climates, when nations are in a similar state of 
society, their institutions and civil government assume the same form. 

Note [65]. Page 168. 

" I have known the Indians (says a person w-ell acquainted with their mode 
of life) to go a thousand miles for the purpose of revenge, in pathless woods, 
over hills and mountains, through huge cane swamps, exposed to the extremi- 
ties of heat and cold, the vicissitude of seasons, to hunger and thirst. Such is 
their overboiling revengeful temper, that they utterly contemn all those things 
as imaginary trifles, if they are so happy as to get the scalp of the murderer, 
or enemy, to satisfy the craving ghosts of their deceased relations." Adair's 
Hist, of Amer. Indians, p. 150. 

Note [66]. Page 168. 

In the account of the groat war between the Algonquins and Iroquois, the 
achievements of Piskaret, a famous chief of the Algonquins, performed mostly 
by himself alone, or with one or two companions, make a capital figure. De 
la Potherie, i. 297, &c. Colden's Hist, of Five Nations, 125, &c. 

Note [67]. Page 169. 

The life of an unfortunate leader is often ra danger, and he is always do- 
^aded from the rank wliich he had acquired by his former exploits. Adair, 
p. 380. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 479 



Note [68]. Page 169. 

As the ideas of the North Americans, with respect to the mode of carrying 
on war, are generally known, I have founded my observations chiefly upon the 
testimony of the authors who describe them. But the same maxims took 
place among other nations in the New World. A judicious missionary has 
given a view of the military operations of the people in Gran Chaco, in South 
America, perfectly similar to those of the Iroquois. " They are much addicted 
to war (says he), which they carry on frequently among themselves, but per- 
petually against the Spaniards. But they may rather be called thieves than 
soldiers, for they never make head against the Spaniards, unless when they can 
assault them by stealth, or have guarded against any mischance by spies, who 
may be called indefatigable ; they will watch the settlements of the Spaniards 
for one, two, or three years, observing by night every thing that passes with the 
utmost solicitude, whether they may expect resistance or not, and until they 
are perfectly secure of the event, they will not venture upon an attack ; so 
that, when they do give the assault, they are certain of success, and free from 
all danger. These spies, in order that they may not be observed, will creep on 
all four like cats in the night ; but if they are discovered, make their escape 
with much dexterity. But, although they never choose to face the Spaniards, 
if they be surrounded in any place whence they cannot escape, they will fight 
with desperate valour, and sell their lives very dear." Lozano Descript. del 
Gran Chaco, p. 78. 

Note [69]. Page 170. 

Lert, who was an eye-witness of the proceedings of the Toupinambos, a 
Brasilian tribe, in a war against a powerful nation of their enemies, describes 
their courage and ferocity in very striking terms. Ego cum Gallo altero. paulo 
curiosius, magno nostro periculo (si enira ab hostibus capti aut lesi fuissemus, 
devorationi fuissemus devoti), barbaros nostros in militiam ountcs comitari 
volui. Hi, numero 4000 capita, cum hostibus ad littus decert^runt, tanta feroci- 
tate, ut vel rabidos et furiosos quosque superarent. Cum primum hostes 
conspexere, in magnos atque editos ululatus perruperunt. Hffic gens adeo fera 
est et truculenta, ut tantisper dum viriurn vel tantillum restat, continue dimi- 
cent, fugamque nunquam capessant. Quod a natura illis inditum esse reor. 
Testor iuterea me, qui non semel, turn peditum tum cquitum copias ingentes, 
in aciem instructas hie conspexi, tanta nunquam voluptate videndis peditum 
legionibus armis fulgentibus, quanta tum pugnantibus istis percassum fuisse. 
Lery Hist. Navigat. in Brasil. ap. de Bry, iii. 207, 208, 209. 

Note [70]. Page 170. 

It was originally the practice of the Americans, as well as of other savage 
nations, to cut oflT the heads of the enemies whom they slew, and to carry them 
away as trophies. But, as they found these cumbersome in their retreat, which 
they always make very rapidly, and often through a vast extent of country, 
they became satisfied with tearing off their scalps. This custom, though most 
prevalent in North America, was not unknown among the Southern tribes. 
Lozano, p. 79. 

Note [71]. Page 172. 

The terms of the war song seem to be dictated by the same fierce spirit of 
revenge. " I go to war to revenge the death of my brothers ; I shall kill ; I 
thall exteiminate ; I shall bum my enemies ; I shall bring away slaves ; I shall 
devour their heart, dry their flesh, drink their blood ; I shall tear off their 
scalps, and make cups of their skulls." Bossu's Travels through Louisiana, 
vol. i. p. 102. I am informed, by persons on whose testimony I can rely, that 
cTs tho number of people in the Indian tribes has decreased eo much, almost 
none of Uieir prisoners are now put to death. It is considered ai better policy 



480 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

to spare and to adopt them. Those dreadful scenes which I have described 
occur now so rarely, that missionaries and traders who have resided long 
among the Indians, never were witnesses to them. 

Note [72]. Page 172. 

All the travellers who have visited the most uncivilized of the American 
tribes, agree in this. It is confirmed by two remarkable circumstances, which 
occurred in the conquest of different provinces. In the expedition of Narvaez 
into Florida in the year 1528, the Spaniards were reduced to such extreme dis- 
tress by famine, that, in order to preserve their own lives, they ate such of their 
companions as happened to die. This appeared so shocking to the natives, who 
were accustomed to devour none but prisoners, that it filled them with horror 
and indignation against the Spaniards. Torqueiuada Monarch. Ind. ii. p. 584. 
Naufragios de Alv. Nugnes Cabeca de Vaca, c. xiv. p. 15. During the siege 
of Mexico, though the Mexicans devoured with greediness the Spaniards and 
Tlascalans whom they took prisoners, the utmost rigour of the famine which 
they suffered could not induce them to touch the dead bodies of their own 
countrymen. Bern. Diaz del Castillo Conquist. de la N. Espagna, p. 156. 

Note [73]. Page 172. 

Many singular circumstances concerning the treatment of prisoners among 
the people of Brasil, are contained in the narrative of Stadius, a German officer 
in the service of the Portuguese, published in the year 1556. He was taken 
prisoner by the Toupinambos, and remained in captivu/ nine years. He was 
often present at those horrid festivals which he describes, and was destined him- 
eolf to the same cruel fate with other prisoners. But he saved his life by his 
extraordinary efforts of courage and address. De Bry, iii. p. 34, &c. M. de 
Lery, who accompanied M. de Villagagnon in his expeditior ' i Brasil in the 
year 1556, and who resided some time in that country, agrees with Stadius in 
every circumstance of importance. He was fi.-equently an eye-witness of th^ 
manner in which the Brasilians treated their prisoners. De Bry, iii. 210. 
Several striking particulars omitted by them, arc mentioned by a Portuguese 
author. Purch. Pilgr. iv. 1294, &:c. 

Note [74]. Page 174. 

Though I have followed that opinion concerning the apathy of the Ameri- 
cans, which appeared to me most rational, and supported by the au hority of 
the most respectable authors, other theories have been formed with regard to 
it, by writers of great eminence. D. Ant. Ulloa, in a late work, contends that 
the texture of the skin and bodily habit of the Americans is such, that they 
are less sensible of pain than the rest of mankind. He produces several proofs 
of this, from the manner in which they endure the most cruel chirurgicLl opera- 
tions, &c. Noticias Americanas, p. 313, 314. The same observation has been 
made by surgeons in Brasil. An Indian, they say, never complains under pain, 
and will bear the amputation of a leg or an arm without uttering a single 
groan. MS. penes me. 

Note [75]. Page 174. 

This is an idea natural to all rude nations. Among the Romans, in the 
early periods of their commonwealth, it was a maxim that a prisoner " turn 
decessisse vidstur cum captus est." Digest, lib. xlix. tit. 15. c. 18. And after- 
wards, when the progress of refinement rendered them more indulgent with 
respect to this article, they were obliged to employ two fictions of law to secure 
the property, and permit the return of a captive ; the one by the Lex CorneUa, 
and the other by the Jus Postliminii. Heinec. Elem. Jur. Civ. sec. ord. Pand. 
ii. p. 294. Among the Negroes the same ideas prevail. No ransom was ever 
"iccepted for a prisoner As soon as one is taken in war, he is reputed to be 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 481 

dead ; and he is so in effect to his country and his family. Voy. du Cheval. des 
Marchaifl, i. p. 369. 

Note [70]. Page 175. 

The people of Chili, the most gallant and high-spirited of all the Americans, 
are the only exception to this observation. They attack their enemies in the 
open field ; their troops are ranged in regular order ; their battahons advance 
to the charge not only with courage, but with discipline. The North Ameri- 
cans, though many of them have substituted the European fire-arms in place of 
their own bows and arrows, still adhere to thoir ancient maxims of war, and 
carry it on according to their own peculiar system. But the Chilese nearly 
resemble the warlike nations of Europe and Asia in their military operations. 
Ovalle's Relation of Chili. Church. Coll. iii. p. 71. Lozano's Hist, Parag. i. 
144, 145. 

Note [77]. Page 176. 

. Herrera gives a remarkable proof of this. In Yucatan, the men are so so- 
licitous about their dress, that they carry about with them mirrors, probably 
made of stone, like those of the Me-.icans, Dec. iv. Ub. iii. c. 8, in which they 
delight to view themselves ; but the women never use them. Dec. iv. lib. x, c. 
3. He takes notice that among the fierce tribe of the Panches, in the new 
kingdom of Granada, none but distinguished warriors were permitted either to 
pierce their lips and to wear green stones in them, or to adorn their heads with 
plumes of feathers. Dec. vii. lib. ix. c. 4. In some provinces of Peru, though 
that empire had made considerable progress in civilization, the state of women 
was httle improved. All the toil of cultivation and domestic work was devolved 
upon them, and they were not permitted to wear bracelets, or other ornaments, 
with which the men were fond of decking themselves. Zarate Hist, de Peru, 
i. p. 15, 16. 

Note [78]. Page 176. 

I I'AVE ventured to call this mode of anointing and painting their bodies, the 
drt^i of the Americans. This is agreeable to their own idiom. As they never 
stir abroad if they are not completely-anointed ; they excuse themselves when 
in tliis situation, by saying that they cannot appear because they are naked 
Gumilla, Hist, de I'Orenoque, i. 191. 

Note [79]. Page 177. 

Some tribes in the province of Cinaloa, on the gulf of California, seem to be 
among the rudest people of America united in the social state. They neither 
cultivate nor sow ; they have no houses in which they reside. Those in the 
■nland country subsist by hunting ; those on the seacoast chiefly by fishing. 
Both depend upon the spontaneous productions of the earth, fruits, plants, and 
roots of varion" kinds. In the rainy season, as they have no habitations to 
afford them r!;elter, they gather bundles of reerl'', or strong grass ; and binding 
them together ^t one end, they open them at the other, and fitting them to 
'.heir heads, they are covered as with a large cap, which, like a penthouse, 
throws off the rain, and will keep them dry for several hours. During the 
warm season, they form a shed with the branches of trees, which protects them 
from the sultry rays of the sun. When exposed to cold they make large fires, 
round which thoy sleep in the open air. Historia de los Triomphos de Nuestra 
Santa Fe entre Gentres las maa Barbaras, &c. por P. And. Perez de Ribas, 
p. 7, &r. 

Note [80]. Page 177. 

These houses resemble barns. " We have measured some whicli were a 
hnndred and fifcy paces long, and twenty paces broad. Above a hundred nei- 
VoL. I.— 61 



482 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

sons resided in some of them." Wilson's Account of Guiana. Purch. Pilgr. 
vol. iv. p. 126J. Ibid. 1291. " The Indian houses," says Mr. Barrere, "have 
a most wretched appearance, and are a striking image of the rudeness of early 
times. Their huts are commonly built on some rising ground, or on the banks 
of a river, huddled sometimes together, sometimes straggling, and always with- 
out any order. Their aspect is melancholy and disagreeable. One sees nothing 
but what is hideous and savage. The uncultivated fields have no gayety. 
The silence which reigns there, unless when interrupted by the disagreeable 
notes of birds, or cries of wild beasts, is extremely dismal." Relat. de la 
France Equin. p. 146. 

Note [81]. Page 178. 

Some tribes In South America can send their arrows to a great distance, and 
with considerable force, without the aid of the bow. They make use of a 
hollow reed, about nine feet long and an inch thick, which is called a Sarbacane. 
In it they lodge a small arrow, with some unspun cotton wound about its great 
end ; this confines the air, so that they can blow it with astonishing rapidity, 
and a sure aim, to the distance of above a hundred paces. These small arrows 
are always poisoned. Fermin. Descr. de Surin. i. 55. Bancroft's Hist, of 
Guiana, p. 281, &c. The Sarbacane is much used in some parts of the East 
Indies. 

Note [82]. Page 178. 

I MIGHT produce many instances of this, but shall satisfy myself with one 
taken from the Eskimaux. " Their greatest ingenuity (says Mr. Ellis) io 
shown in the structure of their bows, made commonly of three pieces of wood, 
each making part of the sa-^e arch, very nicely and exactly joined together. 
They arc commonly of fir or larcli ; and as this wants strength and elasticity, 
they supply hot', by bracing the back of the bow with a k^nd of thread, or line, 
made of the sinews of their deer, and the bowstring of the same materials. 
To make them draw more stiiJly, they dip them into water, which causes both 
the back of the bow and the string to contract, and consequently giv-s it the 
greater force ; and as they practise from their youth, they shoot with very 
great dexterity." Voyage to Hudson's Bay, p. 138. 

Note [83]. Page 178, 

Necessity is the great prompter and guide of mankind in their inventions. 
There is, however, suci^ inequality in some parts of their prc'-ess, and some 
nations get so far the start of otLers in circumstances nearly similar, that we 
must ascribe this to some events in their story, or to some pccuHaritv in their 
situation, with which we are Uiiacquainted. The people in the island of Otix- 
heite, lately discovered in the South Sea, far excel most of the Americans in 
the knowledge and practice of the arts of ingenuity, and yet they had not in- 
vented any method of boiling water; and having no vessel that could bear the 
fire, t'.ay had no more idea that water could be made hot, than that it could be 
made solid. Voyages by Hawkesworth, i. 466. 484. 

Note [84]. Page 178. 

One of these boats, which could carry nine men, weighed only sixty pounds. 
Gosnol. Relat. des Voy. a la Virgin. Rec. de Voy. au Nord, torn. v. p. 403. 

Note [85]. Page 179. 

A remarkable proof of this is produced by UUoa. In weaving hammocks, 
coverlets, and other coarse cloths which they are accustomed to manufacture, 
their industry has discovered no more expeditious method than to take up 
thread after thread, and, after counting and sorting them each time, to pass 
the woof between them, so that in finishing a small piece of those stuffs they 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 483 

frequently spend more than two years. Voyage, i. 336. Bancroft gives the 
same description of the Indians of Guiana, p. 255. According to Adair, tho 
ingenuity and despatch of the North American Indians are not greater, p. 422. 
From one of the engravings of the Mexican paintings in Purchas, vol. iii. p. 
1 106, I think it probable that the people of Mexico were unacquainted with 
any better or more expeditious mode of weaving. A loom was an invention 
beyond the ingenuity of the most improved Americans. In all their works they 
advance so slowly, that one of their artists is two months at a tobacco-pipe 
■with his knife before he finishes it. Adair, p. 423. 

Note [80]. Page 180. 

The article of religion in P. Lafitau's Mosurs des Sauvages extends to 347 
tedious pages in quarto. 

Note [87]. Page 181. 

I HAVE referred the reader to several of tho authors who describe the most 
uncivilized nations in America. Their testimony is uniform. That of P. 
Rihas concerning the people of Cinaloa coincides with the rest. "I v. as ex- 
tremely attentive (saj^s he), during the years I resided among them, to ascertain 
whether they were to be considered as idolaters ; and it may be affirmed with 
the most perfect exactnes'-, that though among some of thorn there may be 
traces of idolatry, yet others have not the least knowledge of God, or even of 
any false deity, nor pay any formal adoration to the Supreme Being who exer- 
cises dominion over the world ; nor have they any conception of the providence 
of a Creator, or Governor, from whom they expect in the next life the reward 
of their good or the purishment of their evil deeds. Neither do they publicly 
join in any act of divine worship." Ribas Triumphos, &c. p. 16. 

Note [88]. Page 181. 

The people of Brasil were so much affrighted by thunder, which is frequent 
and awful in their country, as well as in other parts of the torrid zone, that it 
wa aot only the object of religious reverence, but the most expressive name 
in their language for the Deity was Toupan, the same by which they distin- 
guished thunder. Piso de Medec. Brasil, p. 8. Nieuhoff. Church. Coll. ii. p. 132 

Note [89]. Page 184. 

By the account which M. Dumont, an eye-witness, gives of the funeral of 
the great chief of the Natchez, it appears that the feelings of the persons who 
Buifered on that occasion were very ditferent. Some solicited the honour with 
eagerness ; others laboured to avoitl their doom, and several saved their lives 
by flying to the woods. As ihe Indian Brahmins give an intoxicating draught 
lo the women who are to be burned together with the bodies oi' their husbands, 
which renders them insensible of their approaching fate, the Natchez obliged 
their victims to jwallow several large pills of tobacco, which produces a similar 
eifect. Mem de Louis, i. 227. 

Note [90]. Page 187. 

On some occasions, particularly in dances instituted for the recovery of 

fiersons who are indisposed, they are extremely licentious and indecent. De 
a Pothorie Hist. &c. ii. p. 42. Charlev. N. Ft. iii. p. 319. But tlia nature of 
their dances is commonly such as I have described. 

Note [91]. Page 187. 

The Othomacoas, a tribe seated on the banks of the Orinoco, employ for the 
game purpose a composition which they call Yupa. It is formed of the seeds 
of an unknown plant reduced to rov/dcr, and certain shells buriiod and pul- 



484 MOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

verized. The effects of this when drawn up into the nostrils are so violent 
that they resemble madness rather than intoxication. Gumilla, i. 286. 

Note [92]. Page 188. 

Though this observation holds true among the greater part of the southern 
tribes, there are some in which the intemperance of the women is as excessive 
as that of the men. Bancroft's Nat. Hist, of Guiana, p. 275. 

Note [93]. Page 190. 

Even in the most intelligent writers concerning the manners of the Ameri- 
cans, one meets with inconsistent and inexplicable circumstances. The Jesuit 
Charlevoix, who, in consequence of the controversy between his order and that 
of the Franciscans, with respect to the talents and abilities of the North Ameri- 
cans, is disposed to represent their intellectual as well a^ moral qualities in the 
most favourable light, asserts, that they are engaged in continual negotiations 
with their neighbours, and conduct these with the most refined address. At the 
same time he adds, "• that it beliooves their envoys or plenipotentiaries to exert 
their abilities and eloquence, for, if the terms wliich they offer are not accepted, 
they had need to stand on their guard. It frequently happens, that a blow 
•with the hatchet is the only return given to their propositions. The envoy is 
not out of danger, even if he is so fortunate as to avoid the stroke ; he may 
expect to be pursued, and, if taken, to be burnt." Hist. N. Fr. iii. 251. What 
occurs, p. 147, concorning the manner in which the Tlascalans treated the am- 
bassadors from ZempoD.lla, corresponds with the fact related by Charlevoix. 
Men capable of such acta of violence seem to be unacquainted with the first 
principles upon which the intercourje between nations is founded ; and instead 
of the perpetual negotiations which Charlevoix mentions, it seems almost im- 
possible that there should be any correspondence whatever among them. 

Note [94]. Page 191. 

It is a remark of Tacitus concerning the Germans, " Gaudent muneribus, 
sed nee data imputant, nee accaptis obligantur." C. 21. An author who had 
a good opportunity of observing the principle which leads savages neither to 
express gratitude for favours which they had received, nor to expect any return 
for such as they bestowed, thus explains their ideas : " If (say they) you give 
me this, it is because you have no need of it yourself; and as for me, I never 
part with that whicii I think necessary to me." M^muire sur Ic Galibis; Hist, 
des Plantes de la Guiare Framjoise par M. Aublet, torn ii. p. 110. 

Note [95]. Page 196. 

And Bernaldes, the contemporary and friend of Columbus, has preserved 
some circumstances concerning the bravery of the Caribbees, which are not 
mentioned by Don Ferdinand Columbus, or the other historians of that period 
whose works have been published. A Caribbean canoe, with four men, two 
women, and a boy, fell in unexpectedly with the fleet of Columbus in his second 
voyage, as it was steering through their islands. At first they were struck 
almost stupid with astonishment at such a strange spectacle, and hardly moved 
from the spot for above an hour. A Spanish burk, with twentj'-five men, ad- 
vanced towards them, and the fleet gradually surrounded them, so as to cut 
off" their communication with the shore. " When they saw that it was im- 
possible to escape (says the historian), they seized their arms with undaunted 
resolution, and began the attack. I use the expression with undaunted resolution, 
for they were few, and beheld a vast number ready to assault them. They 
wounded several of the Spaniards, although they had targets, as well as other 
defensive armour ; and even after their canoe was overset, it was with no little 
dilficulty and danger that part of them were taken, as they continued to defend 
themselves, and to use their bows with great dexterity while swimming in the 
cea." Hist, de D. Fern, y Ysab. MS. c. 119. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.' 485 



Note [96]. Page 196. 

A PROBABLE conjecture may be formed with respect to the cause of the dis- 
tinction in character between the Caribbees and the inhabitants of the larger 
islands. The former appear manifestly to be a separate race. Their language 
is totally different from that of their neighbours in the large islands. They 
themselves have a tradition, that their ancestors came originally from some 
part of the continent, and, having conquered and exterminated the ancient 
inhabitants, took possession of their lands, and of their women. Rochefort, 
384. Tertre, 360. Hence they call themselves Banaree, which signifies a man 
come from beyond sea. Labat, vi. 131. Accordingly, the Caribbees still use 
two distinct languages, one peculiar to the men, and the other to the women. 
Tertre, 361. The language of the men has nothing common with that spoken 
in the large islands. The dialect of the women considerably resembles it, 
Labat, 129. This strongly confirms the tradition which I have mentioned. 
The Caribbees themselves imagine that they were a colony from the Galabis, 
a powerful nation of Guiana in South America. Tertre, 361. Rochefort, 3^18. 
But as their fierce manners approach nearer to those of the people in the 
northern continent, than to those of the natives of South America ; and as 
their language has likewise some affinity to that spoken in Florida, their origin 
should be deduced rather from the former than from the latter. Labat, 128, 
&c. Herrera, dec. i. lib. ix. c. 4. In their wars, they still observe their ancient 
practice of destroying all the males, and preserving the women either for ser- 
vitude or for breeding. 

Note [97]. Page 197. 

Odr knowledge of the events which happened in the conquest of New Spain, 
is derived from sources of information more original and authentic than that 
of any transaction in the history of America. The letters of Cortes to the 
Emperor Charles V. are an historical monument, not only first in order of 
time, but of the greatest authenticity and value. As Cortes early assumed a 
command independent of Velasquez, it became necessary to convey such an 
account of his operations to Madrid, as might procure him the approbation of 
his sovereign. 

The first of his despatches has never been made public. It was sent from 
Vera Cruz, July 16th, 1519. As I imagined that it might not reach the Emperor 
until be arrived in Germany, for which he set out early in the year 1520, in 
order to receive the Imperial crown ; I made diligent search for a copy of this 
despatch, both in Spain and in Germany, but without success. This, however, 
is of less consequence, as it could not contain any thing very material, being 
written so soon after Cortes arrived in New Spain. But, in searching for the 
letter from Cortes, a copy of one from the colony of Vera Cruz to the Emperor 
has been discovered in the Imperial library at Vienna. Of this I have given 
some account in its proper place, see p. 210. The second despatch, dated Oc- 
tober 30th, 1520, was published at Seville A. D. 1522, and the third and fourth 
soon after they were received. A Latin translation of them appeared in Ger- 
many A. D. 1532. Ramusio soon afler made them more generally known, by 
inserting them in his valuable collection. They contain a regular and minute 
history of the expedition, with many curious particulars concerning the policy 
and manners of the Mexicans. The work does honour to Cortes ; the style is 
simple and perspicuous; but as it was manifestly his interest to represent his 
own actions in the fairest light, his victories are probably exaggerated, his 
losses diminished, and his acts of rigour and violence softened. 

The next in order is the Chronica de la Nueva Espagna, by Francisco Lopes 
de Gomara, published A. D. 1554. Gomara's historical merit is considerable. 
His mode of narration is clear, flowing, always agreeable, and sometimes 
elegant. But he is frequently inaccurate and credulous ; and as he was the do- 
mestic chaplain of Cortes after his return from New Spain, and probably com- 
posed his work at his desire, it is manifest that he ^bours to magnify the merit 
of his hero, and to conceal or extenuate such transactions as were unfavourable 



486 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

to his character. Of this, Herrera accuses him in one inptance, Dec. ii. lib. iii, 
c. 2, and it is not once only that this is conspicuous. Ho writes, however, v/ith 
60 much freedom concerning severtil measures of the Spanish Court, that tlio 
copies both of his Historia de las Indias, and of his Chronica, were called in 
by a decree of the Council of the Indies, and they were long considered as pro- 
hibited books in Spain; it is only of late that license to print them has been 
granted. Pinelo Biblioth. 589. 

The Chronicle of Gomara induced Bernal Diaz del Castillo to compose his 
Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espagna. He had been au 
adventurer in each of the expeditions to New Spain, and was the companion 
of Cortes in all his battles and perils. AVhen he found that neither he himself, 
nor many of his fellow-soldiers, were once mentioned by Gomara, but that the 
fame of all their exploits was ascribed to Cortes, the gallant veteran laid hold 
of his pen with indignation, and composed his true history. It contains a prolix, 
minute, confused narrative of all Cortes's operations, in such a rude vulgar 
style as might be expected from an illiterate soldier. But as he relates trans- 
actions of which he was witness, and in which he performed a considerable 
part, his account bears all the marks of authenticity, and is accompanied with 
such a pleasant nav'ieie, with such interesting details, with such amusing vanity, 
and yet so pardonable in an old soldier who had been (as he boasts) in a hun- 
dred and nineteen battles, as renders his book one of the most singular that 
is to be found in any language. 

Pet. Martyr ab Angleria, in a treatise De Insulis nuper inventis, added to 
his Decades de Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe, gives some account of Cortes's 
expedition. But he proceeds no further than to relate what happened after 
his first landing. This work, which is brief and slight, seems to contain the, 
information transmitted by Cortes in his first despatches, embeUished with 
several particulars communicated to the author by the officers who brought the 
letters from Cortes. 

But the book to which the greater part of modern historians have had re- 
course for information concerning the conquest of New Spain, is Historia do 
la Conquista de Mexico, por D. Antonio de Solis, first published A D. lt)84. 
I know no author in any language whose literary fame has risen so far beyond 
his real merit. De Solis is recltoned by his countrymen one of the purest 
writers in the Castilian tongue ; and if a foreigner may venture to give his 
opinion concerning a matter of which Spaniards alone are qualified to judge, 
he is entitled to that praise. But though his language be correct, his taste in 
composition is far from being just. His periods are so much laboured as to be 
often stiff, and sometimes tumid ; the figures which he employs by \v ay of 
ornament are frequently trite or improper, and his observations superficial. 
These blemishes, however, might easily be overlooked, if he were not defective 
with respect to all the great qualities of an historian. Destitute of that 
patient industry in research which conducts to the knowledge of truth ; a 
stranger to that impartiality which weighs evidence with cool attention ; and 
ever eager to establish his favourite system of exalting the character of Cortes 
into that of a perfect hero, exempt from error, and adorned v>ith every virtue ; 
he is less solicitous to discover what was true than to relate what might appear 
splendid. When he attempts any critical discussion, his reasonings are fai 
lacious, and founded \ipon an imperfect view of facts. Though he sometimes 
quotes the despatches of Cortes, he seems not to have consulted them ; and 
though he sets out with some censure on Gomara, he frequently prefers hia 
authority, the most doubtful of any, to that of the other contemporary his- 
torians. 

But of all the Spanish writers, Herrera furnishes the fuUest and mobt accu- 
rate information concerning the conquest of Mexico, as well as every other 
transaction of America. The industry and attention with which he consulted 
not only the books, but the original papers and public records, which tended to 
throw any liglit upon the subject of his inquiries, were so great, and he usually 
judges of the evidence before him with so much impartiality and candour, that 
his Decads may be ranked among the most judicious and useful historical col- 
lections. If, l)y attempting to relate the various occurrences in the New World 
in a strict chronological order, the arranjrement of events in his work had not 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 487 

been rendered so perplexed, disconnected, and obscure, that it is an unpleasant 
task to collect from different parts of his book, and piece together the detached 
shreds of a story, he might justly have been ranked among the most eminent 
historians of bis country. He gives an account of the materials from which 
he composed his v^ork, Dec. vi. lib. iii. c. 19. 

Note [98]. Page 198. 

Cortes purposed to have gone in the train of Ovando when he set out for 
his government in the year 1502, but was detained by an accident. As he was 
attempting in a dark night to scramble up to the window of a lady's bed- 
chamber, with whom he carried on an intrigue, an old wall, on the top of 
which he had mounted, gave way, and he was so much bruised by the fall as 
to be unfit for the voyage. Gomara, Cronica de la Nueva Espagna, cap. 1 

Note [99]. Page 198. 

Cortes had two thousand pesos in the hands of Andrew Duero, and he bor- 
rowed four thousand. Those sums are about equal in value to fifteen hundred 
pounds sterling ; but as the price of every thing was extremely high in America, 
they made but a scanty stock when applied towards the equipment of a military 
expedition. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iii. c. 2. B. Diaz, c. 20. 

Note [100]. Page 200. 

The names of those gallant officers, which will often occur in the subsequent 
story, were Juan Velasquez de Leon, Alonso Hernandez Portocarrero, Francisco 
de Montejo, Christoval de Olid, Juan de Escalante, Francisco de Morla, Pedro 
de Alvarado, Francisco de Salceda, Juan de Escobar, Gines de Nortes. Cortes 
himself commanded the Capitana, or Admiral. Francisco de Orozco, an officer 
formed in the wars of Italy, had the command of the artillery. The experi- 
enced Alaminos acted as chief pilot. 

Note [101]. Page 201. 

In those different conflicts, the Spaniards lost only two men, but had a con- 
siderable number wounded. Though there be no occasion for recourse to any 
supernatural cause to account either for the greatness of their victories, or the 
smallness of their loss, the Spanish historians fail not to ascribe both to the 
patronage of St. Jago, the tutelar saint of their country, who, as they relate, 
fought at the head of their countrymen, and by his prowess gave a turn to the 
fate of the battle. Gomara is the first who mentions this apparition of St, 
James. It is amusing to observe the embarrassment of B. Diaz del Castillo, 
occasioned by the struggle between his superstition and his veracity. The 
former disposed him to believe this miracle, the latter restrained him from 
attesting it. " I acknowledge," says he, " that all our exploits and victories 
are owing to our Lord Jesus Christ, and that in this battle there was such a 
number of Indians to every one of us, that if each had thrown a handful of 
earth they might have buried us, if by the great mercy of God we had not 
been protected. It may be that the person whom Gomara mentions as having 
appeared on a mottled gray horse, was the glorious apostle Signer San Jago 
or Signer San Pedro, and that I, as being a sinner, was not worthy to see him. 
This I know, that I saw Francisco de Morla, on such a horse, but as an un- 
worthy transgressor, did not deserve to see any of the holy apostles. It may 
have been the will of God, that it was so as Gomara relates, but until I read 
his Chronicle I never heard among any of the conquerors that such a thing 
had happened." Cap. 34. 

Note [102]. Face 203. 

Several Spanish historians relate this occurrence in such terms as if they 
wished it should be believed, that the Indians, loaded with the presents, had 



488 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

carried them from the capital, iu the same short space of time that the courier§ 
performed that journey. This is incredible, and Gomara mentions a circum- 
Btance which shows that nothing extraordinary happened on this occasion. 
This rich present had been prepared for Grijalva, when he touched at the same 
place some months before, and was now ready to be delivered, as soon as 
Montezuma sent orders for that purpose. Gomara Cron. c. xxvii. p. 28. 

According to B. Diaz del Castillo, the value of the silver plate representing 
the moon was alone above twenty thousand pesos, above five thousand pounds 
sterling. 

Note [103]. Page 206. 

This private trafSc was directly contrary to the instructions of Velasquez, 
who enjoined, that whatever was acquired by trade should be thrown into the 
common stock. But it appears that the soldiers had each a private assortment 
of toys and other goods proper for the Indian trade, and Cortes gained their 
favour by encouraging this underhand barter. B. Diaz, c. 41. 

Note [104]. Page 211. 

Gomara has published a catalogue of the various articles of which this pre- 
sent consisted. Cron. c. 49. P. Martyr ab Angleria, who saw them after they 
were brought to Spain, and who seems to have examined them with great at- 
tention, gives a description of each, which is curious, as it conveys some idea 
of the progress which the Mexicans had made in several arts of elegance. Do 
Insuhs nuper inventis Liber, p. 354, &c. 

Note [105]. Page 213. 

There is no circumstance in the history of the conquest of America which 
is more questionable than the account of tlie numerous armies brought into 
the field against the Spaniards. As the ^var with the republic of Tlascala, 
though of short duration, was one of the most considerable which the Spaniards 
waged in America, the account given of the Tlascalan armies merits some at- 
tention. The only authentic information concerning this is derived from threo 
authors. Cortes in his second despatch to the Emperor, dated at Segura de la 
Frontera, Oct. 30, 1520, thus estimates the number of their troops ; in the first 
battle 6000; in the second battle 100,000; in the third battle 150,000. Relat. 
ap. Ramus, iii. 228. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who was an eye witness, and 
engaged in all the actions of this war, thus reckons their numbers : in the first 
battle, 3000, p. 43 ; in the second battle 6000, ibid. ; in the third battle 50,000, 
p. 45. Gomara, who was Cortes's chaplain after his return to Spain, and 
published his Cronica in 1552, follows the computation of Cortes, except in the 
second battle, where he reckons the Tlascalans, at 80,000, p. 49. It was mani- 
festly the interest of Cortes to magnify his own dangers and exploits. For it 
was only by the merit of extraordinary services that he could hope to atone for 
his irregular conduct in assuming an independent command. Bern. Diaz, 
though abundantly disposed to place his own prowess, and that of his fellow- 
conquerors, in the most advantageous point of light, had not the same tempta- 
tion to exaggerate ; and it is probable that his account of the numbers ap- 
proaches nearer to the truth. The assembling of an army of 150,000 men 
requires many previous arrangements, and such provisions for their subsistence 
as seems to be beyond the foresight of Americans. The degree of cultivation 
in Tlascala does not seem to have been so great as to have furnished such 
a vast army with provisions. Though this province was so much better 
cultivated than other regions of New Spain that it was called the country of 
bread; yet the Spaniards in their march suffered such want, that they were 
obliged to subsist upon Tiinas, a species of fruit which grows wild in the fields. 
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. c. 5. p. 182. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 489 



Note [106]. Page 2l3 

These unhappy victims are said to be persons of distinction. It seems im- 
probable that so great a number as fifty should be employed as spies. So many 
prisoners had been taken and dismissed, and the Tlascalans had sent so many 
messages to the Spanish quarters, that there appears to be no reason for 
hazarding the lives of so many considerable people in order to procure infor- 
mation about the position and state of their camp. The barbarous manner in 
which Cortes treated a people unacquainted with the laws of Vi^ar established 
among polished nations, appears so shocking to the later Spanish writers, that 
they diminish the number of those whom he punished so cruelly. Herrera 
says, that he cut off the hands of seven, and the thumbs of some more. Dec. 
ii. lib. ii. c. 8. De Soils relates, that the hands of fourteen or fifteen were cut 
off, and the thumbs of all the rest. Lib. ii. c. 20. But Cortes himself, Relat, 
p. 228. b. and after him Gomara, c. 48, affirm, that the hands of all the fifty 
were cut off. 

Note [107]. Page 216. 

The horses were objects of the greatest astonishment to all the people of 
New Spain. At first they imagined the horse and his rider, like the Centaurs 
of the ancients, to be some monstrous animal of a terrible form ; and supposing 
that their food was the same as that of men, brought flesh and bread to nourish 
them. Even after they discovered their mistake, they believed the horses de- 
voured men in battle, and when they neighed, thought that they were demanding 
their prey. It was not the interest of the Spaniards to undeceive them. 
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. c. 11. 

Note [108]. Page 218. 

According to Bart, de las Casas, there was no reason for this massacre, and 
it was an act of wanton cruelty, perpetrated merely to strike terror into the 
people of New Spain. Relac. de la Destruyc. p. 17, &;c. But the zeal of Las 
Casas often leads him to exaggerate. In opposition to him, Bern. Diaz, c. 83, 
asserts, that the first missionaries sent into New Spain by the Emperor made a 
judicial inquiry into this transaction; and having examined the priests and elders 
of Cholula, found that there was a real conspiracy to cut off the Spaniards, 
and that the account given by Cortes was exactly true. As it was the object 
of Cortes at that time, and manifestly his interest, to gain the good will of 
Montezuma, it is improbable that he should have taken a step which tended 
so visibly to alienate him from the Spaniards, if he had not believed it to be 
necessary for his own preservation. At the same time the Spaniards who 
served in America had such contempt for the natives, and thought them so 
little entitled to the common rights of men, that Cortes might hold the Cholu- 
lans to be guilty upon slight and imperfect evidence. The severity of tho 
punishment was certainly excessive and atrocious. 

Note [109]. Page 218. 

This description is taken almost literally from Bemal Diaz del Castillo, who 
was so unacquainted with the art of composition as to be incapable of em- 
bellishing his narrative. He relates in a simple and rude style what passed in 
his own mind and that of his fellow-soldiers on that occasion : " and let it not 
be thought strange," says he, " that I should write in this manner of what then 
happened, for it ought to be considered, that it is one thing to relate, another 
to have beheld things that were never before seen, or heard, or spoken of 
among men." Cap. 86. p. 64. b. 

Note [110]. Page 223. 

B. Diaz del Castillo gives us some idea of the fatigue and hardships they 
underwent in performing this and other parts of duty. During the nine montiu 
Vol. I.— 62 



490 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ihat they remained in Mexico, every man, without any distinction betweev 
officers and soldiers, slept on his arms in his quilted jacket and gorget. They 
i;iy on mats, or straw spread on the floor, and each was obliged to hold himself 
as alert sls if he had been on guard. " This," adds he, "became so habitual to 
me, that even now, in my advanced age, I always sleep in my clothes, and never 
in any bed. When I visit my Encoviienda, I reckon it suitable to my rank to 
have a bed carried along with my other baggage, but I never go into it ; but 
according to custom, 1 lie in my clothes, and walk frequently during the 
night into the open air to view the stars, as 1 was wont when in service." 
Cap. 108. 

Note [111]. Page 224. 

Cortes himself, in his second despatch to the Emperor, does not explain the 
motives which induced him either to condemn Qualpopoca to the flames, or 
to put Montezuma in irons. Ramus, iii. 236. B. Diaz is silent with respect to 
his reasons for the former ; and the only cause he assigns for the latter was, 
that he might meet with no interruption in executing the sentence pronounced 
against Qualpopoca, c. xcv. p. 75. But as Montezuma was his prisoner, and 
absolutely in his power, he had no reason to dread him, and the insult ofiered 
to that monarch could have no effect but to irritate him unnecessarily. Gomara 
supposes that Cortes had no other object than to occupy Montezuma with his 
own distress and sufferings, that ho might give less attention to what befell 
Qualpopoca. Cron. c. 89. Herrera adopts the same opinion, Dec. ii. lib. 
viii. c. 9. But it seems an odd expedient, in order to make a person bear one 
injury, to load him with another that is greater. De Solis imagines, that Cortes 
had nothing else in view than to intimidate Montezuma, so that he might make 
no attempt to rescue the victims from their fate ; but the spirit of that monarch 
was so submissive, and he had so tamely given up the prisoners to the disposal 
of Cortes, that he had no cause to apprehend any opposition from him. If the 
explanation which I have attempted to give of Cortes's proceedings un this oc- 
casion be not admitted, it appears to me, that they must be reckoned amonj 
tlie wanton and barbarous acts of oppression which occur too often in the his- 
tory of the conquest of America. 

Note [112]. Page 226. 

De Solis asserts, lib. iv. c. 3, that the proposition of doing homage to the Kmg 
of Spain came from Montezuma himself, and was made in order to induce the 
Spaniards to depart out of his dominions. He describes his conduct on this 
occasion as if it had been founded upon a scheme of profound policy, and 
executed with such a refined address as to deceive Cortes himself. But there 
is no hint or circumstance in the contemporary historians, Cortes, Diaz, or 
Gomara, to justify this theory. Montezuma, on other occasions, discovered 
no such extent of art and abilities. The anguish which he felt in performing 
this humbling ceremony is natural, if we suppose it to have been involuntary. 
But, according to the theory of De Solis, which supposes that Montezuma was 
executing what he himself had proposed, to have assumed an appearance of 
sorrow would have been preposterous, and inconsistent with his own design of 
deceiving the Spaniards. 

Note [113]. Page 227. 

In several of the provinces, the Spaniards, with all their industry and influ- 
ence, could collect no gold. In others, they procured only a few trinkets of 
small value. Montezuma assured Cortes, that the present which he offered to 
the king of Castile, after doing homage, consisted of all the treasure amassed 
by his father : and told him, that he had already distributed the rest of his 
gold and jewels among the Spaniards. B. Diaz. c. 104. Gomara relates, that 
all the silver collected amounted to 500 marks. Cron. c. 93. This agrees with 
the account given by Cortes, that the royal fifth of silver was 100 marks. 
Relat. 239. B. So that the sum total of silver was only 4000 ounces, at the 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 491 

rate of eight ounces a mark, which demonstrates the proportion of silver to 
gold to have been exceedingly small. 

Note [114]. Page 227 

De Solis, lib. iv. c. 1. calls in question the truth of this transaction, from no 
better reason than that it was inconsistent with that prudence which distin- 
guishes the character of Cortes. But he ought to have recollected the impetu- 
osity of his zeal at Tlascala, which was no less imprudent. He asserts, that 
the evidence for it rests upon the testimony of B. Diaz del Castillo, of Gomara, 
and of Herrcra. They all concur, indeed, in mentioning this inconsiderate 
step which Cortes took ; and they liad good reason to do so, for Cortes him- 
self relates this exploit in his second despatch to the Emperor, and seems to 
glory in it. Cort. Relat. Ramus, iii. 140. D. This is one instance, among 
many, of Dc Solis's having consulted with little attention the letters of Cortes 
to Charles V. from which the most authentic information with respect to his 
operations must be derived. 

Note [115]. Page 229. 

Herrera and De Solis suppose that Velasques was encouraged to equip this 
armament against Cortes by the account which he received from Spain con- 
cerning the reception of the agents sent by the colony of Vera Cruz, and the 
• warmth with which Fonseca Bishop of Burgos had espoused his interest, and 
condemned the proceedings of Cortes. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ix. c. 18. De 
Sohs, lib. iv. c. 5. But the chronological order of events refutes this supposi- 
tion. Portocarrero and Montejo sailed from Vera Cruz, July 26, 1519. Her- 
rera, dec. ii. lib. v. c. 4. They landed at St. Lucar in October, according to 
Herrera, ibid. But P. Martyr, who attended the court at that time, and com- 
municated every occurrence of moment to his correspondents day by day, 
mentions the arrival of these agents for the first time in December, and speaks 
of it as a recent event. Epist. 650. All the historians agree that the agents 
of Cortes had their first audience of the Emperor at Tordesillas, when he went 
to that town to visit his mother in his way to St. Jago de Compostella. Her- 
rera, dec. ii. lib. v. c. 4. De Solis, lib. iv. c. 5. But the Emperor set out from 
Valladolid for Tordesillas on the 11th of March, 1520 ; and P. Martyr mentions 
his having seen at that time the presents made to Charles. Epist. 1665. The 
armament under Narvaez sailed from Cuba in April 1520. It is manifest then 
that Velasquez could not receive any account of what passed in this interview 
at Tordesillas previous to his hostile preparations against Cortes. His real 
motives seem to be those which I iiave mentioned. The patent appointing him 
Adelanlado of New Spain, with such extensive powers, bears date November 
13, 1519. Herrera, dee. ii. lib. iii. c. 11. He might receive it about tho 
beginning of .January. Gomara takes notice, that as soon as this patent was 
delivered to him, he began to equip a fleet and levy forces. Cron. c. 96. 

Note [116]. Page 230. 

De Solis contends, that as Narvaez had no interpreters, he could hold no 
intercourse with the people of the provinces, nor converse with them in any 
way but by signs, t],at it was equally impossible for him to carry on any com- 
munication with Montezuma. Liv. iv. c. 7. But it is upon the authority of 
Cortes himself that I relate all the particulars of Narvaez's correspondence both 
with Montezuma and with his subjects in the maritime provinces. Relat. 
Ramus, iii. 244. A. C. Cortes affirms that there was a mode of intercourse 
between Narvaez and the Mexicans, but does not explain how it was carried on. 
Bernal Diaz supplies this defect, and informs us that the three deserters who 
joined Narvaez acted as interpreters, having acquired a competent knowledge 
of the language, c. 110. With his usual minuteness, he mentions their names 
and characters, and relates, in chapter 122, how they were punished for their 
perfidy. The Spaniards had now resided above a year among the M';:;icans; 
and it is not surprising that several among tliem should have made some pro- 



492 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ficiency in speaking their language. This seems to have been the case. Her- 
rera, dec. 2. lib. x. c. 1. Both B. Piaz, who was present, and Herrera, the most 
accurate and best informed of all the Spanish writers, agree with Cortes in his 
account of the secret correspondence carried on with Montezuma. Dec. 2. lib. 
X. c. 18, 19. De Solis seems to consider it as a discredit to Cortes, his hero, 
that Montezuma should have been ready to engage in a correspondence with 
Narvaez. He supposes that monarch to have contracted such a wonderful 
affection for the Spaniards, that he was not solicitous to be delivered from 
them. After the indignity with which he had been treated, such an affection 
IS incredible ; and even De Solis is obliged to acknowledge, that it must be 
looked upon as one of the miracles which God had wrought to facilitate the 
conquest, lib. iv. c. 7. The truth is, Montezuma, however much overawed by 
his dread of the Spaniards, was extremely impatient to recover his liberty. 

Note [117]. Page 236. 

These words I have borrowed from the anonymous Account of the European 
Settlements in America, published by Dodsley, in two volumes 8vo. ; a work 
of so much merit, that I should think there is hardly any writer in the age who 
ought to be ashamed of acknowledging himself to be the author of it. 

Note [118]. Page 238. 

The contemporary historians differ considerably with respect to the loss of 
the Spaniards on this occasion. Cortes in his second despatch to the Emperor, 
makes the number only 150. Relat. ap. Ramus, iii. p. 249. A. But it was 
manifestly his interest, at that juncture, to conceal from the court of Spain the 
full extent of the loss which he had sustained. De Solis, always studious to 
diminish every misfo;-tune that befell his countrymen, rates their loss at about 
dwo hundred men. Lib. iv. c. 19. B, Diaz affirms that they lost 870 men, 
and that only 440 escaped from Mexico, c. 128. p. 108. B. Palafox, Bishop of 
Los Angeles, who seems to have inquired into the early transactions of his 
countrymen in New Spain with great attention, confirm^ the account of B, 
Diaz with respect to the extent of their loss. Virtudes del Indio, p. 22. Gomara 
states their loss at 450 men. Cron. c. 109. Some months afterwards, when 
Cortes had received several reinforcements, he mustered his troops, and found 
them to be only 590. Relat. ap. Ramus, iii. p. 255. E. Now, as Narvaez 
brought 880 men into New Spain, and about 400 of Cortes's soldiers were then 
alive, it is evident that his loss, in the retreat from Mexico, must have been 
much more considerable than what he mentions. B. Diaz, solicitous to magnify 
the dangers and sufferings to which he and his fellow-conquerors were exposed, 
may have exaggerated their loss; but, in my opinion,it cannot well be estimated 
at less than 600 men, 

xVoTE [119j. Page 246, 

Some remains of this great work are still visible, and the spot where the 
brigantines were built and launched is still pointed out to strangers, Torque- 
mada viewed them, Monarq, Indiana, vol. i. p. 531, 

Note [120]. Page 249. 

The station of Alvarado on the causeway of Tacuba was the nearest to the 
city. Cortes observes, that there they could distinctly observe what passed 
when their countrymen were sacrificed. Relat. ap. Ramus, iii. p. 273. E. B, 
Diaz, who belonged to Alvarado's division, relates what he beheld with hia 
own eyes. C. 151. p. 148. b. 149. a. Like a man whose courage was so clear 
as to be above suspicion, he describes with his usual simplicity the impression 
which this spectacle made upon him. " Before (says he) I saw the breasts of 
my companions opened, their hearts yet fluttering, offered to an accursed idol, 
and their flesh devoured by their exulting enemies ; I was accustomed to enter 
a battle not only without fear, but with high spirit. But from that time I nevei 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 493 

advanced to fight with the Mexicans without a secret horror and anxiety ; my 
heart trembled at the thoughts of the death which I had seen thejn suifer." 
He takes care to add, that as soon as the combat began, his terror went oiF; 
and indeed, his adventurous bravery on every occasion is full evidence of this. 
B. Diaz, c. 156. p. 157. a. 

Note [121]. Page 252. 

One circumstance in this siege merits particular notice. The account which 
the Spanish writers give of the numerous armies employed in the attack or 
defence of Mexico seems to be incredible. According to Cortes himself, he 
had at one time 150,000 auxiliary Indians in his service. Relat. Ramus, iii, 
275. E. Gomara asserts that they were above 200,000. Cron. c. 136. Her, 
rera, an author of higher authority, says they were about 200,000 Dec. iii. 
lib. i. c. 19. None of the contemporary writers ascertain explicitly the number 
of persons in Mexico during the siege. But Cortes on several occasions men- 
tions the number of Mexicans who were slain, or who perished for want of 
food ; and, if we may rely on those circumstances, it is probable that above 
t»vo hundred thousand must have been shut up in the town. But the quantity 
of provisions necessary for the subsistence of such vast multitudes assembled 
in one place, during three months, is so great, that it requires so much foresight 
and arrangenient to collect these, and lay them up in magazines, so as to be 
certain of a regular supply, that one can hardly believe that this could be ac- 
complished in a country where agriculture was so imperfect as in the Mexican 
empire, where there were no tame animals, and by a people naturally so im- 
provident, and so incapable of executing a complicated plan, as the most 
improved Americans. The Spaniards, with all their care and attention, fared 
very poorly, and were often reduced to extreme distress for want of provisions. 
B. Diaz, p. 142. Cortes Relat. 271. D. Cortes on one occasion mentions 
slifrhtly the sul;jistence of Ms army ; and, after acknowledging that they were 
often in great want, adds, that they received supplies from the people of the 
country, of fish, and of some fruit, which he calls the cherries of the country. 
Ibid. B. Diaz says that they had cakes of maize, and serasas de la tierra ; and 
when the season of these was over, another fruit, which he calls Tunas ; but 
their most comfortable subsistence was a root which the Indians use as food, to 
which he gives the name of ^uilites, p. 142. The Indian auxiliaries had one 
means of subsistence moi j than the Spaniards. They fed upon the bodies of 
the Mexicans whom they killed in battle. Cortes Relat. 176. C. B. Diaz con- 
firms his relation, and adds, that when the Indians returned f.om Mexico to 
their own count'-y, they carried with them large quantities of flesh of the 
Mexicans salted or dried, as a most acceptable present to their fi lends, thu.t they 
might have the pleasure of feeding upon the bodies of their enemies in their 
festivals, p. 157. De Soils, who seems to consider it as an imputation of dis- 
credit to his countrymen, that they should act in concert with auxiliaries who 
fed upon human flesh, is solicitous to prove that the Spaniards endeavoured to 
prevent their associates from eating the bodies of the Mexicans, lib. v. c. 24. 
But he has no authority for this from the original historians. Neither Cortes 
himcelf nor B. Diaz seems to have had any such scruple; and on many occa- 
sions they mention the Indian repasts, which were become familiar to them, 
without any mark of abhorrence. Even with this additional stock of food for 
the Indians, it was hardly possible to procure subsistence for armies amounting 
to such numbers as we find in the Spanish writers. Perhaps the best solution 
of the difficulty is, to adopt the opinion of B. Diaz del Castillo, the most artless 
of all the Historiadores primitivos. " When Gomara (says he) on some occa- 
sions relat'^s, that there were so many thousand Indians our auxiliaries, and on 
others, that there were so many thousand houses in this or that town, no regard 
is to be paid to his enumeration, as he has no authority for it, the numbers not 
being in reality the fifth of what he relates. If we add together the different 
numbers which he mentions, that country would contain more millions than 
there are in Castile." C. 129. But though some considerable deduction should 
certainly be made from the Spanish accounts of tiie Mexican forces, they must 
have been very numerous ; for nothing but an immense superiority in number 



494 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

could have enabled them to withstand a body of nine hundred Spaniards, con- 
ducted by a leader of such abilities as Cortes. 

Note [122]. Page 257. 

In relating the oppressive and cruel proceedings of the conquerors of New 
Spain, I have not follovi'ed B. de las Casae as my guide. His account of them, 
Relat. de la Dcstruyc. p. 18, &c. is manifestly exaggerated. It is from the 
testimony of Cortes iiimself, and of Gomara who wrote under his eye, that I 
have taken my account of the punishment of the Panucans, and they relate it 
vi'ithout any disapprobation. B. Diaz, contrary to his usual custom, mentions 
it onW in general terms, c. 162. Herrera, solicitous to extenuate this barbarous 
actioi.i of his countrymen, though he mentions 63 caziques, and 400 men of 
note, as being condemned to the flames, asserts that 30 only were burnt, and 
the rest pardoned. Dec. 3. lib. v. c. 7. But this is contrary to the test'mony 
of the original historians, particularly of Gomara, v>'hom it appears he had 
consulted, as he adopts several of his expressions in this passage. The punish- 
ment of Guatimozin is related by the most authentic of the Spanish writers. 
Torquemada has extracted from a iiistory of Tezeuco, composed in the Mexi- 
can tongue, an account of this transaction, more favourable to Guatimozin 
than that of the Spanish authors. Mon. Indiana, i. 575. According to the 
Mexican account, Cortes had scarcely a shadow of evidence to justify such a 
wanton act of cruelty. B. Diaz affirms, that Guatimozin and his fellow- 
sufferers asserted their innocence with their last breath, and that many of the 
Spanish soldiers condemned this action of Cortes as equally unnecessary and 
unjust, p. 200. b. 201. a. 

Note [123]. Page 259. 

The motive for iindertaking this expedition was, to punish Christoval de 
Olid, one of his officers who had revolted against him, and aimed at establishing 
an inr^ependent jurisdiction. Cortes regarded this insurrect'on as of such 
dangerous example, and dreaded so much the aldlities and popularity of its 
author, that in person he led the body of troops destined to su,.press it. He 
marched, according to Gomara, three thousand miles, through a country 
abounding wiui thick forests, rugged mountains, deep rivers, thinly inhabited, 
and cultivated only in a few places. What he suffered from famine, from the 
hostility of the natives, from the climate, and from hardships of every specie j, 
has nothing in history paral'el to it, but what occurb in the ::dven+ures of the 
other discoverers and conquerors of the Ne\v World. Cortes was employed 
in *,his dreadful service above two years ; and though it was not distinguished 
by any splendid event, he exhibited, during the course of it, greater personal 
courage, more fortitude of mind, more perseverance and patience than in any 
other period or scere in his life. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. vi. vii. viii. ix. Gomara, 
Cron. c. 163 — 1'''7. B. Diaz, 174 — 190. Cortes, MS. penes me. Were one to 
write a Ufe of Cortec, the account of this expedition should occupy a splendid 
place in it. In a general history of America, as the expedition was productive 
of no great event, the mention of it is sufficient. 

Note [124]. Page 259. 

According to Herrera, the treasure which Cortes brought with him, consisted 
of fifteer. hundred marks of wrought plate, two hundred thousand pesos of 
fine gold, and ten thousand of inferior standard, many rich jewels, one in par- 
ticular worth forty thousand pesos, and several trinkets and ornaments of 
value. Dec. 4. lib. iii. c. 8. lib. iv. c. 1. He afterwards engaged to give a por- 
tion with his daughter of a hundred thousand pesos. Gomare. Cron. c. '::37. 
The fortune which he left his sons was very considerable. But, as we have 
before related, the sum divided among the conquerors, on the first reduction 
of Mexico, was very small. There appears, then, to be some reason for sus- 
pecting that the accusations of Cortcs's (enemies were not altogether destitute 
of foundation. They charged him with having applied to his own use a dis- 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 495 

proportionate share of the Mexican spoils ; with having concealed the royal 
treasures of Montezuma and Guatimozin ; with defrauding the king of his 
fifth; and robbing his followers of what was due to them. Herrera, dec. 3, lib, 
viii. c. 15. dec. 4. lib. iii. c. 8. Some of the conquerors themselves entertained 
suspicions of the same kind with respect to this part of his conduct. B. 
Diaz, c, 157. 

Note [125]. Page 261. 

In tracing the progress of the Spanish arms in New Spain, we have followed 
Cortes himself as our most certain guide. His despatches to the Emperor con- 
tain a minute account of his operations. But the unlettered conqueror of 
Peru was incapable of relating his own exploits. Our information with respect 
to them, and other transactions in Peru, is derived, however, from convemporary 
and respectable authors. 

The most early account of Pizarro s transactions in Peru was published by 
Francisco Je Xerez, his secretary. It is a simple, unadorned narrative, carried 
d iwn no further than the death of Atahualpa, in 1533 ; for the author returned 
to Spain in 1534, and, soon after he landed, printed at Seville his short History 
of the Conquest of Peru, addressed to the Emperor. 

Don Pedro Sancho, an officer who served under Pizarro, drew up an account 
of his expc-ition, which was translated into Italian by Hamusio, and inserted 
in his valuable collection, but has never been published in its original language. 
Sancho returned to Spain at the same time with Xerez. Great credit is due 
to what both these authors relate concerning the progress and operations of 
Pizarro ; but the residence of the Spaniards in Peru had been so short, at the 
time when they left it, and their intercourse with the natives are so slender, 
that their knowledge of the Peruvian manners and customs is very imperfect. 

The next contemporary historian is Pedro Cieza de Leon, who published his 
Croiiica del Peru at Seville in 1553. If he had finished all that he purposes in 
the general division of his work, it would have been the most complete history 
which had been . ablished of any region in the New World. He was well 
qualified to execute it, having served during seventeen years in America, and 
having visited in person most of the provinces concerning .vhich he had occa- 
sion to write. But only the first part of his chronicle has been printed. It 
contains a description of P'iru, and several of the adjacent provinces, with an 
account of the institutions and customs of the natives, and is written with so 
little art, and such an apparent regard for truth, that one must regret the loss 
of the other parts of his work. 

This loss is amply supplied by Don Augustine Zarate, wb"^ published, in 
1555, his Historia del Descubrimiento y Conquesta de la Provincia del Peru. 
Zarate was a man of rank and education, and employed in Peru as comptroller- 
general of tiie public revenue. His history, whether we attend to its matter 
or composition, is a book of considerable merit: as he had an opportunity to 
be well informed, and seems to have been inquisitive with respect to the man- 
ners and transactions of the Peruvians, great credit is due to his testimony. 

Df^n Diego Fernandez published his Historia del Peru in 1571. His solo 
object is to relate the dissensions and civil wars of tlie Spaniards in that em- 
pire. As he served in a public station in Peru, and was well acquainted both 
with the country and with the principal actors in those singular scenes which 
he describes, as he possessed sound understanding and great impartiality, his 
work may be ranked among those of the historians most distinguished for their 
industry in re-iearcli, or their capacity in judging with respect to the events 
which they relate. 

The last author who can be reckoned among the contemporary historians of 
the conquest of Peru is Garcilasso de la Vega, Inca. For though the first part 
of his work, entitled Coinmentarios lieales del Origin de los Incas Reics del Peru, 
was not published sooner than the year 16C9, seventy-six years after the death 
of Atahualpa the last Emperor, yet as he was born in Peru, and was the son of 
an officer of distinction among the Spanisli conquerors, by a Coya, or lady of 
the royal race, on account of which he always took the name of Inca ; as he 
was master of the language spoken by the Incas, and acquainted with the tra- 



496 NO I £8 AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ditions of his countrymen, his authority is rated very high, and often placed 
above that of all the other historians. His work, however, is little more than 
a commentary upon the Spanish writers of the Peruvian story, and composed 
of quotations taken from the authors whom I have mentioned. This is the 
idea which he himself gives of it, lib. i. c. 10. Nor is it in the account of 
facts only that he follows them servilely. Even in explaining the institutions 
and rites of his ancestors, his information seems not to be more perfect than 
theirs. His explanation of the Quipos is almost tho same with that of Acosta. 
He produces no specimen of Peruvian poetry, but that wretched one which he 
borrows from Bias Valera, an early missionary, whose memoirs have never been 
published. Lib. ii. c. 15. As for composition, arrangement, or a capacity of 
distinguishing between what is fabulous, what is probable, and what is true, 
one searches for them in vain in the commentaries of the Inca. His work, 
however, notwithstanding its great defects, is not altogether destitute of use. 
Some traditions which he received from his countrymen are preserved in it. 
His knowledge of the Peruvian language has enabled him to correct some errors 
of the Spanish writers, and he has inserted in it some curious facts taken from 
authors whose works were never published, and are now lost. 

Note [126]. Page 263. 

One may form an idea both of the hardships which they endured, and of 
the unhealthy climate in the regions which they visited, from tlie extraordinary 
mortality that prevailed among them. Pizarro carried out 112 men, Almagro 
70. In less than nine months 130 of these died. Few fell by the sword ; most 
of them were cut off by diseases. Xeres, p. 180. 

Note [127]. Page 264. 

This island, says Herrera, is rendered so uncomfortable by the unwholesome- 
ness cf its climate, its impenetrable woods, its rugged mountains, and the mul- 
titude of insects and reptiles, that it is seldom any softer epithet than that of 
infernal is employed in describing it. Tho sun is alinost never seen there, and 
throughout the year it hardly ever ceases to rain. Dec. iii. lib. -. c. 3. Da^n- 
pier touched at this island in the year 1885 ; and his account of the climate is 
not more *avo-'rable. Vol. i. p. 172. He, during his cruise on the coast, visited 
most of the place- where Pizarro landed, and his description of them throws 
light on the narrations of tho early Spanish historians. 

Note [12«]. Page 270. 

Br this time horses had multiplied greatly in the Spanish settlements on tho 
continent. When Cortes began his expedition in the year 15x8, though his 
armament was more considerable than ihat of Pizarro, and composed of persons 
superior in rank to those who invaded Peru, he could procure no more than 
sixteen horses. 

Note [129]. Page 271. 

In the year 1740, D. Ant. Ulloa and D. George Juan travelled from Guay- 
aquil to Motupe by the same route which Pizarro took. From the description 
of their iourney, one may form an idea of the difficulty of his march. The 
sandy plains between St. Michael de Pleura and Motupe extend 90 miles, with- 
out water, without a tree, a plant, or any green thing, on a dreary ctretch of 
br-ning sand. Voyage, tom. i. p. 399, &c. 

Note [130]. Page 273. 

This extravagant and unseasonable discourse of Valverde has been censured 
by all historians, and with justice. But though he seems to have been an 
ilhterate and bigotted monk, nowise resembling the good Olmedo, who accom- 
panied Cortes; tho absurdity of his address to Atahualpa must not be charged 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 497 

wholly upon him. His harangue is evidently a translation or paraphrase of 
that form, concerted by a junto of Spanish divines and lawyers in the year 
1509, for explaining the right of their king to the sovereignty of the New World, 
and for directing the ofHcers employed in America how they should take pos- 
session of any new country. See Note 23. The sentiments contained in Val- 
verde's harangue must not then be imputed to tlie bigotted imbecility of a 
particular man, but to that of the age. But Gomara and Benzoni relate one 
circumstance concerning Valverdo, which, if authentic, renders him an object 
not of contempt only but of horror. They assert, that during the whole action 
Valverdo continued to excite the soldiers to slaughter, calling to them to strike 
the enemy not with the edge but with the points of their swords. Gom. Cron. 
c. 113. Benz. Histor. Nov. Orbis, lib. iii. c. 3. Such behaviour was very dif- 
ferent from that of the Roman Catholic clergy in other parts of America, 
where they uniformly exerted their influence to protect the Indians, and to 
moderate the ferocity of their countrymen. 

Note [131]. Page 273, 

Two different systems have been formed concerning the conduct of Atahu- 
alpa. The Spanish writers, in order to justify the violonce of their countrymen, 
contend that all the Inca's professions of friendship were feigned ; and that liis 
intention in agreeing to an interview with Pizarro at Ca,xamalca, wb-s to cut 
off him and his followers at one blow ; that for this purpose he advanced with 
such a numerous body of attendants, wlio had arms concealed under their gar- 
ments to execute this scheme. This is the account given by Xeres and Zarate, 
and adopted by Herrera. But if it had been the plan of the Inca to destroy 
the Spaniards, one can hardly imagine that he would have permitted them to 
march through the desert of Motupe, or have neglected to defend the passes 
in the mountains, where they might have been attacked with so much advan- 
tage. If the Peruvians marched to Caxamalca with an intention to fall upon 
the Spaniards, it is inconceivable that of so great a body of men, prepared for 
action, not one should attempt to make resistance, but all tamely suffer them- 
eelves to be butchered by an enemy whom they were armed to attack. Ata- 
hnalpa''s mode of advancing to the interview has the aspect of a peaceable 
procession, not of a military enterprise. He himself and his followers were in 
their habits of ceremony, preceded, as on days of solemnity, by unarmed har- 
bingers. Though rude nations are frequently cunning and false ; yet if a 
scheme of deception and treachery must be imputed either to a monarch that 
had no great reason to be alarmed at a visit from strangers who solicited ad- 
mission into his presence as friends, or to an adventurer so daring and so little 
scrupulous as Pizarro, one cannot hesitate in determining where to fi.x the pre- 
sumption of guilt. Even amidst the endeavours of the Spanish writers to 
palliate the proceedings of Pizarro, one plainly perceives that it was his inten- 
tion, as well as his interest, to seize the Inca, and that he had taken measures 
for that purpose previous to any suspicion of that moiiarch's designs. 

Garcilasso de la Vega, extremely solicitous to vindicate his countrymen, the 
Peruvians, from the crime of having concerted the destruction of Pizarro and 
his followers, and no less afraid to charge the Spaniards with improper conduct 
towards the Inca, has framed another system. He relates, that a man of ma- 
jestic form, with a long beard, and garments reaching to the ground, having ap- 
peared in a vision to Viracocha, tho eighth Inca, and declared that he was a 
child of the Sun, that monarch built a temple in honour of this person, and 
erected an image of him, resembling as nearly as possible the singular form in 
which he had exhibited himself to his view. In this temple divine honours 
were paid to him, by the name of Viracocha. P. i. lib. iv. c. 2\. lib. v. c. 22. 
When the Spaniards first appeared in Peru, the length of their beards, and the 
dress they wore, struck every person so much with their likeness to the image 
of Viracocha, that they supposed thctn to be children of the Sun, who had 
descended from heaven to earth. All concluded that the fatal period of the 
Peruvian empire was now approaching, and tliat the throne would be occupied 
by new possessors. Atahualpa himself, considering the Spaniards as messen- 
gers from heaven, was so far from ontertaininff any thoughts of resisting them. 

Vol. 1.-33 23 



498 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

that he determined to yield implicit obedience to their commands. From these 
sentiments flowed his professions of love and respect. To those were owing 
the cordial reception of Soto and Ferdinand Pizarro in his camp, and the sub- 
jnissive reverence with which he himself advanced to visit the Spanish general 
in his quarters ; but from the gross ignorance of Philipillo, the interpreter, tho 
declaration of the Spaniards, and his answer to it, were so ill explamed, that, 
liy their mutual inability to comprehend each other's intentions, the fatal ren- 
contre at Caxamalca, with all its dreadful consequences, was occisioned. 

It is remarliable, that no traces of this superstitious veneratir n of the Peru- 
vians for the Spaniards are to be found cither in Xeres, or Sancho, or Zarate, 
previous to the interview at Caxamalca ; and yet the two former served under 
Pizarro at that time, and the latter visited Peru soon after the conquest. If 
either the Inca himself, or his messengers, had addressed the Spaniards in the 
words which Garcilasso puts in their mouths, they must have been struck with 
Buch submissive declarations; and they would certainly have availed themselves 
of them to accomplish their own designs with greater facility. Garcilasso 
himself, though his narrative of the intercourse between the Inca and Spaniards, 
preceding the rencontre at Caxamalca, is founded on the supposition of his 
lieUeving them to be Viracochas, or divine beings, P. ii. lib. i. c. 17, &:c., yet, 
with his asual inattention and inaccuracy, he admits in another place that the 
Peruvians did not recollect the resemblance between them and the god Viraco- 
cha, until the fatal disasters subsequent to the defeat at Caxamalca, and then 
only began to call them Viracochas. P. i. lib. v. c. 21. This is confirmed by 
Herrera, dec. v. lib. ii. c. 12. In many difierent parts of America, if we may 
believe the Spanish writers, their countrymen were considered as divine beings 
who had descended from heaven. But in this instance, as in many which occur 
in the intercourse between nations whose progress in refinement is very unequal, 
the ideas of those who used the expression were different from the ideas of 
those who heard it. For such is the idiom of the Indian languages, or such is 
the simplicity of those who speak them, that when they see any thing- with 
which they were formerly unacquainted, and of which they do not know tho 
origin, they say that it came down from heaven. Nugnez. Ram. iii. 327. C. 

The account which I have given of the sentiments and proceedings of tho 
Peruvians, appears to be more natural and consistent than either of the two 
preceding, and is better supported by the facts related by the contemporary 
historians. 

According to Xeres, p. 200, two thousand Peruvians were killed. Sancho 
makes the number of the slain six or seven thousand. Ram. iii. 274. D. By 
Garcilasso's account, five thousand were massacred. P. ii. lib. i. c. 25. The 
number which I have mentioned, being the medium between the extremes, may 
probably be nearest the truth. 

Note [132]. Page 274. 

Nothing can be a more striking proof of this, than that three Spaniard* 
travelled from Caxamalca to Cuzco. The distance between them is six hundred 
miles. In every place throughout this great extent of county, they were 
treated with all the honours which the Peruvians paid to their sovereigns, and 
even to their divinities. Under pretext of amassing what was wanting for the 
ransom of the Inca, they demanded the plates of gold with which the walls of 
the Temple of tho Sun in Cuzco were adorned ; and though the priests were 
unwilling to alienate those sacred ornaments, and the people refused to violate 
the shrine of their God, the three Spaniards, with their own hands, robbed the 
Temple of part of this valuable treasure ; and such was the reverence of the 
natives for their persons, that though they beheld this act of sacrilege witii 
astonishment, they did not attempt to prevent or disturb the commission of it. 
Zarate, lib. ii, c. 6. Sancho ap. Ramus, iii. 375. D. 

Note [133]. Page 278. 

According to Herrera, the spoil of Cuzco, after setting apart the King's 
fifth, was divided among 480 persons. Each received 4000 pesos. Thii 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 499 

amounts to 1,920,000 pesos. Dec. v. lib. vi. c. 3. But as the general and other 
officers were entitled to a share far greater than that of the private men, tho 
sum total must have risen much beyond what I have mentioned. Gomara, c, 
123, and Zarate, lib. ii. c. 8, satisfy themselves with asserting in general, that 
tho plunder of Cuzco was of greater value than the ransom of Atahualpa. 

Note [134]. Page 279. 

No expedition in the New World was conducted with more persevering 
courage than that of Alvarado, and in none were greater hardships endured. 
Many of the persons engaged in it were, like their leader, veterans who had 
served under Cortes, inured to all the rigour of American war. Such of my 
readers as have not an opportunity of perusing the striking description of their 
sufferings by Zarate, or Hcrrera, may form some idea of the nature of tlieir 
march from the sea-coast to Quito, by consulting the account which D. Ant. 
Ulloa gives of his own journey in 1738, nearly in the same route. Voy. torn. 
i. p. 178, ifec, or that of M. Bouguer, who proceeded from Puerto Viejo to Quito 
by the same road which Alvarado took. He compares his own journey with 
that of the Spanish leader, and by the comparison gives a most striking idea of 
the boldness and patience of Alvarado in forcing his way through so many 
obstacles. Voyage de Perou, p. 28, &:c. 

Note [135]. Page 279. 

According to Herrera, there was entered on account of the king in gold 
155,300 pesos, and 5,400 marks (each 8 ounces) of silver, besides several vessels 
and ornaments, some of gold, and others of silver ; on account of private per- 
sons, in gold 499,000 pesos, and 54,000 marks of silver. Dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 13. 

Note [136]. Page 283. 

The Peruvians not only imitated the military arts of the Spaniards, but had 
recourse to devices of their own. As the cavalry were the chief objects of 
their terror, they endeavoured to render them incapable of acting by means of 
a long thong witli a stone fastened to each end. This, when thrown by a 
skilful hand, twisted about the horse and its rider, and entangled them so as to 
obstruct their motions. Herrera mentions this as an invention of their own. 
Dec. 5. lib. viii. c. 4. But as I have observed, p. 178, this weapon is common 
among several barbarous tribes towards the extremity of South America ; and 
it is more probable that the Peruvians had observed the dexterity with which 
they used it in hunting, and on this occasion adopted it themselves. Tho Spa- 
niards were considerably annoyed by it. Herrera, ibid. Another instance of 
the ingenuity of the Peruvians- deserves mention. By turning a river out of 
its channel, they overflowed a valley, in wliich a body of the enemy was 
posted, so suddenly, that it was with the utmost difficulty the Spaniards made 
their escape. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. viii. c. 5. 

Note [137]. Page 290. 

Herrera's account of Orellana's voyage is the most minute and apparently 
the most accurate. It was probably taken from the journal of Orellana him- 
self. But the dates are not distinctly marked. His navigation down the Coca, 
or Napo, began early in February, 1541 ; and ho arrived at the mouth of the 
river on the 26th of August, havmg spent near seven months in the voyage. 
M. de la Condaminc, in the year 1743, sailed from Cuenca to Para, a settlement 
of the Portuguese at the mouth of the river, a navigation much longer than 
that of Orellana, in less than four months. Voyage, p. 179. But the two 
adventurers were very differently provided for the voyage. This hazardous 
undertaking to which ambition prompted Orellana, and to which the love of sci- 
ence led M. de la Condamine, wa;. undertaken in the year 1769, by Madamo 
Godin dcs Odonais from conjugal affection. The narrative of tho hardships 
which she safFei^ed, of the danglers to which she was exposed, and df the din- 



500 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 

asters which befell her, is one of the most singular and affecting stories in any 
language, exhibiting in her conduct a striliing picture of the fortitude which 
distinguislies tlie one sex, mingled with the sensibility and tenderness pecuhar 
to the other. Lettre de M. Godin ^ M. de la Condamine. 

Note [138]. Page 291. 

Herrera gives a striking picture of their indigence. Twelve gentlemen, 
who had been officers of distinction under Almagro, lodged in the same house, 
and having but one cloak among them, it was worn alternately by him who 
had occasion to appear in public, while the rest, from the want of a decent 
dress, were obliged to keep within doors. Their former friends and com- 
panions were so much afraid of giving offence to Pizarro, that tliey durst not 
entertain or even converse with them. One may conceive what was the con- 
dition, and what the indignation of men once accustomed to power and opu- 
lence, when they felt themselves poor and despised, without a roof under 
which to shelter their heads, while they beheld others, whose merits and services 
were not equal to theirs, living in splendour in sumptuous edifices. Dec. 6 
'ib viii. 0. 6. 

Note [139]. Page 296. 

Herrera, whose accuracy entitles him to great credit, asserts, that Gonzalo 
Pizarro possessed domains in the neighbourhood of Chuquesaca de la Plata, 
which yielded him an annual revenue greater than that of the Archbishop of" 
Toledo, the best endowed see in Europe. Dec. 7. lib. vi. c. 3. 

Note [140]. Page 301. 

All the Spanish writers describe his march, and the distresses of both par- 
lies, very minutely. Zarate observes, that hardly any parallel to it occurs in 
history, either with respect to the length of the retreat, or the ardour of th& 
pursuit. Pizarro, according to his computation, followed the viceroy upwards- 
of three thousand miles. Lib. v. c. 16. 26. 

Note [141]. Page 307. 

It amounted, according to Fernandez, the best informed historian of that 
period, to one million four hundred thousand pesos. Lib. ii. c. 79. 

Note [142]. Page 308. 

Carvajal, from the beginning, had been an advocate for an accommodation 
with Gasca. Finding Pizarro incapable of holding that bold course which he 
originally suggested, he recommended to him a timely submission to his sove- 
reign as the safest measure. When the president's offers were first communi- 
cated to Carvajal, " By our Lady (says he in that strain of buffoonery which 
was familiar to him), the priest issues gracious bulls. He gives them both 
good and cheap ; let us not only accept them, but wear them as reliques about 
our necks." Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 63. 

Note [143]. Page 310. 

During the reoellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, seven hundred men were killed in 
battle, and tlireo hundred and eighty were hanged or beheaded. Herrera, dec. 
8. lib. iv. c. 4. Above three hundred of these were cut off by Carvajal. Fer- 
nandez, lib. ii. c. 91. Zarate makes the number of those put to a violent deatli 
five hundred. Lib. vii. c. 1. 

Note [141]. Page 313 

In my inquiries conceminj the manners and policy of the Mexicans, 1 have 
leceivcd much information from a large manuscript of Don Alonso de Cori*a, 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 601 

one of the judges in tho Court of Audience at Mexico. In the year 1553, 
Philip II., in order to discover the mode of levying tribute from his Indian sub- 
jects, that would bo most beneficial to the crown, and least oppressive to ihem, 
addressed a mandate to all the Courts of Audience in America, enjoining them 
to answer certain queries which he proposed to them concerning the ancient 
form of government established among the various nations of Indians, and the 
mode in which they had been accustomed to pay taxes to their kings or chiefs. 
In obedience to thisraandate, Corita, who had resided nineteen years in America, 
fourteen of which he passed in New Spain, composed the work of which I have 
a copy. He acquaints his sovereign, that he had made it an object, during his 
residence in America, and in all its provinces which he had visited, to inquire 
diligently into the manners and customs of the natives ; that he had conversed 
for this purpose with many aged and intelligent Indians, and consulted several 
of the Spanish Ecclesiastics, who understood the Indian language most per- 
fectly, particularly some of those who landed in New Spain soon after the con- 
quest. Corita appears to be a man of some learning, and to have carried on 
his inquiries with the diligence and accuracy to which he pretends. Greater 
credit is due to his testimony from one circumstance. His work was not com- 
posed with a view to publication, or m support of any particular theory, but 
contains simple tliongh full answers to queries proposed to him oihcially. 
Though Herrera does not mention him among the authors whom he had 
followed as guides in his history, I should suppose, from several facts of which 
he takes notice, as well as from several expressions which he uses, that this 
memorial of Corita was not unknown to him. 

Note [145]. Page 317. 

The early Spanish writers were so hasty and inaccurate in estimating tho 
numbers of people in the provinces and towns in America, that it is impossiblu 
to ascertain that of Mexico itself with any degree of precision. Cortes 
describes the extent and populousness of Mexico in general terms, which imply 
that it was not inferior to the greatest cities in Europe. Gomara is more 
explicit, and affirms, that there were 60,000 houses or families in Mexico. Cron. 
c. 78. Herrera adopts his opinion, Dec. 2. lib. vii. c. 13 ; and the generality of 
writers follow them implicitly without inquiry or scruple. According to this 
account, the inhabitants of Mexico must have been about 300,000. Torque- 
mada, with his usual propensity to the marvellous, asserts, that there wero 
120,000 houses or families in Mexico, and consequently about 600,000 inhabit- 
ants. Lib. iii. c. 23. But in a very judicious account of the Mexican cmjiire, 
by one of Cortes's officers, the population is fixed at 60,000 people. Ramusio, 
iii. 309. A. Even by this account, which probably is much nearer the truth 
than any of the foregoing, Mexico was a great city. 

Note [146]. Page 318. 

It is to P. Torribio de Benavente that I am indebted for this curious observa 
tion. Palafox, Bishop of Ciudad de la Puebla Los Angeles, confirms and illus- 
trates it more fully. The Mexican (says he) is the only language in which a 
termination indicating respect, silavas reverentiales y de corlesia, may be affixed 
to every word. By adding the final syllable sin or azin to any word, it be- 
comes a proper expression of veneration in the mouth of an inferior. If, in 
speaking to an equal, the word Father is to be used, it is Tntl, but an inferior 
says Tatzin. One priest speaking to another, calls him Teopixque ; a person 
of inferior rank calls him Teopixcalzin. The name of the emperor who reigned 
when Cortes invaded Mexico, was Montezuma ; but his vassals, from reverence, 
pronounced it Monlesumazin. Torribio, MS. Palaf. Virtudes del Indio, p. 65. 
The Mexicans had not only reverential nouns, but reverential verbs. The 
manner in which these are formed from the verbs in common use is explained 
b" D. Jos. Aug. Aldama y Guevara in his Mexican Grammar, No. 188. 



BOt NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Note [147]. Page 320. 

From comparing several passages in Corita and Herrera, we may collect, 
with some degree of accuracy, the various modes in whicli the Mexicans con- 
tributed towards the support of government. Some persons of the first order 
seem to have been exempted from tlie payment of any tribute, and as their 
onl} duty lo the public, were bound to personal service in war, and to follow 
the banner of tlieir sovereign witJi their vassals. 2. The immediate vassals of 
the crown were bound not only to personal military service, but paid a certain 
proportion of the produce of their lands in kind. 3. Those who held offices 
of honour or *rust paid a certain tihare of what they received in consequence 
of holding these. 4. Each Capiillce, or association, cultivated some part of the 
common field allotted to it, lor the behoof of the crown, and deposited the 
produce in tlie royal granaries. 5. Some part of whatever was brought to the 
public markets, whether fruits of the earth, or the various productions of their 
artists and manufacturers, was demanded for the public use, and the merchants 
who paid this were exempted from every other tax. 6. The Mai/eques, or adscripii 
gleba:, were bound to cultivate certain districts in every province, which may 
be considered as crown lands^ and brought the increase into public storehouses. 
Thus the sovereign received some part of whatever was useful or valuable in 
the country, whether it was the natural production of the soil, or acquired by 
the industry of the people. What each contributed towards the support of 
government seems to have been inconsiderable. Corita, in answer to one of 
the queries put to the Audience of Mexico by I'hilip II., endeavours to estimate 
in money the value of what each citizen might be supposed to pay, and does 
not reckon it at more than three or four reals, about eighteen pence or two 
shillings a head. 

Note [148]. Page 321. 

Cortes, who seems to have been as much astonished with this, as with any 
instance of Mexican ingenuity, gives a particular description of it. Along 
one of the causeways, says he, by whicii they enter the city, are conducted two 
conduits, composed of clay tempered witia mortar, about two paces in breadth, 
and r.'.ised about six feet. In one of them is conveyed a stream of excellent 
water, as large as the body of a man, into the centre of tlie city, and supplies 
all the inhabitants plentifully. The other is empty, that when it is necessary 
to clean or repair tiie former, tlie stream of water may be turned into it. As 
this conduit passes along two of tlie bridges, where there are breaches in the 
causewaj', through wliich the salt water of the lake flows, it is conveyed over 
them in pipes as large as the body of an ox, then carried from the conduit to 
the remote quarters of the city in canoes, and sold to the inhabitants. Relat 
ap. Ramus. 241. A. 

Note [149]. Page 32 

In the armoury of the royal palace of Madrid are shown suits of armour, 
which are called Montezuma's. They are composed of thin lacquered copper- 
plates. In the opinion of very intelligent judges, they are evidently eastern. 
The forms of the silver ornaments upon them, representing dragons, Sec. may 
be considered a confirmation of this. They are infinitely superior, in point of 
workmanship, to any effort of American art. The Spaniards probably received 
them from the Philippine islands. The only unquestionable specimen of 
IMexican art, tliat I know of in Great Britain, is a cup of very fine gold, which 
is said to Jiave belonged to Montezuma. It weighs 5oz. 12dwt. Three draw- 
ings of it were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries, .Tune 10, 1765. A 
jiian's head is represented on this cup. On one side the full face, on the other 
the profile, on the third the back parts of the head. The relievo is said to have 
been produced by punching the inside of the cup, so as to make the representa- 
tion of a face on the outside. The features are gross, but represented with 
some degree of art, and certainly too rude for Spanish workmanship. This 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 503 

cup was purchased by Edward Earl of Orford, while he lay in the harbour of 
Cadiz with the fleet under his command, and is now in the possession of his 
grandson, Lord Archer. I am indebted for this information to my respectable 
and ingenious friend Mr. Harrington. In the sixth volume of the Archceologia, 
p. 107, is published an account of some masks of Terra Cotta, brought from a 
burying-grouud on the American continent, about seventy miles from the 
British settlement on the Mosquito shore. They are said to be likenesses of 
chiefs, or other eminent persons. From the descriptions and engravings of 
them, we have an additional proof of the imperfect state of arts among the 
Americans. 

Note [150]. Page 323 

The learned reader will perceive how much I have been indebted, in this 
part of my work, to the guidance of the Bishop of Gloucester, who has traced 
the successive steps by which the human mind advanced in this line of its pro- 
gress, with much erudition, and greater ingenuity. He is the first, as far as I 
know, who formed a rational and consistent theory concerning the various 
modes of writing practised by nations, according to the various degrees of 
their improvement. Div. Legation of Moses, iii. 69, &c. Some important 
observations have been added by M. le President de Brosses, the learned and 
intelUgent author of the Traite de la Formation Mecanique desLangues, torn, 
i. 295, &c. 

As the Mexican paintings are the most curious monuments extant of the 
earliest mode of writing, it will not be improper to give some account of the 
means by which they were preserved from the general wreck of every work of 
art in America, and communicated to the public. For the most early and com- 
plete collection of these published by Purchas, we are indebted to the attention 
of that curious inquirer, Hakluyt. Don Antonio Mendoza, viceroy of New 
Spain, having deemed those paintings a proper present for Charles V., the ship 
in which they were sent to Spain was taken by a French cruiser, and they came 
into the possession of Thevet, the King's geographer, who, having travelled 
him.self into the New World, and described one of its provinces, was a curious 
observer of whatever tended to illustrate the manners of the Americans. On 
his death, they were purchased by Hakluyt, at that time chaplain of the 
English ambassador to the French court ; and, being left by him to Purchas, 
were published at the desire of the learned antiquary. Sir Henry Spelman. 
Purchas, iii. 1065. They were translated from English into French hy Mcl- 
chizedeck Thevenot, and published in his collection of voyages, A. D. 1683. 

The second specimen of Mexican picture-writing was published by Dr. Fran- 
cis Gemelli Carreri, in two copper-plates. The first is a map, or representation 
of the progress of the ancient Mexicans on their first arrival in the country, 
and of the various stations in which they settled, before they founded the 
capital of their empire in the lake of Mexico. The second is a Chronological 
Wheel, or Circle, representing the manner in which they computed and marked 
their cycle of fifty-two years. He received both from Don Carlos de Siguenza 
y Congorra, a diligent collector of ancient Mexican Documents. But as it 
seems now to be a received opinion (founded, as far as I know, on no good 
evidence), that Carreri was never out of Italy, and that his famous Giro del 
Mundo is an account of a fictitious voyage, I have not mentioned these paintings 
in the text. They have, however, manifestly the appearance of being Mexican 
productions, and are allowed to be so by Boturini, who was well qualified to de- 
termine whether they were genuine or supposititious. M. Clavigcro likewise 
admits them to be genuine paintings of the ancient Mexicans. To me they 
always appeared to be so, though from my desire to rest no part of my narra- 
tive upon questionable authority, I did not refer to tliem. The style of painting 
in the former is considerably more perfect than any other specimen of Mexican 
design ; but as the original is said to have been much defaced by time, I suspect 
that it has been improved by some touches from the hand of a European artist. 
Carreri, Churchill, iv. p. 4!j7. The Chronological Wheel is a just delineation 
of the Mexican mode of computing time, as described by Acosta, lib. vi. c. 2. 
It seems to resemble one which that learned Jesuit had seen ; and if it be ad» 



604 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

mitted as a genuine monument, It proves that the Mexicans had artificial or 
ajbitrary characters, which represented several things besides numbers. Each 
montli is there represented by a symbol expressive of some work or rite pe- 
culiar to it. 

The third specimen of ?.Iexican painting was discovered by another Italian. 
In 1736, Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci set out for iSew Spain, and was led by 
several incidents to study the language of the Mexicans, and to collect the re- 
mains of their historical monuments. He persisted nine years in his researches, 
with the enthusiasm of a projector, and the patience of an antiquary. In 
1746, he published at Madrid, Idea de una .Xueva Historia General de la America 
Seplentrional, containing an account of the result of his inquiries; and he added 
to it a catalogue of his American Historical Museum, arranged under thirty-six 
different heads. His idea of a New History appears to me the work of a whim- 
sical credulous man. But his catalogue of Mexican maps, paintings, tribute- 
rolls, calendars, Szc. is much larger than one could have expected. Unfortu- 
nately a ship, in which he had sent a considerable part of them to Europe, was 
taken by an English privateer during the war between Great Britain and Spain, 
which commenced in the year 1739 ; and it is probable that they perished by 
falling into the hands of ignorant captors. Boturini iiimself incurred tlic dis- 
pleasure of the Spanish court, and died in an hospital at iNIadrid. The history, 
of which the Idea, &c. was only a prospectus, was never published. The re- 
mainder of his INIuseum seems to have been dispersed. Some part of it came 
into the possession of the present Archbishop of Toledo, when he was primate 
of New Spain : and he published from it that curious tribute-roll which I have 
mentioned. 

The only other collection of Mexican paintings, as far as I can learn, is in 
the Imperial Library at Vienna. By order of their Imperial Majesties I have 
obtained such a specimen of these as I desired, in eight paintings made with 
so much fidelity, that I am informed the copies could hardly be distinguished 
from the originals. According to a note in this Codex Mexicanus, it appears 
to have been a present from Eminanuel, King of Portugal, to Pope Clement 
VII. who died A. D. 1533. After passing through the hands of several illus- 
trious proprietors, it fell into those of the Cardinal of Saxe-Eisenach, who 
presented it to the Emperor Leopold. These paintings are manifestly Mexican, 
but they are in a style very different from any of the former. An engraving 
has been made of one of tliem, in order to gratifj- such of my readers as may 
deem this an object wortiiy of their attention. Were it an object of sufficient 
importance, it might perhaps be possible, b)' recourse to the pktes of Purchas, 
and the Archbishop of Toledo, as a key, to form plausible conjectures concerning 
the meaning of this picture. Many of the figures are evidently similar. A. A. 
arc targets and darts, almost in the same form with those published by Purchas, 
p. 1073, 1071, fcc. B. B. are figures of temples, nearly resemblmg those in 
Purchas, p. 1109 and 1113, and in Lorenzana. Plate II. C. is a bale of mantles, 
or cotton cloths, the figure of which occurs in almost every plate of Purchas 
and Lorenzana. E. E. E. seem to be jNIexican captains in their war dress, 
the fantastic ornaments of whicli resemble the figures in Purchas, p. 1110, 
1111. 2113. I should suppose this picture to be a tribute-roll, as their mode of 
noting numbers occurs frequently. D. D. D., Sec. According to Boturini, the 
mode of computation by the number of knots was known to the INIexicans as 
well as to the Peruvians, p. 85, and the manner in which the number of units 
is represented in the Mexican paintings in my possession seems to confirm this 
opinion. They plainly resemble a string of knots on a cord or slender rope. 

Since I published the former edition, Mr. Waddilove, who is still pleased to 
continue his friendly attention to procure me information, has discovered, in 
the Library of the Escurial, a volume in folio, consistmg of forty sheets of a 
kind of pasteboard, each tlie size of a common sheet of writing paper, with 
great variety of uncouth and whimsical figures of Mexican painting, in very 
fresh colours, and with an explanation in Spanish to most of them. The first 
twent3'-two sheets are the signs of the months, days, &c. About the middle 
of each sheet are two or more large figures for the month, surrounded by the 
signs of the days. The last eighteen sheets are not so filled with figures. 
They seem to be signs of Deities, and Images of various objects. According 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 505 

to this Calendar in the Escurial, the JNIexican year contained 286 days, divided 
into 22 months of 13 days. Each day is represented by a different sign, taken 
from some natural object, a serpent, a dog, a lizard, a reed, a house, fcc. The 
signs of days in the Calendar of the Escurial are precisely the same with tliose 
mentioned by Boturini, Idea, ice. p. 45. But, if we may give credit to that 
author, the Alexican year contained 360 days, divided into 18 months of 20 
days. The order of days in every month was computed, according to him, 
first by what he calls a tridecennary progression of days from one to thirteen, 
in the same manner as in the Calendar of the Escurial, and then by a septenary 
progression of days from one to seven, making in all twenty. In this Calendar, 
not only the signs which distinguish each day, but the qualities supposed to 
be peculiar to each month are marked. There are certain weaknesses which 
seem to accompany the human mind through every stage of its progress in 
observation and science. Slender as was the knowledge of the Mexicans in 
astronomy, it appears to have been already connected with judicial astrology. 
The fortune and character of persons born in each month are supposed to be 
decided by some superior influence predominant at the time of nativity. 
Hence it is foretold in the Calendar, that all who are born in one month will 
be rich, in another warlike, in a third luxurious, &:c. The pasteboard, or what- 
ever substance it may be on which the Calendar in the Escurial is painted, 
seems, by Mr. Waddilove's description of it, to resemble nearly that m the 
Imperial Library at Vienna. In several particulars the figures bear some like- 
ness to those in the plate which I have published. The figures marked D, 
which induced me to conjecture that this painting might be a tribute-roll simi- 
lar to those published by Purchas and the Archbishop of Toledo, Mr. Waddi- 
love supposes to be signs of days : and I have such confidence in the accuracy 
of his observations, as to conclude his opinion to be well founded. It appears, 
from the characters in which the explanations of the figures are written, that 
this curious monument of Mexican art has been obtained soon after the conquest 
of the Empire. It is singular that it should never have been mentioned by any 
Spanish author. 

Note [151]. Page 324. 

The first was called the Prince of the Deathful Lance ; the second the Di- 
vider of Men ; the tliird the Shedder of Blood ; the fourth the Lord of the 
Dark-house. Acosta, lib. vi. c. 25. 

Note [152]. Page 327. 

The temple of Cholula, which w-as deemed more holy than any in New 
Spain, was likewise the most considerable. But it was nothing more than a 
mount of solid earth. According to Torquemada, it was above a quarter of a 
league in circuit at the base, and rose to the height of forty fathoms. Mon. 
Ind. lib. iii. c. 19. Even M. Clavigero acknowledges that all the Mexican 
temples were solid structures, or earthen mounts, and of consequence cannot 
be considered as any evidence of their having made any considerable progress 
in the art of building. Clavig. ii. 207. 

From inspecting various figures of temples in the paintings engraved by 
Purchas, there seems to be some reason for suspecting that all their temples 
were constructed in the same manner. See vol. iii. p. 1109, 1110, 1113. 

Note [153]. Page 327. 

Not only in Tlascala and Tepeaca, but even in Mexico itself, the houses of 
the people were mere huts built with turf or mud, or the branches of treea. 
They were extremely low and slight, and without any furniture but a few 
earthen vessels. Like the rudest Indians, several families resided under the 
■ame roof, without having any separate apartments. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. viu 
c. 13. hb. X. c. 22. dec. 3. lib. i'v. c. 17. Torquem. lib. iii. c. 23. 

Vol. L— 64 



506 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Note [154]. Page 327, 

I AM informed by a person who resided long in New Spain, and visited almost 
every province of it, that there is not, in all the extent of that vast empire, any 
monument or vestige of any building more ancient than the conquest, nor of 
any bridge or highway, except some remains of the causeway from Guadaloupe 
to that gate of Mexico by which Cortes entered the city. MS. penes me. The 
author of another account in manuscript observes, " That at this day there 
does not remain even the smallest vestige of the existence of any ancient 
Indian building, public or private, either in Mexico or in any province of New 
Spain. I have travelled, says he, through all the countries adjacent to them, 
viz. New Galicia, New Biscay, New Mexico, Sonora, Cinaloa, the New King 
dom of Leon, and New Santandero, without having observed any monument 
worth notice, except some ruins near an ancient village in the valley de Casas 
Grandes, in lat. N. 3°. 46'. long. 258°. 24'. from the island of Teneriffe, or 460 
leagues N. N. W. from Mexico." He describes these ruins minutely, and they 
appear to be the remains of a paltry building of turf and stone, plastered over 
with white earth or lime. A missionary informed that gentleman, that he had 
discovered the ruins of another edifice similar to the former, about a hundred 
leagues towards N. W. on the banks of the river St. Pedro. MS. penes me. 

These testimonies derive great credit from one circumstance, that they were 
not given in support of any particular system or theory, but as simple answers 
to queries which I had proposed. It is probable, however, that when these 
gentlemen assert that no ruins or monuments of any ancient work whatever 
are now to be discovered in the Mexican empire, they meant that there were 
no such ruins or monuments as conveyed any idea of grandeur or magnificence 
in the works of its ancient inhabitants. For it appears from the testimony of 
several Spanish authors, that in Otumba, Tlascala, Cholula, &c. some vestiges 
©f ancient buildings are still visible. "Villa Segnor Theatro Amer. p. 143. 308. 
353. D. Fran. Ant. Lorenzana, formerly Archbishop of Mexico, and now of 
Toledo, in his introduction to that edition of the Cartas de Relacion of Cortes, 
which he published at Mexico, mentions some ruins which are still visible in 
several of the towns through which Cortes passed in his way to the capital, p. 
4, &c. But neither of these authors gives any description of them, and they 
seem to be so very inconsiderable, as to show only that some buildings had once 
been there. The large mount of earth at Cholula, which the Spaniards dig- 
nified with the name of temple, still remains, but without any steps by which 
to ascend, or any facing of stone. It appears now like a natural mount, covered 
with grass and shrubs, and possibly it was never any thing more. Torquem. 
lib. iii. c. 19. I have received a minute description of the remains of a temple 
near Cuernavaca, on the road from Mexico to Acapulco. It is composed of 
large stones, fitted to each other as nicely as those in the buildings of the Pe- 
ruvians, which are hereafter mentioned. At the foundation it forms a square 
of twenty-five yards ; but as it rises in height it diminishes in extent, not 
gradually, but by being contracted suddenly at regular distances, so that it 
must have resembled the figure B. in the plate. It terminated, it is said, in 

a. spire. 

# 

Note [155]. Page 329. 

The exaggeration of the Spanish historians, with respect to the number of 
human victims sacrificed in Mexico, appears to be very great. According to 
Gomara, there was no year m which twenty thousand human victims were not 
offered to the Mexican Divinities, and in some 3'ears they amounted to fifty 
thousand. Cron. c. 229. The skulls of those unhappy persons were ranged 
in order in a building erected for that purpose, and two of Cortes's officers, 
who had counted them, informed Gomara that their number was a hundred 
and thirty-six thousand. Ibid. c. 82. Ilerrera's account is still more incredible, 
that the number of victims was so great, that five thousand have been sacrificed 
in one day, nay, on some occasions, no less than twenty thousand. Dec. iii. lib. 
ii. c. 16. Torquemada goes beyond both in extravagance ; for he afiserts thai 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 507 

twenty thousand children, exclusive of other victims, were slaughtered annu- 
ally. Mon. Ind. lib. vii. c. 21. The most respectable authority in favour of 
such high numbers is that of Zuiimrraga, the first Bishop of Mexico, who, in 
a letter to tlie chapter-general of his order, A. D. 1631, asserts, that the Mexi- 
cans sacrificed annually twenty thousand victims. Davila. Teatro Eccles. 126. 
In opposition to all these accounts, B. d-j las Casas observes, that if there had 
been such an annual waste of the human species, the country could never have 
arrived at that degree of populousness for which it was remarkable when the 
Spaniards first landed there. This reasoning is just. If the number of victims 
in all the provinces of New Spain had been so great, not only must population 
have been prevented from increasing, but the human race must have been ex- 
terminated in a short time. For besides the waste of the species by such 
numerous sacrifices, it is observable that wherever the fate of captives taken 
in war is either certain death or perpetual slavery, as men can gain nothing by 
submitting speedily to an enemy, they always resist to the uttermost, and war 
becomes bloody and destructive to the last degree. Las Casas positively as- 
serts, that the Mexicans never sacrificed more than fifty or a hundred persons 
in a year. See his dispute with Sepulveda, subjoined to his Brevissima Rela- 
cion, p. 105. Cortes does not specify what number of victims was sacrificed 
annually ; but B. Diaz del Castillo relates that, an inquiry having been made 
with respect to this by the Franciscan monks who were sent into New Spain 
immediately after the conquest, it was found that about two thousand five 
hundred were sacrificed every year in Mexico. C. 207, 

Note [156]. Page 330. 

It is hardly necessary to observe, that the Peruvian Chronology is not only 
obscure, but repugnant to conclusions deduced from the most accurate and 
extensive observations, concerning the time that elapses during each reign, in 
any given succession of Princes. The medium has been found not to exceed 
twenty years. According to Acosta and Garcilasso de la Vega, Huana Capac, 
who died about the year 1527, was the twelfth Inca. According to this rule 
of computing, the duration of the Peruvian monarchy ouglit not to have been 
reckoned above two hundred and forty years ; but they affirm that it had sub- 
sisted four hundred years. Acosta, lib. vi. c. 19. Vega, lib. i. c. 9. By this 
account each reign is extended at a medium to thirty-three years, instead of 
twenty, the number ascertained by Sir Isaac Newton's observations ; but so 
imperfect were the Peruvian traditions, that though the total is boldly marked, 
the number of years in each reign is unknown. 

Note [157]. Page 332. 

Many of the earliest Spanish writers assert that the Peruvians offered human 
sacrifices. Xeres, p. 190. Zarate, lib. i. c. 11. Acosta, lib. v. c. 19. But Gar- 
cilasso de la Vega contends, that though this barbarous practice prevailed 
among their uncivilized ancestors, it was totally abolished by the Incas, and 
that no human victim was ever offered in any temple of the Sun. This asser- 
tion, and the plausible reasons with which he confirms it, are sufficient to refute 
tlie Spanish writers, whose accounts seem to be founded entirely upon report, 
not upon what they themselves had observed. Vega, lib. ii. c. 4. In one of 
their festivals, the Peruvians offered cakes of bread moistened with blood 
drawn from the arms, tlie eyebrows, and noses of their children. Id. lib. vii. 
c. 6. This rile may have been derived from their ancient practice, in their un- 
civilized state, of sacrificing human victims. 

NoTi; 1^158]. Page 334. 

The Spaniards have adopted both those customs of the ancient Peruvians. 
They have preserved some of the aqueducts or canals, made in the days of 
the Incas, and have made new ones, by which they water every field tjiat they 
cultivate. Ulloa Voyage, torn. i. 422. 477. They likewise continofl to U8« 



508 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

guano, or the dung of sea-fowls, as manure. Ulloa gives a description of the 
almost incredible quantity of it in tlie small islands near the coast. Ibid. 481. 

Note [159]. Page 335- 

The temple of Cayambo, the palace of the Inca at Cailo in the plain of 
Lacatunga, and that of Atun-Cannar, are described by Ulloa, torn. i. 286, &;c. 
who inspected them with great care. M. de Condamiue published a curious 
memoir concerning the ruins of Atun-Cannar. I\l6m. de I'Academie de Berlin, 
A. D. 1746, p. 435. Acosta describes the ruins of Cuzco, which he had ex- 
amined. Lib. vi. c. 14. Garcdasso, in his usual style, gives pompous and 
confused descriptions of several temples and other public edifices. Lib. iii. c. 

1. c. 21. lib. vi. c. 4. Don. Zapata, in a large treatise concerning Peru, 

which has not hitherto been published, communicates some information with 
jespect to several monuments of the ancient Peruvians, which have not been 
mentioned by other authors. MS. penes me, Articulo xx. Ulloa describes some 
of the ancient Peruvian fortifications, which were likewise works of great ex- 
tent and solidity. Tom. i. 391. Three circumstances struck all those observ- 
jcrs : the vast size of the stones which the Peruvians employed in some of their 
buildings. Acosta measured one, which was thirty feet long, eighteen broad, 
And six in thickness ; and yet, he adds, that in the fortress at Cuzco there were 
stones considerably larger. It is difficult to conceive how the Peruvians could 
move these, and raise them to the height even of twelve feet. The second 
■circumstance is, the imperfection of the Peruvian art, when applied to working 
in timber. By the patience and perseverance natural to Americans, stones may 
be formed into any shape, merely by rubbing one against another, or by the 
use of hatchets or other instruments made of stone ; but with such rude tools 
little progress can be made in carpentry. The Peruvians could not mortise 
iwo beams together, or give any degree of union or stability to ajiy work com- 
posed of timber. As they could not form a centre, they were totally unac- 
■quainted with the use of arches in building ; nor can the Spanish authors con- 
ceive how they were able to frame a roof for those ample structures which 
fhey raised. 

The third circumstance is a striking proof, which all the monuments of the 
Peruvians furnish, of their want of ingenuity and invention, accompanied with 
patience no less astonishing. None of the stones employed in those works 
were formed into any particular or uniform shape, -which could render them 
fit for being compacted together in building. The Indians took them as they 
fell from the mountains, or were raised out of the quarries. Some were 
square, some triangular, some convex, some concave. Their art and industry 
were employed in joining them together, by forming such hollows in the one 
as perfectly corresponded to the projections or risings in the other. This 
tedious operation, which might have been so easily abridged by adapting the 
surface of the stones to each other, either by rubbing, or by their hatchets of 
copper, would be deemed incredible, if it were not put beyond doubt by in- 
specting the remains of those buildings. It gives them a very singular ap- 
pearance to a European eye. Tnere is no regular layer or stratum of building, 
and no one stone resembles another in dimensions or form. At the same time, 
hj the persevering but ill-directed mdustry of the Indians, they are all joined 
with that minute nicety which I have mentioned. Ulloa made this observation 
concerning the form of the stones in the fortress of Atun-Cannar. Voy. i. p. 
387. Penito gives a similar description of the fortress of Cuzco, the most per- 
fect of all the Peruvian works. Zapata MS. penes me. According to M. de 
Condamine, there were regular strata of building in some parts of Atun- 
Cannar, which he remarks as singular, and as a proof of some progress in 
improvement. 

Note [160]. Page 337. 

The appearance of those bridges which bend with their own weight, wave 
with the wind, and are considerably agitated by the motion of every person 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 50» 

who passes along them, is very frightful at first. But the Spaniards have 
found them to be the easiest mode of passing the torrents in Peru, over which 
it would be difficult to throw more solid structures either of stone or timber. 
They form those hanging bridges so strong and broad, that loaded mules pass 
along them. All the trade of Cuzco is carried on by means of such a bridge 
over the river Apurimac. Ulloa, torn. i. p. 358. A more simple contrivance 
was employed in passing smaller streams : A basket, in which the traveller 
was placed, being suspended from a strong rope stretched across the stream^ 
it was pushed or drawn from one side to tlie other. Ibid. 

Note [161]. Page 341. 

My information with respect to those events is taken from J\'oticta breve de 
la expedicion militar de Sinora y Cinaloa, su exito feliz, y vantojoso estado, en 
que por consecuentia de ello, se han puesto arabas provincias, published at 
Mexico, June 17th, 1771, in order to satisfy the curiosity of the merchants, 
who had furnished the viceroy with money for defraying the expense of the 
armament. The copies of this J^'oticia are very rare in Madrid ; but I have 
obtained one, which has enabled nie to communicate these curious facts to the 
public. According to this account, there was found in the mine Yecorato in 
Cinaloa a grain of gold of twenty-two carats, which weighed sixteen marks 
four ounces four ochavas ; this was sent to Spain as a present fit for the king, 
and is now deposited in the royal cabinet at INIadrid. 

Note [162]. Page 341. 

The uncertainty of geographers with respect to this point is remarkable, for 
Cortes seems to have surveyed its coasts with great accuracy. The Archbishoj> 
of Toledo has published, from the original in the possession of the Marquis 
del Valle, the descendant of Cortes, a map drawn in 1541, by the pilot Domingo 
Castillo, in which California is laid down as a peninsula, stretching out nearly 
in the same direction v.hich is now given to it in the best maps ; and the poini 
where Rio Colorada enters the gulf is marked with precision. Hist, de Nueva 
Espagna, 327. 

Note [163]. Page 342. 

I AM indebted for this fact to M. L'Abb6 Raynal, torn. iii. 103 ; and upoB 
consulting an intelligent person, long settled on the Mosquito shore, and who 
has been engaged in the logwood trade, I find that ingenious author has been 
well informed. The logwood cut near the town of St. Francis of Campeachy 
is of much better quality than that on the other side of Yucatan ; and the 
English trade in the Bay of Honduras is almost at an end. 

Note [164]. Page 348. 

P. ToRRiBio DE Benevente, or Motolinea, has enumerated ten causes of 
the rapid depopulation of 3Iexico, to which he gives the name of the Ten 
Plagues. Many of these are not peculiar to that province. 1. The introduc- 
tion of tlie small pox. Tliis disease was first brouglit into New Spain in the 
year 1520, by a Negro-slave, who attended Narvaez in his expedition against 
Cortes. Torribio alfirms, that one half of the people in tlie provinces visited 
witli this distemper died. To this mortality, occasioned by the small pox, 
Torquemada adds the destructive efifects of two contagious distempers which 
raged in the year 1545 and 1576. In the former 800,000, in the latter above 
two millions perished, according to an exact account taken by order of the 
viceroys. Mon. Ind. i. 642. The small pox was not introduced into Peru for 
several years after the invasion of tlie Spaniards ; but there, too, that distem- 
per proved very fatal to the natives. Garcia Origin, p. 88. 2. The numbers 
who were killed or died of famine in their war with the Spaniards, particularly 
during the siege of Mexico. 3. The great famine that followed after the re- 
duction of Mexico, as all the people engaged, either on one side or other, bad 



510 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

neglected the cultivation of their lands. Something similar to this happened 
in all the other countries conquered by the Spaniards. 4. The grievous tasks 
imposed by the Spaniards upon the people belonging to their Repartimientos. 
5. The oppressive burden of taxes which they were unable to pay, and from 
which they could hope for no exemption. 6. The numbers employed in col- 
lecting the gold carried down by the torrents from the mountains, who were 
forced from their own habitations, without any provision made for their sub- 
sistence, and subjected to all the rigour of cold in those elevated regions. 7. 
The immense labour of rebuilding Mexico, which Cortes urged on with such 
precipitate ardour as destroyed an incredible number of people. 8. The num- 
ber of people condemned to servitude, under various pretexts, and employed 
in working the silver mines. These, marked by each proprietor with a hot 
iron, like his cattle, were driven in herds to the mountains. 9. The nature of 
the labour to which they were subjected there, the noxious vapours of the mines, 
the coldness of the climate, and scarcity were so fatal, that Torribio affirms 
the country round several of those mines, particularly near Guaxago, was 
covered with dead bodies, the air corrupted with their stench, and so many vul- 
tures and other voracious birds hovered about for their prey, that the sun was 
darkened with their flight. 10. The Spaniards, in the different expeditions 
which they undertook, and by the civil wars which they carried on, destroyed 
many of the natives whom they compelled to serve them as Tamemes, or car- 
riers of burdens. This last mode of oppression was particularly ruinous to 
the Peruvians. From the number of Indians who perished in Gonzalo Pizarro's 
expedition into the countries to the east of the Andes, one may form some 
idea of what they suffered in similar services, and how fast they were wasted 
by them. Torribio, MS. Corita, in his Breve y Summaria Relacion, illus- 
trates and confirms several of Torribio's observations, to which he refers. MS. 
penes me. 

Note [165]. Page 348. 

Even Montesquieu has adopted this idea, lib. viii. c. 18. But the passion of 
that great man for system sometimes rendered him inattentive to research ; 
and from his capacity to refine, he was apt, in some instances, to overlook 
obvious and just causes. 

Note [166]. Page 349. 

A STRONG proof of this occurs in the testament of Isabella, where she cis- 
covers the most tender concern for the humane and mild usage of the Indians. 
Those laudable sentiments of the qvieen have been adopted in the pubhc law 
of Spain, and serve as the introduction to the regulations contained under the 
title 0/ the good treatment of the Indians. Recopil. lib. vi. tit. x. 

Note [167]. Page 350. 

In the seventh Title of the first book of the Rec-opilacion, which contains the 
laws concerning the powers and functions of archbishops and bishops, almost 
a third part of them relates to what is incumbent upon them as guardians of 
the Indians, and points out the various metliods in which it is their duty to 
interpose, in order to defend them from oppression either with respect to their 
persons or property. Not only do the laws commit to them this honourable 
and humane office, but the ecclesiastics of America actually exercise it. 

Innumerable proofs of this might be produced from Spanish authors. But I 
rather refer to Gage, as he was not disposed to ascribe any merit to the popish 
clergy to which they were not fully entitled. Survey, p. 142. 192, &c. Henry 
Hawks, an English merchant, who resided five years in New Spain previous 
to the year 1572, gives the same favourable account of the popish clergy. 
Hakluyt, iii. 466. By a law of Charles V. not only bishops, but other eccle- 
siastics, are empowered to inform and admonish the civil magistrates, if any 
Indian is deprived of his just liberty and rights ; Recopilac. hb. vi. tit. vi. ley 
14 : and thus wore constituted legal protectors of the Indians. Some of the 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 511 

Spanish ecclesiastics refused to grant absolution to such of their countrymen 
as possessed Encomiendas^ and considered the Indians as slaves, or employed 
thera in working their mines. Gonz. Davil. Teatro Eccles. i. 137. 

Note [168]. Page 350. 

According to Gage, Chiapa dos Indos contains 4000 families ; and he men- 
tions it only as one of the largest Indian towns in America, p. 104. 

Note [169]. Page 350. 

It is very difficult to obtain an accurate account of the state of population 
in those kingdoms of Europe where the police is most perfect, and where sci- 
ence has made the greatest progress. In Spanish America, where knowledge 
is still in its infancy, and few men have leisure to engage in researches merely 
speculative, little attention has been paid to this curious inquiry. But in the 
year 1741, Philip V. enjointsd the viceroys and governors of the several pro- 
vinces in America, to make an actual survey of the people under their jurisdic- 
tion, and to transmit a report concerning their number and occupations. In 
consequence of this order, tlie Conde de Fuen-Clara, Viceroy of New Spain, 
appointed D. Jos. Antonio de Villa Segnor y Sanchez to execute that commis- 
sion in New Spain. From the reports of the magistrates in the several dis- 
tricts, as well as from his own observations and long acquaintance with most 
of the provinces, Villa Segnor published the result of his inquiries in his Teatro 
Americano. His report, however, is imperfect. Of the nine diocesses, into 
which the Mexican empire has been divided, he has published an account of 
five only, viz. the archbishopric of Mexico, the bishoprics of Pueblo de los 
Angeles, Mechoacan, Oaxaca, and Nova Galicia. The bishoprics of Yucatan, 
Verapaz, Chiapa, and Guatimala, are entirely omitted, though the two latter 
compreliend countries in which the Indian race is more numerous than in any 
part of New Spain. In his survey of the extensive diocess of Nova Galicia, 
the situation of the different Indian villages is described, but he specifies the 
number of people only in a small part of it. The Indians of that extensive 
province, in which the Spanish dominion is imperfectly established, are not 
registered with the same accuracy as in other parts of New Spain. According 
to Villa Segnor, the actual state of population in the five diocesses above men- 
tioned is of Spaniards, negroes, mulattoes, and mestizos, in the diocesses of 

Families. 

Mexico 105,202 

Los Angeles 30,600 

Mechoacan 30,840 

Oaxaca -.-, 7,296 

Nova Galicia 16,770 



190,708 

At the rate of five to a family, the total number is . - - 953,540 

Indian families in the diocess of Mexico - . - » - 119,511 

Los Angeles ---. 88,240 

Mechoacan 36,196 

Oaxaca - 44,222 

Nova Galicia .-----.--. 6,222 



294,391 



Al the rate of five to a family, tlie total number is 1,471,953. We may rely 
with great certainty on this computation of the number of Indians, as it is 
taken from the Matricula, or register, according to which the tribute paid by 
them is collected. As four diocesses of nine are totally omitted, and in that 



512 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

of Nova Galicia the numbers are imperfectly recorded, we may conclude that 
the number of Indians in the Mexican empire exceeds two millions. 

The account of the number of Spaniards, &c. seems not to be equally com- 
plete. Of many places. Villa Segnor observes in general terms, that several 
Spaniards, negroes, and people of mixed race, reside there, without specifying 
their number. If, therefore, we make allowance for these, and for all who re- 
side in the four diocesses omitted, the number of Spaniards, and of those of a 
mixed race, may probably amount to a million and a half. In some places 
Villa Segnor distinguishes between Spaniards and the three inferior races of 
negroes, mulattoes, and mestizos, and marks their number separately. But he 
generally blends them together. But from the proportion observable in those 
places, where the number of each is marked, as well as from the account of 
the state of population in New Spain by other authors, it is manifest that the 
number of negroes and persons of a mixed race far exceeds that of Spaniards. 
Perhaps the latter ought not to be reckoned above 500,000 to a million of the 
former. 

Defective as this account may be, I have not been able to procure such in- 
telligence concerning the number of people in Peru, as might enable me to form 
any conjecture equally satisfying with respect to the degree of its population. 
I have been informed that in the year 1761, the protector of the Indians in the 
viceroyalty of Peru computed that 612,780 paid tribute to the king. As all 
females, and persons under age, are exempted from this tax in Peru, the total 
number of Indians ought by that account to be 2,449,120. MS. penes me. 

I shall mention another mode by which one may compute, or at least form a 
guess concerning the state of population in New Spain and Peru. According 
to an account which I have reason to consider as accurate, the number of 
copies of the bull of Cruzada exported to Peru on each new publication, is, 
1,171,953 ; to New Spain, 2,649,326. I am informed that but few Indians 
purchase buUs, and that they are sold chiefly to the Spanisli inhabitants, and 
those of mixed race ; so that the number of Spaniards, and people of a mixed 
race, will amount, by this mode of computation, to at least three millions. 

The number of inhabitants in many of the towns in Spanish America may 
give us some idea of the extent of population, and correct the inaccurate but 
popular notion entertained in Great Britain concerning the weak and desolate 
state of their colonies. The city of Mexico contains at least 150,000 people. 
It is remarkable that Torquemada, who wrote his Monarquia Indiana about 
the year 1612, reckons the inhabitants of Mexico at that time to be only 7000 
Spaniards and 8000 Indians. Lib. iii. c. 26. Puebla dc los Angeles contains 
above 60,000 Spaniards, and people of a mixed race. Villa Segnor, p. 247. 
Guadalaxara contains above 30,000 exclusive of Indians. Ibid. ii. 206. Lima 
contains 54,000. De Cosme Bueno Descr. de Peru, 1764. Carthagena con- 
tains 25,000. Potosi contains 25,000. Bueno, 1767. Popayan contains above 
20,000. Ulloa, i. 287. Towns of a second class are still more numerous. 
The cities in the most thriving settlements of other European nations in Ame- 
rica cannot be compared with these. 

Such are the detached accounts of the number of people in several towns, 
which I found scattered in authors whom I thought worthy of credit. But I 
have obtained an enumeration of the inhabitants of the towns in the province 
of Quito, on the accuracy of which I can rely ; and I communicate it to the 
public, both to gratify curiosity, and to rectify the mistaken notion which I 
have mentioned. St. Francisco de Quito contains between 50 and 60,000 
people of all the different races. Besides the city, there are in the Corres;imi- 
en/o twenty-nine cnras or parishes established in the principal villages, eacli of 
which has smaller hamlets depending upon it. The inhabitants of these are 
mostly Indians and mestizos. St. Juan de Pasto has between 6 and 8000 in- 
habitants, besides twenty-seven dependent villages. St. Miguel de Ibarra, 
7000 citizens, and ten villages. The district of Havalla, between 18 and 20,000 
people. The district of Tacuna, between 10 and 12,000. The district of 
Ambato, between 8 and 10,000, besides sixteen depending villages. The city 
of Riobamba, between 16 and 20,000 inhabitants, and nine depending villages. 
The district of Chimbo, between 6 and 8000. The city of Guayaquil, from 16 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 613 

to 20,000 inhabitants, and fourteen depending villages. The district of Atuasi, 
between 5 and 6000 inhabitants, and four depending villages. The city of 
Cui'nza, between 25 and 30,000 inhabitants, and nine populous depending 
villages. The town of Laxa, from 8 to 10,000 inhabitants, and fourteen de- 
pending villages. This degree of population, though slender if we consider 
the vast extent of the country, is far beyond what is commonly supposed. I 
have omitted to mention, in its proper place, that Quito is the only province in 
Spanish America that can be denominated a manuiticturing country ; hats, 
cotton stuffs, and coarse woollen cloths are made there in such quantities as to 
be sufficient not only for the consumption of the province, but to furnish a con- 
siderable article for exportation into other parts of Spanish America. 1 know 
not whether the uncommon industry of this province should be considered as 
the cause or the effect of its populousness. But among the ostentatious in- 
habitants of the New World, the passion for every thing that comes from 
Europe is so violent, that I am informed the manufactures of Quito are so 
much undervalued as to be on the decline. 

Note [170]. Page 352. 

These are established at the following places : — St. Domingo in the island 
of Hispaniola, Mexico in New Spain, Lima in Peru, Panama in Tierra Firme, 
Santiago in Guatimala, Guadalaxara in New Galicia, Santa Fc in the New 
Kingdom of Granada, La Plata in the country of Los Charcas, St. Francisco 
de Quito, St. Jago de Chili, Buenos Ayres. To each of these are subjected 
several large provinces, and some so far removed from the cities where the 
courts are fixed, that they can derive little benefit from their jurisdiction. The 
Spanish writers commonly reckon up twelvu Courts cf Audience, but they in- 
clude that of Manilla, in the Philippine islands. 

Note [171]. Page 354. 

On account of the distance of Peru and Chili from Spain, and the difficulty 
of carrying commodities of such bulk as wine and oil across the isthmus of 
Panama, the Spaniards in those provinces have been permitted to plant vines 
and olives : but they are strictly prohibited from exporting wine or oil to any 
of the provinces on the Pacific Ocean, which are in such a situation as to re- 
ceive them from Spain. Recop. lib. i. tit. xvii. 1. 15 — 18. 

Note [172]. Page 355. 

This computation was made by Benzoni, A. D. 1550, fifty-eight years after 
the discovery of America. Hist. Novi Orbis, lib. iii, c. 21. But as Benzoni 
wrote with the spirit of a malecontent, disposed to detract from the Spaniards 
in every particular, it is probable that his calculation is considerably too low. 

Note [173]. Page 355. 

My information with respect to the division and transmission of property in 
the Spanish colonies is imperfect. The Spanish authors do not explain this 
fully, and have not perhaps attended sufficiently to the eflFects of their own in- 
stitutions and laws. Solorzano de Jure Ind. (vol. ii. lib. ii. 1. 16.) explains 
in some measure the introduction of the tenure of Mayorasgo, and mentions 
some of its effects. Villa Segnor takes notice of a singular consequence of it. 
He observes, that in some of the best situations in the city of Mexico, a good 
deal of ground is unoccupied, or covered only with the ruins of the houses 
once erected upon it ; and adds, that as this ground is held by right of Mayo- 
raego, and cannot be alienated, that desolation and those ruins become perpetual. 
Teatr. Amer. vol. i. p. 34. 

Note [174]. Page 356. 

There is no law that excludes Creoles from offices either civil or ecclesiastic. 
On the contrary, there are many CedulM, which recommend the conferring 
Vol. L— 65 



S14 NOTES A>JD ILLUSTRATIONS. 

places of trust indiscriminately on the natives of Spain and America. Betan 
court y Figueroa Derecho, &c. p. 5, 6. But, notwithstanding such repeated 
recommendations, preferment in almost every line is conferred on native 
Spaniards. A remarkable proof of this is produced by the author last quoted. 
Trom the discovery of America to the year 1637, three hundred and sixty-nine 
bishops, or archbishops, have been appointed to the different diocesses in that 
country, and of all that number only twelve were Creoles, p. 40. This predi- 
lection for Europeans seems still to continue. By a royal mandate, issued in 
1776, the chapter of the cathedral of Mexico is directed to nominate European 
ecclesiastics of known merit and abilities, that the King may appoint thera to 
supply vacant benefices. MS. penes me. 

Note [175]. Page 358. 

Moderate as this tribute may appear, such is the extreme poverty of the 
Indians in many provinces of America, that the exacting of it is intolerably 
oppressive. Pegna Itiner. par Parodies de Indios, p. 192. 

Note [176]. Page 358. 

In New Spain, on account of the extraordinary merit and services of the first 
conquerors, as well as the small revenue arising from the country previous to 
the discovery of the mines of Sacatecas, the encomiendas were granted for 
three, and sometimes for four lives. Recopil. lib. vi. tit. ii. c. 14, &c. 

Note [177]. Page 359. 

D. Ant. Ulloa contends, that working in mines is not noxious, and as a 
proof of this informs us, that many Mestizos and Indians, who do not belong to 
any Repartiraiento, voluntarily hire themselves as miners ; and several of the 
Indians, when the legal term of their service expires, continue to work in the 
mines of choice. Entrcten. p. 265. But his opinion concerning the whole- 
someness of this occupation is contrary to the experience of all ages ; and 
\therever men are allured by high wages, they will engage in any species of 
labour, however fatiguing or pernicious it may.be. D. Hern. Carillo Altauiirano 
relates a curious fact incompatible with this opinion. Wherever mines are 
wrought, says he, the number of Indians decreases ; but in the province of 
Campeachy, where there are no mines, the number of Indians has increased 
more than a third since the conquest of America, though neither the soil nor 
climate be so favourable as in Peru or Mexico. Colbert Collect. In another 
memorial presented to Pliilip III. in the year 1609, Captain Juan Gonzales de 
Azevedo asserts, that in every district of Peru where the Indians are compelled 
to labour in the mines, their numbers were reduced to the half, and in some 
places to the third, of what it was under the viceroyalty of Don Fran. Toledo 
in 1581. Colb. Collect. 

Note [178]. Page 359. 

As labour of this kind cannot be prescribed with legal accuracy, the tasks 
eeem to be in a great measure arbitrary, and, like the services exacted by feudal 
superiors in vinea prato, aut messe, from their vassals, are extremely burden- 
some, and often wantonly oppressive. Pegna Itiner. par Paroches de Indios. 

Note [179]. Page 359. 

The turn of service known in Peru by the name of Mita is called Tanda in 
New Spain. There it continues no longer than a week at a time. No person 
is called to serve at a greater distance from his habitation than 24 miles. This 
arrangement is less oppressive to the Indians than that established in Fero. 
Memorial of Horn. Canllo Altamirano. Colbert CoUecL 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 615 



Note [180]. Page 360. 

The strongest proof of this may bo deduced from the laws tliemselves. By 
the multitude and variety of regulations to prevent abuses, we may form an 
idea of the number of abuses that prevail. Though the laws have wisely pro- 
vided that no Indian shall be obliged to serve in any mine at a greater distance 
from his place of residence than thirty miles ; we arc informed, in a memorial 
of D. Hernan Carillo Altamirano presented to the king, that the Indians of 
Peru are often compelled to serve in mines at the distance of a hundred, a 
hundred and fifty, and even two hundred leagues from their habitation. Col- 
bert Collect. Many mines are situated in parts of the country so barren and 
so distant from the ordinary habitations of the Indians, tliat the necessity of 
procuring labourers to work there has obliged the Spanish monarchs to dis- 
pense with their own regulations in several instances, and to permit the vice- 
roys to compel the people of morfe remote provinces to resort to those mines. 
Escalona Gazophyl. Perub. lib. i. c. 16. But, in justice to them, it should be 
observed that they have been studious to alleviate this oppression as much as 
possible, by enjoining the viceroys to employ every method in order to induce 
the Indians to settle in some part of the country adjacent to the mines. Id. ibid. 

Note [181]. Page 362. 

ToRauEMADA, after a long enumeration which has the appearance of accu- 
racy, concludes the number of monasteries in New Spain to be four hundred. 
Mon. Ind. lib. xix. c. 32. The number of Monasteries in the city of Mexico 
alone was, in the year 1743, fifty-five. Villa Segnor Theat. Amor. i. 34. Ulloa 
reckons up forty convents in Lima ; and mentioning those for nuns, he says 
that a small town might be peopled out of them, the number of persons shut 
up there is so great. Voy. i. 429. Philip III., in a letter to the Viceroy of 
Peru, A. D. 1620, observes, that the number of convents in Lima waa so great, 
that ihey covered more ground than all the rest of the city. Solorz. lib. iii. c. 
23. n. 57. Lib. iii. c. 16. Torquem. lib. xv. c. 3. The first monastery in 
New Spain was founded A. D. 1525, four years only after the conquest. Torq. 
lib. XV. c. 16. 

According to Gil Gonzalez Davila, the complete establishment of the 
American church in all the Spanish settlements was, in the year 1649, 1 patri- 
arch, 6 archbishops, 32 bishops, 346 prebends, 2 abbots, 5 royal chaplains, 840 
convents. Teatro Ecclesiastico de las Ind. Occident. Vol. i. Pref. When 
the order of Jesuits was expelled from all the Spanish dominions, the colleges, 
professed houses, and residences which it possessed in the province of New 
Spain were thirty, in Quito sixteen, in the New Kingdom of Granada thirteen, 
in Peru seventeen, in Chili eighteen, in Paraguay eighteen ; in all, a hundred 
and twelve. Collection General de Providencias hasta aqui toniadas sobre 
estranamento, &c. de la Compagnia, part i. p. 19. The number of Jesuits, 
priests, and novices in all these amounted to 2245. MS. jienes me. 

In the year 1644 the city of Mexico presented a petition to the king, praying 
that no new monastery might be founded, and that the revenues of thoso 
already established might be circumscribed, otherwise the religious houses 
would soon acquire the property of the whole country. The petitioners request 
likewise, that the bishops might be laid under restrictions in conferring holy 
orders, as there were at that time in New Spain above six thousand clergymen 
without any living. Ibid. p. 16. These abuses must have been enormous in- 
deed, when the superstition of American Spaniards was shocked, and induced 
to remonstrate against them. 

Note [182]. Page 363. 

Tins description of the manners of the Spanish clergy I should not have 
ventured to give upon the testimony of Protestant authors alone, as they may 
be suspected of prejudice or exaggeration. Gage, in particular, who had a 
bettor opportunity thaji any Protbetant to view the interior state of Spanish 



616 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

America, describes the corruption of the church which he had forsaken with 
BO much of the acrimony of a new convert, that I should have distrusted his 
evidence, though it communicates some very curious and striking facts. But 
Benzoni mentions the profligacy of ecclesiastics in America at a very early 
period after their settlement there. Hist. lib. ii. c. 19, 20. M. Frezier, an in- 
telligent observer, and zealous for his own religion, paints the dissolute manners 
of the Spanish ecclesiastics in Peru, particularly the regulars, in stronger 
colours than I have emploj-ed. Voy. p. 61. 215, izc. M. Gcntil confirms this 
account. Voy. i. 34. Correal concurs with both, and adds many remarkable 
circumstances. Voy. i. 61. 155. 161. I have good reason to believe that the 
manners of the regular clergy, particularly in Peru, are stilLextremely indecent. 
Acosta himself acknowledges that great corruption of manners had been the 
consequence of permitting monks to forsake the retirement and discipline of 
the cloister, and to mingle again with the world, by undertaking the charge of 
the Indian parishes. De Procur. Ind. Salute, lib. iv. c. 13, &c. He mentions 
particularly those vices of which I have taken notice, and considers the tempt- 
ations to them as so formidable, that he leans to the opinion of those who 
hold that the regular clergy should not be employed as parish priests. Lib. v. 
c. 20. Even the advocates of the regulars admit, that many and great enor- 
mities abounded among the monks of different orders, when set free from the 
restraint of monastic discipline ; and from the tone of their defence, one may 
conclude that the charge brought against them was not destitute of truth. In 
the French colonies the state of the regular clergy is nearly the same as in the 
Spanish settlements, and the same consequences have followed. M. Biet, 
superior of the secular priests in Cayenne, inquires, with no less appearance 
of piety than of candour, into the causes of this corruption, and imputes it 
chiefly to the exemption of regulars from the jurisdiction and censures of their 
diocessans ; to the temptations to which they are exposed ; and to their en- 
gaging in commerce. Voy. p. 320. It is remarkable, that all the authors who 
censure the licentiousness of the Spanish regulars with the greatest severity, 
concur in vindicating the conduct of the Jesuits. Formed under a discipline 
more perfect than that of the other monastic orders, or animated by that con- 
cern for the honour of the society which takes such full possession of every 
member of the order, the Jesuits, both in Mexico and Peru, it is allowed, main- 
tain a most irreproachable decency of manners. Frezier, 223. Gentil. i. 34. 
The same praise is likewise due to the bishops and most of the dignified clergy. 
Frez. Ibid. 

A volume of the Gazette de Mexico for the years 1728, 1729, 1730, having 
been communicated to me, I find there a striking confirmation of what I have 
advanced concerning the spirit of low illiberal superstition prevalent in Spanish 
America. From the newspapers of any nation one may learn what are the 
objects which chiefly engross its attention, and which appear to it most inte- 
resting. The Gazette of Mexico is filled almost entirely with accounts of re- 
ligious functions, with descriptions of processions, consecrations of churches, 
beatifications of saints, festivals, autos de fe, Szc. Civil or conunercial affairs, 
and even the transactions of Europe, occupy but a small corner in this maga- 
zine of monthly intelligence. From the titles of new books, which are regularly 
inserted in this Gazette, it appears that two-thirds of them are treatises of 
scholastic theology, or of monkish devotion. 

Note [103]. Page 363. 

SoLORZAjfo, after mentioning tlie corrupt morals of some of the regular 
clergy, v.'ith that cautious reserve which became a Spanish layman in touching 
on a subject so delicate, gives his opinion very explicitly, and with much firm'^ 
ness, against committing parochial charges to monks. He produces the tcsti- 
jnony of several respectable authors of his country, both divines and lawyers, 
in confirmation of his opinion. De Jure Ind. ii. lib. iii. c. 16. A striking proof 
of the alarm excited by the attempt of the Prince d'Esquilache to exclude tho 
regulars from parochial cures, is contained in the Colbert collection of papers. 
Several memorials were presented to the king by tho procurators for the mo- 
nastic orders, and replies were made to those in name of the secular clergy. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 617 

An eager and even rancorous spirit is manifest on both sides in the conduct of 
this dispute. 

Note [104]. Page 365. 

Not only the native Indians, but the Mestizos, or children of a Spaniard 
and Indian, were originally excluded from the priesthood, and refused admis- 
sion into any religious order. But by a law issued Sept. 2Uth, 1588, Philip II. 
required the prelates of America to ordain such mestizos born in lawful wed- 
lock, as Ihey should lind to be properly qualified, and to permit them to take 
the vows in any monastery where they had gone through a regular noviciate, 
Recopil. lib. i. tit. vii. 1. 7. Some regard seems to have been paid lo this law 
in New Spain ; but none in Peru. Upon a representation of this to Charles 
II. in the year 1697, he issued a new edict, enforcing the observation of it, and 
professing his desire to have all his subjects, Indians and mestizos as well sa 
Spaniards, admitted to tJie enjoyment of the same privileges. Such, how 
ever, was the aversion of tlie Spaniards in America to the Indians and their 
race, that tiiis seems to have produced little effect; for in the year 1725 Philip 
V. was obliged lo renew the injunction in a more peremptory tone. But so 
unsurmountable are hatred and contempt of the Indians among the Peruvian 
Spaniards, that the present king has been constrained to enforce the form'ir 
edicts anew, by a law published September 11, 1774. Real Cedula, MS. 
penes me. 

M. Clavigero has contradicted what I have related concerning the ecclesias- 
tical state of the Indians, particularly their exclusion from the sacrament o 
the eucharist, and from holy orders, either as seculars or regulars, in such a 
manner as cannot fail to make a deep impression. He, from his own know- 
ledge, asserts, " that in New Spain not only are Indians permitted to partake of 
the sacrament of the altar, but that Indian priests are so numerous that they 
may be counted by hundreds ; and among these have been many hundreds o** 
rectors, canonj, and doctors, and, as report goes, even a very learned bishop 
At present there are many priests, and not a few rectors, among whom there 
have been three or four our own pupils." Vol. II. 348, &c. I owe it, therefore, 
as a duty to the public as well as to myself, to consider each of these points 
with care, and to explain the reasons which induced me to adopt the opinion 
which I have published. 

I knew that in the Cliristian church there is no distinction of persons, but 
that men of every nation, who embrace the religion of Jesus, are equally en- 
titled to every Christian privilege which they are qualified to receive. I knew 
likewise that an opinion prevailed, not only among most of the Spanish laity 
settled in America, but among " many ecclesiastics (I use the words of Herrera, 
dec. ii. lib. ii. c. 15), that the Indians were not jierfect or rational men, and 
were not possessed of such capacity as qualified them to partake of the sacra- 
ment of the altar, or of any other benefit of our religion." It was against 
this opinion that Las Casas contended with ihe laudable zeal which I have 
described in Books III. and VI. But as the Bishop of Darien, doctor Sepul- 
vida, and other respectable ecclesiastics, vigorously supported the common 
opinion concerning the incapacity of tlie Indians, it became necessary, in order 
to determine the point, that the authority of the Holy See should be interposed ; 
and accordingly Paul III. issued a bull, A. D. 1537, in which, after condemning 
the opinion of those who held that the Indians, as being on a level with brute 
beasts, should be reduced to servitude, he declares that they were really men, 
and as such were capable of embracing the Christian religion, and participating 
of all its blessings. My account of this bull, notwithstanding the cavils of M. 
Clavigero, must appear just to every person who takes the trouble of perusing 
it ; and my account is the same witli that adopted by Torquemada, lib. xvi. c. 
25, ar.d by Garcia, Orig. p. 311. But even after this decision, so low did the 
Spaniards residing iu America rate the capacity of the natives, that the first 
council of Lima (I call it by that name on the authority of the best Spanish 
authors) discountenanced the admission of Indians to the holy communion. 
Torquem. lib. xvi. c. 20. In New Spain the exclusion of Indians from the 
sacrament was still more explicit. Ibid. Afler two centuries have elapsed, and 



518 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

notwithstanding^ all the improvement that the Indians may be supposed to have 
derived fiom their intercourse with the Spaniards during that period, we are 
informed by D. Ant. Ulloa, that in Peru, where, as will appear in the sequel 
of this note, they are supposed to be better instructed than in New Spain, 
their ignorance is so prodigious tliat very few are permitted to communicate, as 
being altogether destitute of the requisite capacity. Voy. i. 341, Sic. Solorz. 
Polit. Ind. i. 203. 

With respect to the exclusion of Indians from the priesthood, either as secu- 
lars or regulars, we may observe that while it continued to be the connnon 
opinion that the natives of America, on account of their incapacity, should 
not be permitted to partake of tlie holy sacrament, we cannot suppose that 
they would be clothed with that sacred character which entitled them to con- 
secrate and to dispense it. When Torquemada composed his Monarquia In- 
diana it was almost a century after the conquest of New Spain ; and yet in his 
time it was still the general practice to exclude Indians from holy orders. Of 
this we have the most satisfj'ing evidence. Torquemada having celebrated 
the virtues and graces of the Indians at great length, and with all the com- 
placency of a missionary, he starts as an objection to what he had asserted, 
" If the Indians really possess all the excellent qualities which you have de- 
scribed, why are they not permitted to assume the religious habit ? Why are 
they not ordained priests and bishops, as the Jewish and Gentile converts were 
in the primitive church, especially as they might be employed with such su- 
perior advantage to other persons in the instruction of their countrymen '" 
Lib. xvii. c. 13. 

In answer to this objection, which establishes, in the most unequivocal man- 
ner, what was the general practice at that period, Torquemada observes, that 
although by their natual dispositions the Indians are well fitted for a subordi- 
nate situation, they are destitute of all the qualities requisite in any station of 
dignity and authority ; and that they are in general so addicted to drunken- 
ness, that upon the slightest temptation one cannot promise on their behaving 
witli tlie decency suitable to the clerical character. The propriety of excluding 
them from it, on these accounts, was, he observed, so well justified by experi- 
ence, that when a foreigner of great erudition, who came from Spain, con- 
demned the practice of the Mexican church, he was convinced of his mis- 
take in a public disputation with the learned and most religious Father D. Juan 
de Gaona, and his retraction is still extant. Torquemada indeed acknowledges, 
as RI. Clavigcro observes with a degree of exultation, that in his name some 
Indians had been admitted into monasteries ; but, with the art of a disputant, 
he forgets to mention that Torquemada specifies only two examples of this, 
and takes notice that in both instances those Indians had been admitted by 
mistake. Relying upon the authority of Torquemada with regard to New 
Spain, and of Ulloa with regard to Peru, and considering tlie humiliating de- 
pression of the Indians in all the Spanish settlements, I concluded that they 
were not admitted into the ecclesiastical order, which is held in the highest 
veneration all over the New World. 

But when M. Clavigero, upon his own knowledge asserted facts so repugnant 
to the conclusion I had formed, I began to distrust it, and to wish for further 
information. In order to obtain this, I applied to a Spanish nobleman, high in 
office, and eminent for his abilities, who, on different occasions, has permitted 
me to have the honour and benefit of corresponding with him. I have been 
favoured with the following answer: "What you have written concerning the 
admission of Indians into holy orders, or into monasteries, in Book VIII., 
especially as it is explained and limited in Note LXXXVIII. of the quarto edi- 
tion, is in general accurate, and conl'ormable to the authorities wiiich you quote. 
And although the congregation of the council resolved and declared, Feb. 13, 
A. D. 1C82, that the circumstance of being an Indian, or mulatto, or mestizo, 
did not disqualify any person from being admitted into holy orders, if he was 
possessed of what is required by the canons to entitle him to that privilege ; 
this only proves such ordinations to be legal and valid (of which Solorzano and 
the Spanish lawyers and historians quoted by him, Pol. Ind. lib. ii. c. 29, were 
persuaded), but it neither proves the propriety of admitting Indians into holy 
orders, nor what was then the common practice with respect to this ; but, on 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 619 

the contrary, it shows that there was some doubt concerning the ordaining of 
Indians, and some repugnance to it. 

" Since tliat time there have been some examples of admitting Indians into 
holy orders. We have now at Madrid an aged priest, a native of Tlascala. 
His name is D. Juan Cerilo da Castilla Aquihual Catehuttlc, descended of a 
cazique converted to Christianity soon after the conquest. He studied the 
ecclesiastical sciences in a seminary of Puebla de los Angeles. He was a can- 
didate, nevertlieless, for ten years, and it required much interest before Bishop 
Abren would consent to ordain him. This ecclesiastic was a man of unexcep- 
tionable character, modest, self-denied, and with a competent knowledge of 
what relates to his clerical functions. Ho came to Madrid above thirty-four 
years ago with the sole view of soliciting admission for the Indians into the 
colleges and seminaries in New Spain, that if, after being well instructed and 
tried, they should find an inclination to enter into the ecclesiastical state, they 
might embrace it, and perform its functions with the greatest benefit to their 
countrymen, whom they could address in their native tongue. He has ob- 
tained various regulations favourable to his scheme, particularly that the hrst 
college which became vacant in consequence of the exclusion of the Jesuits 
should be set apart for this purpose. But neither these regulations, nor any 
similar ones inserted in the laws of the Indies, have produced any etfect, on 
account of objections and representations from the greater part of persons of 
chief consideration employed in New Spain. Whether their opposition be well 
founded or not is a problem diliicult to resolve, and towards the solution of 
which several distinctions and modifications are requisite 

" According to the accounts of this ecclesiastic, and the information of other 
persons who have resided in the Spanish dominions in America, you may rest 
assured, that in the kingdom of Tierra Firme no such thing is known as either 
an Indian secular priest or monk ; and that in New Spain there are very few 
ecclesiastics of Indian race. In Peru, perhaps, the number may be greater, as 
in that country there are more Indians who possess the means of acquiring 
such a learned education as is necessary for persons vho aspire to the clerical 
character." 

Note [185]. Page 366. 

UzTARiz, an accurate and cautious calculator, seems to admit, that the 
quantity of silver which does not pay duty, may be stated thus high. According 
to Herrera there was not above a third of what was extracted from Potosi that 
paid the king's fifth. Dec. 8. lib. ii. c. 15. Solorzano asserts likewise, that the 
quantity of silver which is fraudulently circulated, is far greater than that 
which is regularly stamped, after paying the fifth. De Ind. Jure, vol. ii. lib 
T. p. 846. 

Note [186]. Page 368. 

When the mines of Potosi were discovered in the year 1545, the veins wero 
so near the surface, that the ore was easily extracted, and so rich that it waa 
refined with little trouble and at a small expense, merely by the action of fire. 
The simple mode of refining by fusion alone continued until the year 1574, 
when the use of mercury in refining silver, as well as gold, was discovered. 
Those mines having been wrought without interruption for two centuries, tho 
veins are now sunk so deep, that the expense of extracting the ore is greatly 
increased. Besides this, the richness of the ore, contrary to what happens in 
most other mines, has become less as the vein continued to dip. The vein 
has likewise diminished to such a degree, that one is amazed that the Spaniards 
should persist in working it. Other rich mines have been successively disco- 
vered; but in general the value of the ores has decreased so much, while the ex- 
pense of extracting them has augmented, that the court of Spain in the year 
1736 reduced the duty payable to the king from a.Jiflh to a tentk. All the quick- 
silver used in Peru is extracted from tlie famous mine of Guancabelica, dis- 
covered in the year 1563. The crown has reserved tho property of this mine 
to itjelf ; and the persons who purchase the qivcksilver pay not only the price 



C20 ^^OTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

of it, but likewise a.Jiflh, as a duty to the king. But in the year 1761 this duty 
on quicksilver was abolislied, on account oftlie increase of expense in working 
mines. Ulloa, Entreteniniientos, xii — xv. Voyage, i. p. 505. 523. In conse- 
quence of this abolition of the Jiflh, and some subsequent abatements of price, 
which became necessary on account of the increasing expense of working mines, 
quicksilver, wiiich was formerly sold at eighty pesos the quintal, is now de- 
livered by the king at the rate of sixty pesos. Campornanes, Educ. Popul. ii. 
132, note. The duty on gold is reduced to a twenUeth, or five per cent. Any 
of my readers who are desirous of being acquainted with the mode in which 
the Spaniards conduct the working of their mines, and the refinement of the 
ore, will find an accurate description of the ancient method by Acosta, lib. iv 
c. 1 — 13, and of .their more recent improvements in the metallurgic art, by 
Gamboa Comment, a las ordenauz. de JNIinas, c, 22. 

Note [187]. Page 369. 

Many remarkable proofs occur of the advanced state of industry in Spam 
at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The number of cities in Spain was 
considerable, and they were peopled far beyond the proportion that was com- 
mon in other parts of Europe. The causes of this I have explained. Hist, 
of Cha. V. p. 6G. Wherever cities are populous, that species of industry 
which is peculiar to them increases : artificers and manufacturers abound. 
The effect of the American trade in giving activity to these is manifest from a 
singular fact. In th^year 1545, while Spain continued to depend on its own 
industry for the supply of its colonies, so much work was bespoke from the 
manufacturers, that it was supposed they could hardly finish it in less than sir. 
years. Campom. i. 406. Such a demand must have put much industry in 
motion, and have excited extraordinary efforts. Accordingly, we are informed, 
that in the beginning of Philip II. 's roign, the city of Seville alone, where the 
trade with America centred, gave employment to no fewer than 16,000 looms 
in silk or woollen work, and that above 130,000 persons had occupation in car- 
rying on these manufactures. Campom. ii. 472. But so rapid and pernicious 
was the operation of the causes which I shall enumerate, that before Philip III. 
ended his reign the looms in Sevl'le were reduced to 400. Uztariz, c. 7. 

Since the publication of the first edition, I have the satisfaction to find my 
ideas concerning the early commercial intercourse between Spain and her colo- 
nies confirmed and illustrated by D. Bernardo Ward, of the Junto de Com- 
ercio at Madrid, in his Proyiclo Economico, part ii. c. i. " Under the reigns 
of Charles V. and Philip. II." says he, " the manufactures of Spain and of 
the Low-Countries subject to her dominion were in a most flourishing state. 
Those of France and England were in their infanc}'. The republic of the 
United Provinces did not then exist. No European power but Spain had colo- 
nies of any value in the New World. Spain could supply her settlements 
there with the productions of her own soil, the fabrics wrought by the hands 
of her own artisans, and all she received in return for these belonged to herself 
alone. Then the exclusion of foreign manufactures was proper, because it 
might be rendered effectual. Then Spain might lay heavy duties upon goods 
exported to America, or imported from it, and might impose what restraints 
she deemed i)roper upon a commerce entirely in her own hands. But when 
time and successive revolutions had occasioned an alteration in all those cir- 
cumstances, when the manufactures of Spain began to decline, and the de- 
mands of America were supplied by foreign fabrics, the original maxims and 
regulations of Spain should have been accommodated to the change in her 
situation. The policy that was wise at one period became absurd in the 
other." 

Note [188]. Page 372. 

No bale of goods is ever opened, no chest of treasure is examined. Both 
are received on the credit of the persons to whom they belong ; and only one 
instance of fraud is recorded, during the long period in which trade was carried 
«n with this liberal confidence. All the coined silver that was brought from 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 521 

Peru to Porto-bello in the year 1654 was found to be adulterated, and to be 
mino-led with a fifth part of base metal. The Spanish merchants, with senti- 
ments suitable to their usual integrity, sustained the whole loss, and indemni- 
fied the foreigners by whom they were employed. The fraud was detected, 
and the treasurer of the revenue in Peru, the author of it, was publicly burnt. 
B. Ulloa. Retablis. de Manuf., &;c. liv. ii. p. 102. 

Note [189]. Page 374. 

Many striking proofs occur of the scarcity of money in Spain. Of all the 
immense sums which have been imported from America, the amount of which 
I shall afterwards have occasion to mention, Moncada asserts, that there did 
not remain in Spain, in 1619, above two hundred millions of pesos, one half in 
coined money, the other in plate and jewels. Restaur, de Espagna, disc. iii. c. 
1. Uztariz, who published his valuable work in 1724, contends, that in money, 
plate, and jew'els, there did not remain a hundred million. Theor., &c. c. 3. 
Campomanes, on the authority of a remonstance from tlie community of mer- 
chants in Toledo to Philip III., relates, as a certain proof how scarce cash had 
become, that persons who lent money received a third of the sum which they 
advanced as interest and premium. Educ. Popul. i. 417. 

Note [190]. Page 375. 

The account of tlie mode in which the factors of the South Sea company 
conducted the trade in the fair of Porto-bello, which was opened to them by 
the A^siento, I have taken from Don Dion. Alcedo y Herrera, president of the 
Court of Audience in Quito, and governor of that province. Don Dionysio 
was a person of such respectable character for probity and discernment, that 
his testimony in any point would be of nmch weiglit ; but greater credit is 
due to it in this case, as he was an eye-witness of the transactions whicli he 
relates, and was often employed in detecting and authenticating the frauds 
wliich he describes. It is probable, however, that his representation, being 
composed at the commencement of the war which broke out between Great 
Britahi and Spain, in the year 1739, may, in some instances, discover a portion 
of the acrimonious spirit natural at that juncture. His detail of facts is 
curious ; and even English authors confirm it in some degree, by admitting- 
both that various frauds were practised in the transactions of the annual ship, 
and that the contraband trade from Jamaica, and other British colonies, was 
become enormously great. But for the credit of the English nation it may be 
observed, that those fraudulent operations are not to be considered as deeds of 
the company, but as the dishonourable arts of their factors and agents. The 
company itself sustained a considerable loss by the Assiento trade. Many of 
its servants acquired immense fortunes. Anderson Chronol. deduct, ii. 388. 

Note [191]. Page 377. 

Several facts with respect to the institution, the progress, and the effects of 
this company, are curious, and but little known to English readers. Though 
the province of Venezuela, or Caraccas, extends four-hundred miles along the 
coast, and is one of the most fertile in America, it was so much neglected by 
the Spaniards, that during tiie twenty year« prior to the establishment of the 
company, only five ships sailed from Spain to that province ; and, during six- 
teen years, from 1706 to 1722, not a single ship arrived from the Caraccas in 
Spain. Noticias de Real Campania de Caraccas, p. 28. During this period 
Spain must have been supplied almost entirely with a large quantity of cacao, 
which it consumes, by foreigners. Before the erection of the company, neither 
tobacco nor hides were imported from Caraccas into Spain. Ibid. p. 117. 
Since the commercial operations of the company, begun in the j'ear 1731, the 
importation of cacao into Spain has increased amazingly. During thirty 
years subsequent to 1701, the number of fanes;ns of cacao (each a hundred and 
tmn pounds) imported from Caraccas was 043,215. During eighteen years sub- 
sequent to 1731, the number offanegas imported was 869,247 ; and if we eup- 

VoL. I.— tie 24 



522 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

pose the importation to be continued in tlie same proportion during the re- 
mainder of thirty years, it will amount to 1, 448,746 /anega*, which is an increase 
of 805,531 fanegas. Id. p. 148. During eight years subsequent to 1756, there 
have been imported into Spain by the company 88,482 arrobas (each twenty- 
five pounds) of tobacco ; and hides to the number of 177,354. Id. 161. Since 
the publication of the Noticias de Campania, in 1765, its trade seems to be on 
the increase. During five years subsequent to 1769, it has imported 179,156 
fanegas of cacao into Spain, 36,208 arrobas of tobacco, 75,496 hides, and 221,432 
pesos in specie. Campomanes, ii. 162. The last article is a proof of the grow- 
ing wealth of the colony. It receives cash from Mexico in return for the cacao, 
with which it supplies that province, and this it remits to Spain, or lays out in 
purchasing European goods. But, besidi^s this, the most explicit evidence is 
produced, that the quantity of Cacao rais^ed in the province is double to what 
it yielded in 1731 ; the number of its live stock is more than treble, and its in- 
habitants much augmented. The revenue of the bishop, which arises wholly 
from tithes, has increased from eight to twenty thousand pesos. Notic. p. 69. 
In consequence of the augmentation of the quantity of cacao imported into 
Spain, its price has decreased from eighty pesos for the faiiega to forty. Ibid. 
61. Since the publication of the first edition, I have learned that Guyana, 
including all the extensive provinces situated on the banlis of the Orinoco, the 
Islands of Trinidad and Margarita are added to the countries with which the 
company of Caraccas had liberty of trade by their former charters. Real Ce- 
•dula, Nov. 19, 1776. But I have likewise been informed, that the institution of 
this company has not been attended with all the beneficial effects which I have 
ascribed to it. In many of its operations the illiberal and oppressive spirit of 
monopoly is still conspicuous. But in order to explain this, it would be neces- 
sary to enter into minute details, which are not suited to the nature of this 
work. 

Note [192]. Page 380. 

This first experiment made by Spain of opening a free trade with any o- 
her colonies, has produced effects so remarkable, as to merit some further illus- 
tration. The towns to which this liberty has been granted, are Cadiz and 
Seville, for the provin:;e of Andalusia : Alicant and Carthagena, for Valencia 
and Murcia ; Barcelona, for Catalonia and Ara-goii ! Santander, for Castile ; 
Corugna, for Galicia ; and Gijon, for Asturias. Append, ii. a la Educ. Popul. 
p. 41. These are either the ports of chief trade in their respective districts, or 
those most conveniently situated for the exportation of their respective produc- 
tions. The following facts give a view of the increase of trade in the settle- 
ments to which the new regulations extend. Prior to the allowance of free 
■trade, the duties collected in the custom house at the Havanna were computed 
to be 104,208 pesos annually. During the five years preceding 1774, they rose 
at a medium to 308,000 pesos a year. In Yucatan the duties have arisen from 
8000 to 15,000. In Hispaniola, from 2500 to 5600. In Porto Rico, from 1200 
to 7000. The total value of goods imported from Cuba into Spain was 
reckoned, in 1774, to be 1,500,000 pesos. Educ. Popul. i. 450, &c. 

Note [193]. Page 382. 

The two treatises of Don Pedro Rodriguez Campomanes, Fiscal del real Con- 
sejo y Supremo (an officer in rank and power nearly similar to that of Attorney- 
General in England), and Director of the Royal Academy of History, the one 
entitled Discurso sobre el Fomento de la Industria Popular ; the other, Dis- 
curso sobre la Education Popular de los Artesanos y su Fomento ; the former 
published in 1774, and the latter in 1775, aff'ord a striking proof of this. 
Almost every point of importance with respect to interior police, taxation, 
agriculture, manufactures, and trade, domestic as well as foreign, is examined 
in the course of these works ; and there are not many authors, even in the 
nations most eminent for commercial knowledge, who have carried on their 
inquiries with a more thorough knowledge of tliose various subjects, and 
a more perfect fi-eedom from vulgar and national prejudices, or who have 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 523 

united more happily the calm researches of philosophy with the ardent zeal of 
a public spirited citizen. These books are in high estiniation among the 
Spaniards ; and it is a decisive evidence of the progress of their own ideas, 
that they are capable of relishing an author whose sentiments are so liberal. 

Note [194]. Page 384. 

The galeon employed in that trade, instead of the six hundred tons to which 
it is limited by law, Recop. lib. xlv. 1. 15, is commonly from twelve hundred to 
two thousand tons burden. The ship from Acapulco, taken by Lord Anson, 
instead of the 500,000 pesos permitted by law, had on board 1,313,843 pesos, 
besides uncoined silver equal in value to 43,611 pesos more. Anson's Voy. 384. 

Note [195]. Page 384. 

The price paid for the bull varies according to the rank of different persons. 
Those in the lowest order who are servants or slaves, pay two reals of plate, 
or one shilling ; other Spaniards pay eight reals, and those in public office, or 
who hold encomiendas, sixteen reals. Solorz. de Jure Ind. vol. ii. lib. iii. c. 25. 
According to Chilton, an English merchant who resided long in the Spanish 
settlements, the bull of Cruzado bore a higher price in the year 1570, being 
then sold for four reals at the lowest. Hakluyt, iii. 461. The price seems to 
have varied at different periods. That exacted for the bulls issued in the last 
Predicacion will appear from the ensuing table, which will give some idea of 
the proportional numbers of the different classes of citizens in New Spain and 
Peru. 

There were issued for New Spain- 
Bulls at 10 pesos each --------- 4 

at 2 pesos each -------- 22,601 

at 1 peso each --------- 164,220 

at 2 reals each 2,462,500 



2,649,325 



For Peru — 

at 16 pesos 4j reals each -.---»- 3 

at 3 pesos 3 reals each - - - - - - - 14,202 

at 1 peso 5J reals each ------- 78,822 

at 4 reals each -------- 410,325 

at 3 reals each --------- 668,601 



1,171,953 



Note [196]. Page 385. 

As Villa Segnor, to whom we are indebted for this information contained in 
his Theatro Americano, published in Mexico A. D. 1746, was accomptant-gene- 
ral in one of the most considerable departments of the royal revenue, and by that 
means had access to proper information, his testimony with respect to this point 
merits great credit. No such accurate detail of the Spanish revenues in any 
part of America has hitherto been published in the English language ; and the 
particulars of it may appear curious and interesting to some of my readers. 

From the bull of Cruzado, published every two years, there arises 

an annual revenue in pesos ------- 150,000 

From the duty on silver 700,000 

&5QfiOO 



524 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Brought forward 850,000 

From the duty on gold 60,000 

From tax on cards --------- 70,000 

From tax on pulque, a drink used by the Indians - - - - 161,000 

From tax on stamped paper ------- 41,000 

From ditto on ice --------- 15,522 

From ditto on leather -------- 2,500 

From ditto on gunpowder -------- 71,550 

From ditto on salt --------- 32,000 

From ditto on copper of Mechoachan ------ 1,000 

From ditto on alum -------- 6,500 

From ditto on Juego de los gallos ------ 21,100 

From the half of ecclesiastical annats - , - - - - 49,000 

From royal ninths of bishoprics, &c. ------ 68,800 

From the tribute of Indians ------- 650,000 

From Alcavala, or duty on sale of goods ----- 721,875 

From the Almajorifasgo, custom house ----- 373,333 

From the mint -- 357,500 



3,552,680 



This sum amounts to 819,161 sterling/. ; and if we add to it the profit ac- 
cruing from the sale of 5000 quintals of quicksilver, imported from the mines 
of Almaden, in Spain, on the King's account, and what accrues from the Averia, 
and some other taxes which Villa Segnor does not estimate, the public revenue 
in new Spain may well be reckoned above a million pounds sterling money. 
Theat. Mex. vol. i. p. 38, <fec. According to Villa Segnor, the total produce of 
the Mexican mines amounts at a medium to eight millions of Pesos in silver 
annually, and to 5912 marks of gold. Ibid. p. 44. Several branches of the 
revenue have been explained in the course of the history ; some of which 
there was no occasion of mentioning, require a particular illustration. The 
right to the tithes in the New World is vested in the crown of Spain, by a bull 
of Alexander VI. Charles V. appointed them to be applied in the following 
manner: One fourth is allotted to the bishop of the diocess, another fourth to 
the dean and chapter, and other officers of the cathedral. The remaining half 
is divided into nine equal parts. Two of these, under the denomination of 
los dos Jfove7ios reales, are paid to the crown, and constitute a branch of the 
royal revenue. The other seven parts are applied to ihe maintenance of the 
parochial clergy, the building and support of churches, and other pious uses. 
Kecopil. lib. L tit. xvi. Ley, 23, Szc. Avendano Thesaur. Indie, vol. i. p. 184. 

The Alcavala is a duty levied by an excise on tlie sale of goods. In Spain 
it amounts to ten per cent. In America to four per cent. Solorzano, Polit. 
Indiana, lib. vi. c. 8. Avendano, vol. i. 186. 

The Almajorifasco, or custom paid in America on goods imported and ex- 
ported, may amount on an average to fifteen per cent. Recopil. lib. viii. tit. 
xiv. Ley, i. Avendano, vol. i. p. 188. 

The Averia, or tax paid on account of convoys to guard the ships sailing to 
and from America, was first imposed when Sir Francis Drake filled the New 
World with terror by his expedition to the South Sea. It amounts to two per 
cent, on the value of goods. Avendano, vol. i. p. 189. Recopil. lib. ix. tit. ix. 
Ley, 43, 44. 

I have not been able to procure any accurate detail of the several branches 
of revenue in Peru later than the year 1614. From a curious manuscript con- 
taining a state of that viceroyalty in all its departments, presented to the Mar 
quis of Montes-Claros by Fran. Lopez Caravantes, accomptant-general in the 
tribunal of Lima, it appears that the public revenue, as nearly as I can com- 
pute the value of the money in which Caravantes states his accounts, amounted 
in ducats at 4s. lid. to 2,372,768 

Expenses of government ------- 1,242,992 

Net free revenue 1,129,776 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 525 

The total in sterling money £583^03 

Expenses of govemment ------- 303,5&8 



Net free revenue 277,735 

But several articles appear to be omitted in this computation, such as the 
duty on stamped paper, leather, ecclesiastical annats, &;c. so that the revenue 
of Peru may be well supposed equal to that of Mexico, 

In computing the expense 'jf government in New Spain, I may take that of 
Peru as a standard. 'I'liere the annual establishment for defraying the charge 
of administration exceeds one half of the revenue collected, and there is no 
reason for supposing it to be less in New Spain. 

I have obtained a calculation of the total amount of the public revenue of 
Spain from America and the Philippines, which, as the reader will perceive 
from the two last articles, is more recent than any of the former. 

Alcavalas (Excise) and Aduanas (Customs), Sec. in pesos fuertes - 2,500,000 

Duties on Gold and silver .._---- 3,000,000 

Bull of Cruzado 1,000,000 

Tribute of the Indians 2,000,000 

By sale of quicksilver 300,000 

Paper exported on the king's account, and sold in the royal ware- 
houses 300,000 

Stamped paper, tobacco, and other small duties . - - 1,000,000 

Duty on coinage of, at the rate of one real de la Plata for each mark 300,000 
From the trade of Acapulco, and the coasting trade from province 

to province 500,000 

Assiento of Negroes - - 200,000 

From the trade ofMathe., or herb of Paraguay, formerly monopolized 

by the Jesuits 500,000 

From other revenues formerly belonging to that order - - - 400,000 

Total 12,000,000 

Total in sterling money £2,700,000 

Deduct half, as the expense of administration, and there remams 

net free revenue --------- j£l, 350,000 

Note [197]. Page 385. 

An author long conversant in commercial speculation has computed, that 
from the mines of New Spain alone the king receives annually, as his fifth, the 
sum of two millions of our money. Harris, Collect, of Voy. ii. p. 164. Ac- 
cording to this calculation, the total produce of the mines must be ten millions 
sterling ; a sum so exorbitant, and so little corresponding with all accounts of 
the aimual importation from America, that tiie information or whicli it is 
founded must evidently be erroneous. According to Campomanes, the total 
product of the American mines may be computed at thirty millions of pesos, 
which, at four shillings and sixpence a peso, amounts to 7,425,000/. sterling, the 
king's fifth of which (if that were regularly paid) would be 1,485,000/. But 
from this sum must be deducted what is lost by a fraudulent withholding of the 
fifth due to the crown, as well as the sum necessary for defraying the expense 
of administration. Educ. Popular, vol. ii. p. 131. note. Both these sums are 
considerable. 

Note [198]. Page 385. 

AccoRDiXQ to Bern, de Ulloa, all foreign goods exported from Spain, to 
America pay duties of various kinds, amounting in all to more than 25 per 
cent. As most of the goods with wiiich Spain supplies her colonies are foreign, 
such a tax upon a trade so extensive must yield a considerable revenue. 



526 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Retablis. de Manuf. et du Commerce d'Esp. p. 150. He computes the value 
of goods exported annually from Spain to America to be about two millions 
and a half sterling, p. 97. 

Note [199]. Page 386. 

The Marquis de Serralvo, according to Gage, by a monopoly of salt, and by 
embarking deeply in the Manilla trade, as well as in that to Spain, gained 
animally a million of ducats. In one year he remitted a million of ducats to 
Spain, in order to purchase from the Conde Olivares, and his creatures, a pro- 
longation of his government, p. 61. He was successful in his suit, and con- 
tinued in office from 1624 to 1635, double the usual time. 



FN D E X. 



AB YSSIJVM, an embassy sent to that country 
by John It. king of Portugal, 41. 

s4capulco, the nature of the trade carried on from 
tlience to Manilla, 383. Amount of the trea- 
sure on board the sliip talien by Lord Anson, 
523. 

Acosta, his method of accounting for tlie differ- 
ent degrees of heat in the old and new conti- 
nents, 4t)2. 

^daii; liis account of the revengeful temper of 
the native Americans, 478. 

Jidanson, his justification of Hanno's account of 
tlie African seas, 449. 

Africa, the western coast of, first explored by 
order of Jolm I. Iting of Portugal, 34. Is dis- 
covered from Cape Non to Bojador, 35. Cape 
JBojador doubled, 36. The countries south- 
ward of the river Senegal discovered, 39. Cajie 
of Good Hope seen liy Bartholomew Dias, 40. 
Causes of the extreme heat of the climate 
there, 125. Ignorance of the ancient astrono- 
mers concerning, 449. Expedition to tlie coati 
of, 394. 

Agriculture, the state of, among the native Ame- 
ricans, 158. Two principal causes of the de- 
fects of, 161. 

Aguado, is sent to Hispaniola, as a commissioner 
to inspect the conduct of Columbus, 72. 

Aguilar, Jerom de, is relieved from a long capti- 
vity among the Indians at Cozumel by Fer- 
nando Cortes, 201. 

Albuquerque, Rodrigo, his barbarous treatment 
of the Indians of Hispaniola, 108. 

Mcavala, in the Spanish Customs, the terms e.\- 
plained, 524. 

Alexander the Oreat, his political character, 23. 
His motive in founding the city of Alexandria, 
ib. His discoveries in India, ib. 

Alexander, VI. Pope, grants to Ferdinand and 
Isabella of Castile the right of all their western 
discoveries, 65. Sends missionaries with Co- 
lumbus on his second voyage, ib. 

Almagro, Diego de, his birth and character, 202. 
Associates with Pizarro and De Luque in a 
voyage of discovery, ib. His unsuccessful 
attempts, 283. Is neglected by Pizarro in his 
Spanish negotiation, 265. Is reconciled to him, 
266. Brings reinforcements to Pi/.arro at Peru, 
274. Beginnins of dissensions between him 
and Pizarro, 280. Invades Chili, 231. Is 
created governor of Chili, and marches to 
Cuzco, 283. Seizes Cuzco out of the liands of 
Pizarro, 284. Defeats Alvarado, and takes 
him prisoner, ib. Is deceived by the artful 
negotiations of Francis Pizarro, 285. Is de- 
feated by the Pizarros, 286. Is taken prisoner, 
287 Is tried and condemned, ib. Is put to 
death, ib. 

, the Bon, affords refuee to his father's 

followers at Lima, 291. His cliaracter, ib. 
Heads a conspiracy against Francis Pizarro, 
292. Pizarro assassinated, ib. Is acknow- 
ledged as his successor, ib. His precarious 
situation, 293. Is defeated by Vaca de Castro, 
294. Is betrayed and executed, ib. 

Alnajorifasgo, in the Spanish American Cu»- 
toou, tbe ainouot of, 5-21. 



Alvarado, Alonzo, is sent from Lima by Franc • 
Pizarro with a body of Spaniards to relieve 
liis brotheis at Cuzco, 284. Is taken prisoner 
by Almagro, ib. His escape, 285. 

, Pedro de, is left by Cortes to command 

at Mexico, while he marched against Narvaez, 
231. He is besieged by the Mexicans, 233. 
His imprudent conduct, 234. His expedition 
to Quito in Peru, 279. 

Amazons, a community of, said to exist in South 
America, by Francis Orellana, 290. 

America, the continent of, discovered by Chris- 
topher Columbus, 76. How it obtained thia 
name, 81. Ferdinand of Castile nominates 
two governments in, 98. Tlie propositions 
ottered to the natives, 99. Ill reception of 
Ojeda and Nicuessa among them, ib. The 
South Sea discovered by Balboa, 104. Rio de 
Plata discovered, 108. The natives of, inju- 
riously treated by the Spaniards, 117. The 
vast extent o(; 123. Tlie grand objects it pre- 
sented to view, ib. The circumstances of, 
favourable for commerce and civilization, ib 
The climates of, 124. Various causes of the 
peculiarity of its climates, 125. Its rude and 
uncultivated state when first discovered, 126. 
Its animals, 127. Its insects and reptiles, 128. 
Birds, ib. General account of its soil, 129. 
Inquiry into the first population of, ib. Could 
not be peopled by civilized nations, 132. The 
northern extremity of, contiguous to Asia, 133. 
Proliably peopled by Asiatics, 137. Condition 
and character of the native inhabitants in- 
quired into, ib. Were more rude than the 
natives of any other known parts of the earth, 
ib. The Peruvians and Mexicans excepted, 

138. The first discoverers incapable of a judi- 
cious speculative examination, ib. The vanous 
systems of philosophers respecting the natives, 

139. Method observed in the present review 
of tfieir bodily constitution and circumstances, 

140. The venereal disease derived from this 
part of the world, 148. Why so thinly inna- 
bited, 101. The country depopulated bv con- 
tinual wars, 174. Causes of the depopulation 
of, traced, 347. This depopulation not the 
result of any intentional system of policy, 348. 
Nor the result of religion, 349. Number ol 
Indian natives still remaining in Mexico and 
Peru, 3.")fl. All the Spanish dominions there 
subjected to two viceroys, 351. Its third vice- 
royalty lately established, ib. Cause of the 
extreme coldness toward the southern extre- 
mity of, 404. The natural uncultivated state 
of the country described, 465. Bones of large 
extinct species of animals discovered under 
ground near the banks nf the Ohio, ib. Why 
European animals degenerate there, 406. Sup- 
posed to have undeigone a convulsive separa- 
tion froi 1 Asia, 467. The vicinity of the two 
continei.ls of Asia and America clearly ascer- 
tained, 4GS, 469, 470. See Meiico, Peru, Cortes, 
Pizarro, Cabot, &c. 

, North, project of settling there, 396. 

First expedition to, fails, 397. A second expe- 
dition to, ends disastrously, ib. Plan of settling 
there returned without effect, ib. Tbe coart 



528 



INDEX. 



of, divided into two parts, 402. Charters 
granted to two companies for settling colonies 
in, ib. Emigrations from England to, 430. 
See Colonies, M'eic-England, Fugtnia, itc. 
Americans, native, in :?panisli America, their 
bodily constitution and complexion, 140, 14J. 
Tlieir strength and abilities, 141, Mi. Their 
insensibility with regard to their women, 142. 
No deformities in their frame, 144, This cir- 
cumstance accounted for, ib. Uniformity of 
their colour, 145. A peculiar race of, described, 
146. The Esquimau.'i, ib. Patagonians, 147. 
The existence of Patagonian giants yet remain- 
ing to be decided, ib. Their diseases, 148. The 
venereal disease peculiarly theirs, ib. The 
powers and qualities of their minds, 149. Are 
only solicitous to supply hnr.iediate wants, ib. 
Tiie art of compulation scarcely known to 
them, 150. Have no abstract ideas, ib. Tlie 
xV'orth Americans nmch more intelligent than 
those of the South, 151. Their aversion to 
labour, 152. Their social stale, ib. Domestic 
union, 153. The women, ib. Their women 
not prolific, 154. Their parental aftection and 
filial duty, 155. Their modes of subsistence, 
156. Fishing, ib. Hunting, 157. Agriculture, 
158. The various objects of tiieir culture, ib. 
Two principal causes of the defects of their 
agriculture, 159. Their want of lanje animals, 
ib. Their want of useful metals, lou. Their 
political institutions, 161. Were divided into 
small independent communities, ib. Unac- 
quainted with.the idea of property, 102. Their 
high sense of equality and independence, ib. 
Their ideas of subordination imperfect, ib. To 
what tribes these descriptions apply, 163. 
Some exceptions, 164. Florida, ib. The 
Natchez, ib. Tlie islands, 165. In Bogota, ib. 
Inquiry into the causes of these irregularities, 
ib. Their art of war, 167. Their motives to 
hostility, ib. Causes of their ferocity, ib. 
Perpetuity of their animosities, 168. Their 
modes of conducting war, ib. Are not destitute 
of courage and fortitude, 169. Incapable of 
military discipline, 170. Their treatment of 
prisoners, ib. Their fortitude under torture, 
171. Never eat Imman flesh but to gratify re- 
venge, 172. How the South Americans treated 
their prisoners, ib. Their military education, 

173. Strange method of choosing a captain 
among the Indians on the hanks of the Orinoco, 
ib. Their numbers wasted by continual wars, 

174. Their tribes now recruit their numbers 
by adopting prisoners, ib. Are never formida- 
ble in war to more polished nations, 175. Their 
arts, dress, and ornaments, ib. Their habita- 
tions, 176. Their arms, 178. Their domestic 
utensils, ib. Construction of their canoes, ib. 
The listlessness with whicn they apply to la- 
bour, 179. Their religion, ib. Some tribes 
altogether de.stitute of any, 180. Remarkable 
diversity in their religious notions, 181. Their 
ideas of the immortality of the soul, 1S3. Their 
modes of buriaP, 184. Why llicir physicians 
pretend to be conjurors, ib. Their love of 
dancing, 185. Their iranioderute passion for 
gaining, 187. Are extremely addicted to drunk- 
enness, ib. Put their aged and incurable to 
death, 189. General estimate of their charac- 
ter, ib. Their intellectual powers, ib. Their 
political talents, 190. Powers of atiection, 191. 
Hardness of heart, ib. Their insensibility, ib. 
Taciturnity, 192. Their cunning, ib. Tlieir 
virtues, 193. Their spirit of independence, ib. 
Fortitude, ib. Attachment to their commu- 
nity, ib. Their satisfaction with their own 
cordilion, 194. General caution with respect 
to this inquiry, ib. Two distinguishable classes, 
195. E.xceptions as to their character, 196. 
An antipathy industrioufily encouraged be- 
tween them and the Negroes in America, by 
tbe Spaniards; 358. Their present condition, 



ib. How taxed, ib. Stated services demanded 
from them, ib. Mode of exacting these ser- 
vices, 359. How governed, ib. Protector of 
the Indians, his function, ib. Jleasons why 
so small a progress is made in their conversion, 
364. Their cliaracteristic leatures described, 
470 Instances of their perseveiiiig speed, 
471. 

.^wfri^o,' Vespucci, publishes the first written 
account of the New World, and hence gave 
name to America, 81. His claim as a disco- 
verer examined, 458. 

Jinncoana, a leiuale cazique of Hispaniola, her 
base and cruel usage by the 5j-aiiiaids, 93, 94. 

JIndes, stupendous height and extent of Uiat 
range of mountains, 123. Their lieight com- 
pared with other mountains, 461 Gonzalo 
Pizarro's remarkable e.xpedition over, 289. 

.Animals, large, very few lound in America at its 
first dbicovery, 128. 

Jincients, cause of the imperfection of the art of 
navigation among them, 18. Their geographi- 
cal knowledge extremely confined, 449. 

Jirnbians, peculiarly attaciied to tlie study of 
Geography, 28 

Argonauts, the expedition of, why so famotis 
among the Greeks, 21 

Aiilhmetic, or computation, the art of, hardly 
known to the native Americans, 150 

Ascolino, Failier, his e.\traordinary mission to 
the Prince of the Tartars, 30. 

Astatic discoveries made by the Russians, 135. 

jissicnto trade, the nature of, explained, 374. 
The frauds in, and how put an end to, 375. 

Mahualpa, is left by his father Huascar his suc- 
cessor in the kingdom of Quito, 269. Defeats 
liis biother Huascar, and usurps the empire of 
Peru, ib. Sends presents to Pizarro, 270. Visits 
Pizarro, 272. Is perfidiously seized by him, 
273. Agrees with Pizarro on a ransom, ib 
Is re.'"iised his liberty, 275. His behaviour dur- 
ing his confinement, 276. A form of trial be- 
stowed on him, ib. Is put to death, 277. Com- 
parison of autliorities relating to his transac- 
tions with, and treatment by Pizarro, 497. 

iudience of New Spain, board of, established by 
the Emperor Charles V., 259. Courts of, their 
jurisdiction, 352. 

Jiveria, a Spanish tax for convoy to and from 
America, when first imposed, 524. Its rate, ib. 

Azores, those islands discovered by the Portu- 
guese, 38. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, heads an insurrection in Vir- 
ginia, 424. Forces the governor and council 
there to flv, ib. They apply to England for 
succour, 425. His death lerminates the rebel- 
lion, ib. 

Balboa, Vasco Nugnez dc, settles a colony at 
Santa Maiia, in the Gulf of Darien, 100. Re 
ceives intelligence of the rich country of Peru, 
102. His character, 103. Marches acro.ss the 
isthmus, 104. Discovers the Southern Ocean, 
ib. Returns, 105. Is superseded in his com- 
mand by the appointment of Pcdrarias Davila, 
ib. Is lined by Pedrarias for former transac- 
tions, 106. Is appointed lieutenant-governor 
of the countries on the South Sea, and marries 
Pedrarias's daughter, 106, 107. Is arrested and 
put to d<ath by Pcdrarias, 107. 

Car/c, Jesuits', a production peculiar to Peru, 3^. 

Barrere, his description of Uie construction of 
Indian houses, 482. 

Behaim, Martin, the honour of having discovered 
America falsely ascribed to him by some Ger- 
man authors, 455. Account of him and his 
family, ib. 

Behrivg and Tschirikow, Russian navigators, 
thoiiL'ht to have discovered the north-west 
extremity of America from the eastward, 135 
Uncertainty of their accounts. 467. 

Benalcazar. governor of St. Michael, redaee* 



INDEX. 



529 



the kingdom of Quito, 278, 279. Is deprived 
of tiis command by Pizairo, 289. 

Benjamin, the Jew of Tudela, his extraordinary 
travels, 30. 

Bernaldcs, instance of tlie bravery of the Carib- 
bees menliontd by liim, 484. 

Betkencourt, .iQUu do, a Worman baron, conquers 
and possiisses tliu Canary islands, ;i3. 

Birds, an account of tiiose natural to America, 
128. Tilt' tliglit of, often stretch to an immense 
distance from land, 45.'{. 

Bogota, in America, some account of the Inha- 
bitants of, IGo. Causes of their tame submis- 
sion to the Spaniards, 166, Their religious 
doctrines and rites, 183. 

Bojador, Cape, the lirst discovery of, 35. Is 
doubled by the I'ortnguese discoverers, 36. 

Bossii, his account of the American war song, 
479. 

Bovadilla, Francis de, is sent to Hispaniola to 
inquire into the conduct of Columbus, 83. 
Sends Columbus home in irons, 83, 84. Is de- 
graded, 85. 

Bougainville, his defence of the Periplus of 
Harmo, 448. 

Bougaer, M., liis character of the native Peru- 
vians, 473. 

Brasil, the coa.st of, discovered by Alvarez Ca- 
bral, 82. Remarks on the climate of, 463. 

Bridges, Peruvian, described, 508. 

Buenos Aijres, in South America, some account 
of that province, 344. 

Bulls, papal, of no force in Spanish America, 
before examined and approved by the royal 
council of the Indies, 361. Se*^ Crusudo. 

Burial of file dead, American mode of, 184. 

Cabot, Giovanni, is appointed to conmiand the 
first expedition to explore unknown countries, 

390. Embarks with his son at Bristol, ib. 
Discovers Newfoundland, ib. Returns to Eng- 
land, ib. No advantage is derived from his 
discoveries, ib. The scheme is abandonnd, 

391. He is appointed governor of a company 
of merchant adventurers, for whom he obtains 
a charter, 393. 

, Scoastian, sails on an expedition to South 

America, 392. Visits Brasil, and touches at 
Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, ib. His voyage 
extends the sphere of English navigation, and 
proves the means of opening an intercourse 
with the Arctripelago, and some towns on tlie 
coast of Syria, ib. 

Cabral, Alvarez, u Portuguese commander, dis- 
covers the coast of Brasil, 82. 

Cacao, the best in quality, produced in the Spanish 
American colonies, 3ti8. The preparation of 
chocolate from, derived from the IMexicans, 
376. 

Cadiz, the ealeons and fiota removed thither from 
Seville, 372. 

California, the peninsula of, discovered by Fer- 
nando Cortes, 200. The true state of this 
country long unknown, 341. Why depreciated 
by the Jesuits, ib. Favourable account of, 
given by Don Joseph Gnlvez, ib. 

Californiana, the character of, by P. Venegas, 
474. 

Campeachy, discovered by Cordova, who is re- 
pulsed by the natives, 119 

Campomanes, Don Pedro Rodriguez, character nf 
his political and commerci;il writings, 5-22. 
His account of the produce of the Spanish 
American mines, 525. 

Canary islands, erected into a kingdom by Pope 
Clement VI., 33. Are conquered by John de 
Bethcncourt, ib. 

Cannibals, no people ever found to eat human 
flesh for subsistence, though often for revenge, 
172. 480. 

Canoes, American the construction of, described, 
178. 

Vol. 1.-^7 



Caraccas, establishment of the company trading 
to that coast, 377. Growth of the trade, 621. 

Caribbce islands, discovered by Columbus in his 
second voyage, 66. 

Cartbbees, their spirit peculiarly fierce, 196 
Tlieir character, by M. de Chanvalon, 474. 
Probable conjecture as to the distinction in 
character between them and the natives of 
the larger islands, 485. 

Carpini, his extraordinary mission to the Prince 
ol' the Tartars, 30. 

Carthagcna, the harbour of, the safest and best 
lortined of any in all the Spanisli American 
dominions, 315 

Carthaginians, slate of commerce and navigation 
among, 20. The famous voyages of Hanno 
and Hinilico, ib. 

C'arvajal, Francisco de, contributes to Vaca de 
Castro's victory over young Almagro, 294. 
Encourages Gonzalo Pizario to assume the 
government of Peru, 300 Advises Pizarro to 
assume the sovereigntv of the country, 302. 
Is seized by Gasca, and executed, 308. 

Castillo, Bernal Diaz del, character of his His- 
toria Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva 
Espagna, 486. 

Cenleno, Diego, revolts from Gonzalo Pizarro to 
the viceroy of Peru, 301. Is defeated by Car- 
vajal, and secretes himself in a cave, 302. 
Sallies out, and seizes Cuzco, 306, 307. is 
reduced by Pizarro, 307. Is employed by 
Gasca to make discoveries in the regions about 
the river Plata, 310. 

Chancclour, Richard, sails in search of a north- 
west pa.ssage, 393. I'lie fleet is scattered in a 
storm, lb. He enters the White Sea, and win- 
ters at Archangel, ib. Visits Moscow, a dis- 
tance of 1200 miles, and delivers a letter to the 
czar, ib. Is the means of opening a trade 
with Russia, ib. Is empowered by Queen 
Elizabeth to negotiate witli the czir in her 
name, ib. 

Chanvalon, M. de, his cliaracter of the native 
Caribbees, 474. 

Chapetones, in the Spanish American colonies, 
who thus distinguished, 356. 

Charles III., king of Spain, establishes packet 
boats between Spain and the colonies, 378. 
Allows free trade to the Windward islands, ib. 
Grants the colonies a free trade with each 
other, 380. 

v.. Emperor, sends Roderigo de Figueroa 

to Hispaniola, as Chief Judge, to regulate the 
trealinent of the Indians, 113. Causes this 
subject to be debated before him, 115. Equips 
a squadron at the solicitation of Ferdinand 
Magellan, 253. Resigns his claim on the Mo- 
luccas to the Portuguese, 255. Appoints Cortes 
governor of New Spain, 2.56. Rewards him 
on coming home, 259. Establishes a board 
called the Audience of New Spain, ib. His 
consultations on .■\merican a.fairs, 294. Esta- 
blishes new regulations, 296. 

C/iesapcuk. See Virginia. 

Chili, is invaded by Ainiagro, 281. How sub- 
jected by the Spaniards, 342. Excellence ot 
its climate and soil, ib. Cause of its being 
neglected, 343. Prospect of its improvement, 
ib. 

Chiquitos, political state of that people, from 
Fernandez, 478. 

Chocolate, the use of, derived from the Slexicans, 
376. 

Ckolula, in Mexico, arrival of Cortes there, with 
some account of the town, 217. A conspiracy 
against Cortes discovered, and tlie inhabitant! 
destroyed, ib. 

Church government, Bcntimenls respecting, at 
the R( lorination, 427. Religious persecution 
in the reigns of Queen Mary and Queen Eliza- 
beth, 426. Intolerant spirit of tlie church, 429. 
Separation of the Puritans from the riiurcta, 



580 



INDEX. 



lb. They are reduced Into an ecclesiastical 
system by Robert Brown, a popular dcclairner, 
and adopt the name of Brownists, 430. Take 
refuge in Holland, 431. Remove tiience to 
America, 432. Church government is esta- 
blislied in Massachusetts bay, 435. Its intole- 
rance, ib. Tlie intolerance of Laud increases 
the emigrations from England, 43G. 

Cicero, instance of his ignorance in geography, 
450. 

Cinaloa, political state of the people there, 478. 
Their mode of living, 481. Are destitute of 
itU religion, 483. Extraordinary large grain of 
gold found there, 509. 

Cineguilla, in the province of Sonora, late dis- 
coveries of rich mines made there by the Spa- 
niards, 340. Probable ellects of these disco- 
veries, 341. 

Clavigero, M., several of his objections answered, 
518, 519. 

Clement VI., Pope, erects the Canary islands into 
a kingdom, 33. 

Climates, influenced by a variety of causes, 
124. Their operation on mankind, 105. In- 
quiry into the cause of llie ditlerent degrees of 
neat in, 4G2. 

Cochineal, an important production, almost pe- 
culiar to New Spain, 3U«. 

Cold, extraordinary predominance of, in tiie cli- 
mate of America, 124. Causes of this pecu- 
liarity, 1-25. 

Colonies, English American, project of settling 
them, 396. Two expeditions lail, 397. The 
first colony established in Virginia, 398. In 
danger of perishing by famine: it returns to 
England, 399. A second attempt made to 
settle there, but the colony perishes by famine, 
400. The scheme of settling there is aban- 
doned, ib. Circumstances in the reign of Eli- 
zabeth unfavourable to colonization, 401. The 
reign of James favourable to the establishment 
of colonies, ib. James divides the coast of 
America into two parts ; the one called the first 
or south colony of Virginia, the other the 
second or north colony, 402. He grants char- 
ters to two companies for the government of 
them, ib. Tenor and detects of those charters, 
403. Under these charters the settlements of 
the English in Virginia and New England were 
established, ib. Capt. Newport sails from 
England for Virginia, and discovers the Chesa- 
peak, 404. Sails up James river, and founds 
a settlement in Jamestown, ib. Its bad ad- 
ministration, ib. It is annoyed by the Indians, 
and sufleis fiorn scarcity and the unhealthincss 
of the climite, 405. Seasonable succours are 
sent from England, 40'). A survey of the 
countr> IS undertaken, ib. The colony depends 
for subsistence chiefly on supplies from the 
natives, 407. A change is made in the consti- 
tution of the company, and a new charter is 
granted with more ample privileges, ib. Lord 
Delaware is appoint(!d governor of the colony, 
ib. Anarchy prevails there, 408. It is almost 
reduced by famine, ib. Lord Delaware arrives, 
and by his wise administration restores order 
and discipline, 409. His health obliges him to 
return to England, and he is superseded by Sir 
Thomas Dale, who establishes martial law, 
ib. A new charter is issued to the colony, and 
new privileges are granted, 410. Cultivation 
of the land is promoted, and a treaty entered 
Into with tlie natives, ib. The land in Virginia 
becomes property, 411. The culture of tobacco 
is introduced, and its pernicious consequences, 
ib. The company in Etigiand send out a 
number of young women to induce the colo- 
nists to form more extensive plans of industry, 
415:. Negroes are first introduced, ib. A 
neAf constitution is given to the colony, ib. A 
general massacre of the English is planned by 
the Indians, and executed in most of the set- 



tlements, 414. A bloody war Is comnienced 
with the Indians, and neither old nor young 
are spared, ib. The settlements extend, and 
industry revives, 415. Defects in the first con- 
stitution of the colonies, 417. King Charles's 
arbitrary government of them, 418. He grants 
them new privileges, 419. They flourish under 
tlie new government, 420. The colonists re- 
main attached to the royal cause, and parlia- 
ment makes war on Virginia, which is obliged 
to acknowledge the Commonwealth, 420, 421. 
Restraints are laid on the trade of the colonies, 
421. The colonists are dissatisfied with thpse 
restraints, ib. Are the first to acknowledge 
Charles II., but their loyalty is ill rewarded, ib. 
Restraints on their commerce further extended 
by the navigation act, 422. Eftccts of the act, 
423. Colonists remonstrate against it, ib. The 
colony of Virginia is attacked by the Indians, 
ib. Discontents are produced by the grants ot 
land by the crown, ib. A colony is establislied 
at New Plymouth in New England, 432. Plan 
of its government, ib. A grand council is ap- 
pointed, 433. A new colony is projected, ib. 
Settles at Massachusetts Bay, 434. The char- 
ter of the company in England being trans- 
ferred to the colonies, they extend in conse- 
quence of it, 430. The colonists increase, 437. 
iVew settlers arrive, 439. Sectaries settle in 
Providence and Rhode Island, 440. Theologi- 
cal contests give rise to a colony at Connecticut. 
441. Emigrants iVom Massachusetts Bay settle 
there, ib. Settlements are formed in the pro- 
vinces of New-Hampshire and Maine, ib. 
State of the colonies at the Revolution, 444. 
Are exempted (rom certain duties, 445. Enter 
into a league of confederacy, ib. Assume the 
rightof coining, 446. Are p.itronized by Crom- 
well, who proposes to transport tliem to Ja- 
maica, ib. They decline his ofler, 447. See 
M'ew-F.vfrlavd, Virsmia, &c. 
Colonies, Spanish American, view of the policy 
and trade of, 347. Depopulation the first effect 
of them, ib. Causes of this depopulation, ib. 
The small-pox very f:ital to, 348. Genera! idea 
of the Spanish policy in, ib. Early interposi- 
tion of the regal authority in, 349. An exclu 
sive trade the first object in, 353. Compared 
with those of ancient Greece and Rome, 354. 
The great restrictions they are subject to, ib. 
Slow progress of their population from Europe, 
355. Are discouraged by Ilie state of property 
there, ib. ; and by the nature of their ecclesi 
astical policy, 356. The various classes of 
people in, ib. Ecclesiastical constitution of, 
300. Form and endowments of the church 
there, 361. Pernicious efi'ects of monastic in- 
stitutions there, ib. Character of the eccle- 
siastics there, 362. Productions of, 365. The 
mines, 366. Those of Potosi and Sacotecas, 
ib. The spirit with which they are worked, 
ib. Fatal efi'ects of this ardour, 367. Other 
commodities that compose the commerce of, 
368. Amazing increase of horned cattle there, 
ib. Advantages which Spain formerly derived 
from them, 369. Why the same advantages 
are not still received, ib. Guarda costas em 
ployed to check the contraband trade in, 375. 
The use of register ships introduced, 376; and 
galeons laid aside, ib. Company of the Ca- 
raccas instituted, 377. Establishment of repiilai 
packet boats to, 378. Free trade permitted be- 
tween them, ib. New regulations in the go- 
vernment of, 380. Reformation of the courts 
of justice, ib. New distribution of govern- 
ments, ib. A fourth viceroyalty established, 
ib. Attempts to reform domestic policy, 381. 
Their trade with the Philippine islands, 383. 
Revenue derived from, by Spain, 384. Expense 
of administration there, 385. State of popu- 
lation in, 512. The number of monasteries 
there, 515. See Mexico Peru, &c. 



INDEX. 



631 



Columbus., Bartholomew, is sent by his brother 
Christopher to negotiate with Henry VU. king 
of England, 4t5. The misfortunes of liis voy- 
age, 48. rollows his brother to Hispaniola, 
6y, TO. Is vested with tlie administration of 
ati'airs there by liis brotlier on. liis return to 
Spain, 73. Founds the town of St. Domingo, 
77. 

, Christopher, birth and education of, 

42. His early voyages, ib. Marries and settles 
at Lisbon, ib. His geographical rellcr.tions, 43. 
Conceives the idea of making discoveri»i to 
the westward, 44. Offers his services to the 
Genoese senate, 45. Cause of liis overtures 
being lejected in Portugal, 40. Applies to the 
courts of Castile and England, ib. His propo- 
sal, how treated by the tipanisli geographers, 
47. Is patronized by Juan Perez, 43. His 
proposals again rejected, 49. Is invited by 
Isabella, and engaged in the Spanish service, 
50. Preparations for his voyage, 51. The 
amount of his equipment, ib. Sails from 
Spain, 52. His vigilant attention to all cir- 
cumstances during his voyage, ib. Apprehen- 
sions of his crew, ib. His address in quieting 
their cabals, ib. Indications of their approach- 
ing land, 54. An island discovered, Ho. He 
lands, 5(j. His interview with the natives, ib. 
Mames the island San Salvadnre, io. Prose- 
cutes his discoveries southward, 57. Discovers 
and lands on the island of Cuba, ib. Discovers 
Hispaniola, 58. Suffers sliipv.reck, but is saved 
by ihe Indians, 59. Builds a fort, 60. Ueturns 
to Europe, 6J. His expedient to preserve the 
memory of his discoveries during a storm, 62. 
Arrives at the Azores, ib. Arrives at Lisbon, 
ib. His reception in Spain, 63. His audience 
with Ferdinand and Isabella, ib. His equip- 
ment for a second voyage, 65. Discovers the 
Carrihhee islands, 66. Finds his colony on 
Hispaniola destroyed, ib. Builds a citv, which 
he calls Isabella, 67. Visits the interior parts 
of the country, ib. His men discontented and 
factious, 68. Discovers the island of Jamaica, 
60. iMeets his brother Bartholomew at Isa- 
oella, 70. The natives ill used by his men, 
and begin to be alarmed, ib. He defeats the 
Indians, 71, Exacts tribute from tliem, ib. 
Returns to Spain to justify his conduct, 73. Is 
furnished with a more regular plan for coloni- 
zation, 74. His third voyage, 75. Discovers 
the island of Trinidad, 76. Discovers the con- 
tinent of America, ib. State of Hispaniola on 
his arrival, ib. Composes the mutiny of Roldan 
and his adherents, 78. Is distressed by the 
factious behaviour of his men, 82. Complaints 
carried to Spain against him, Ib. Is sent home 
in irons, 84. Clears his conduct, but is not 
restored to his authority, ib. His solicitations 
neglected, 86. Forms new schemes of discf)- 
very, Ib. Engages in a fourth voyage, 87. 
His treatment at Hispaniola, ib. Searclies 
alter a passage to the Indian ocean, 88. Is 
shipwrecked on the coast of Jamaica, 89. His 
artifice to secure the friendship of the Indians, 

90. Is delivered, and arrives at Hispaniola, 

91. Return.? to Spain, ib. His death, 512. His 
right to the original discovery of America de- 
fended, 298. The spirit of adventure raised 
in England by his discoveries, 389. Is checked 
by the want of skill in navigation, ib. His 
system of opening a passage to India by steer- 
ing a western course is adopted by Cabot, 390. 

, Don Diego, sues out his claim to his 

father's privileges, 97. Marries, and goes over 
to Hispaniola, ib. Establishes a pearl-fishery 
atCuba2na,98. Projecistlie conquestof Cuba, 
100. His measures thwarted by Ferdinand, 
108. Returns to Spain, ib 
Commerce, Iho, era from which its commencement 
is to he dated, 17. Motives to an intercourse 
among distant nations, 18. Still flourished in 



the eastern empire after the subversion of the 
western, 28. Revival of, in Europe, 31. 

Compass, maruier's, navigation extended more 
by the invention of, than by all the efforts of 
preceding ages, 32. By whom invented, ib. 

Condamine, M., his account of the country at 
the foot of the Andes, in South America, 465. 
His remarks on the character of the native 
Americans, 473. 

Congo, the kingdom of, discovered by the Portu- 
guese, 39. 

Constantinople, the consequence of removing 
the seat of the Roman Empire to, 27. Conti- 
nued a commercial city after the extinction of 
the western empire, 28. Became the chief 
niart of Italy, 29. 

Cordova, Francisco Hernandez, discovers Yuca- 
tan, 119, Is repulsed at Campeachy, and re- 
turns to Cuba, ib. 

Corita, Alonzo, his observations on the contra- 
band trade of the Spanish colonies, 382, 383. 
Character of his American memoirs, 500, 501. 

Cortes, Fernando, his birth, education, and cha- 
racter, 197. Is by Velasquez appointed com 
mander of the armament fitted out by liini 
against New Spain, 198. Velasquez becomes 
jealous of him, 199. Velasquez sends an order 
to deprive him of his conunission, and lay him 
under an arrest, 199. Is protected by his 
troops, ib. The amount of his Ibrces, 200. 
Reduces the Indians at Tabasco, 201. Arrives 
at St. Juan de Ulna, ib. His interview with 
two Mexican commanders, ib. Sends presents 
to Montezuma, 203. Receives others in return, 
ib. His schemes, 205. Establishes a form of 
civil government, 207. Resigns his commis- 
sion under Velasquez, and assumes the com- 
mand in the king's name, 297, 208. His friend- 
ship courted by the Zempoallans, 208. Builds 
a fort, 209. Concludes a formal alliance with 
several caziques, 210. Discovers a conspiracy 
among his men, and destroys his ships, 211. 
Advances iiilo the country, 212. Is opposed 
by the Tlascalans, 213. Concludes a peace 
with them, 215. His rash zeal, 216. Proceeds 
to Cholula, 217. Discovers a conspiracy 
against him there, and destroys the inhabitants, 
ib. .Approaches in sight of the capital city of 
Mexico, ib. His tirst interview with IMonte- 
zuma, 218. His anxiety at his situation in the 
city of Mexico, 221. Seizes Montezuma, 223. 
Orders him to be fettered, 221. Reasor.s for 
his conduct, ib. Prevai.s on Montezuma to 
own himself a vassal to Ihe Spanish crown, 

225. Amount and division of his treasure, 

226. Enrages the Mexicans by his imprudent 
zeal, 227. An armament sent by Velasquez 
to supersede him, 228. His deliberations on 
this event, 230. Advances to meet Narvaez, 
231, Defe.its Narvaez, and takes him pri- 
soner, 233. Gains over the Spanish soldiers to 
his interest, ib. Returns to Mexico, 234. His 
improper ccsidurt on his arrival, ib. Is reso- 
hitcly attacked by tlie Mexicans, 235. Attacks 
them in return without success, ib. Death of 
Montezuma, 236. His extraordinary escape 
from death, 2.37. Abandons the city of Jlex- 
ico, ib. Is attacked by the Mexicans, ib. His 
great losses in the encounter, 238. Difficulties 
of his retreat, ib. Battle of Otnmba, 2.39. 
Defeats the Mexicans, 240. Mutinous spirit 
of his troops, 241. Reduces the Tepeacana, 
242. Is strengthened by several reinforc<Mncnts, 
ib. Returns towards Mexico, 243. Establishes 
his head-quarters at Tezeuco, 244. Reduces 
or conciliates the surrounding country, ib. 
Cabals amon;^ his troops, 2^15. His prudence 
in supprefshig tliem, ib. P.uilds and launches 
a fleet of lirigantines on the lake, 246. Be- 
sieces Mexico, 247. Makes a grand assault to 
take the city by storm, but is repulsed, 348. 
Evades the Mexican prophecy, 250. 'Takes 



INDEX. 



Guatimozin prisoner, 251. Gains possession 
of llie city, ib. ; and of llie whole empire, a52. 
Defeats auollier attempt to supersede liim in 
his command, 256. Is appoinled governor of 
New Spain, ib. His schemes and arrange- 
ments, 2515, 257. Cruel treatment of llie na- 
tives, 257. His conduct subjected to inquiry, 
258. Ueturns to Spain to justify himself, 25'J. 
la rewarded by the emperor Charles V., ib. 
Goes back to Mexico with limited powers, ih. 
Discovers California, 200. Returns to Spain, 
and dies, ib. Inquiry into the nature ofJiis 
letters to the emperor Ctiarles V., 4S5. Autliors 
who wrote of his conquest of New Spain, ib. 

Council of the Indies, its power, 353. 

Creoles in the Spanish American colonies, cha- 
racter of, 356. 

Croglan, Colonel George, his account of the dis 
covery of the bones of a large extinct species 
of animals in North America, 405. 

Cnisades to the Holy Land, the great political 
i/Jvantages derived from, by the European na- 
tions, 2J. 

Crusado, bulls of, published regularly every two 
years in the Spanish colonies, 334. Prices of, 
and amount of the sale at the last publication, 
52J. 

Cuba, the island of, discovered by Christopher 
Columbus, 57. Is sailed round by Ocampo, 97. 
The conquest of, undertaken by Diego Velas- 
quez, 101. Cruel treatment of the cazique 
Haluey, and his repartee to a friar, ib. Co- 
luuibns's enthusiastic description of a harbour 
in, 453. The tobacco produced there the finest 
in all America, 308. 

Cubagua, a pearl fishery established there, 98. 

Cumana, the natives of, revenge their ill treat- 
ment by the Spaniards, 118. The country de- 
solated by Diego Ocampo, ib. 

Cuzco, the capital of the Peruvian empire, founded 
by Manco Capac, 268. Is seized by Pizarro, 
278. Is besieged by the Peruvians, 282. Is 
surprised by Almagro, '^3. Is recovered and 
pillaged by the Pizarros, 286, 237. Was thi 
only city in all Peru, 338. 

Dancing, the love of, a favourite passion among 
the Americans, 135. 

Darien, the isthmus of, described, 103. The in- 
crease of- settlement there obstructed by the 
noxiousnass of the climate, 345. 

Delaware, Lord, is appointed governor of Virgi- 
nia, 407. His wise administration there, 40D. 
Is obliged to return to England on account of 
Ills health, ib. 

De Solis, his unfortunate expedition up the river 
Plata, 103. 

^, .■Antonio, character of his Historia do 

la Conquista de Me-tico, 486. 

D' Esquilaclie, Prince, viceroy of Peru, his vi- 
gorous measures for restraining the excesses of 
the regular clergy there, 303. Rendered inef- 
fectual, ib. 

Diaz, Bartholomew, discovers the Cape of Good 
Hope, 40. 

Discoveries, the difference between those made 
by land and those by sea stated, 450. 

Dodioell, his objections to the Periplus of Hanno 
exploded, 448. 

Domingn, St., on the island of Hispaniola, found- 
ed by Bartholomew Columbus, 76, 77. 

Dominicans, those in Hispaniola publicly remon 
Btrate against the cruel treatment of the Indians, 
109. See Las Casas. 

Drake, Sir Francis, sails round the world, 395. 

Drunkenness, strong propensity Of tlie Americans 
to indulge in, 187. 

Earth, the globe of, how divided Into zones by 
the ancients, 26. 

Egyptians, ancient, state of commerce and na- 
vigation among them, 19. 



El Dorado, wonderful reports of a country so 
called, made by Francis OreUana, 290. 

EUphant, that animal peculiar to llie torrid zone, 
405. 

Elizabeth, tlie leign of, auspicious to discovery, 
394. Slie encourjges commerce, and secures 
the trade to Russia, 395. Circumstances iu 
her reign unfavourable to colonization, 401. 
Her high idea of her superior skill in theology, 
428, note. 

Escurial, curious calendar discovered in the 
limary there by Mr. VVaddilove, 504. Descrip- 
tion of that valuable monument of Mexican 
art, ib. 

Es'itamauz Indians, resemblance between them 
and their neighbours the Greenlanders, 136. 
Some account of, 482. 

Eugene IV., Pope, grants to the Portuguese an 
exclusive right to all the countries they should 
discover, from Cape Non to llie continent of 
India, :J8. ■ 

Europe, how affected by the dismemberment of 
the Roman empire by the barbarous nations, 
27. Revival of commerce and navigation, 28. 
Political advantages derived from the cru- 
sades, 29. 

Ferdinand, liing of Castile — see Coiumbus and 
Isabella — turns his attention at length to the 
regulation of American affairs, 95. Don Diego 
de Columbus sues out his father's claims 
against him, 97. Erects two governments on 
the continent of America, 98. Sends a fleet 
to Darien, and supersedes Balboa, 105. Ap- 
points Balboa lieutenant-governor of the coun 
tries on the South Sea, 106. Sends Dias de 
Solis to discover a western passage to the Mo 
luccas, 108. Thwarts the measures of Diego 
Columbus, ib. His decree concerning the 
treatment of the Indians, 109. 

Fernandez, Don Diego, character of his Historia 
del Peru, 495. 

, P., his description of Uie political 

stite of the Cl'.iquitos, 478. 

Figuei-oa, Roderigo de, is appointed chiey judge 
of IIis;«uiiola, with a commissian to examine 
into the treatment of the Indian natives, 113. 
Makes an experiment to determine the capacity 
of the Indians, 117. 

Flonda, discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon, 101. 
The cniefs there hereditary, 164. Account of, 
from .'\lvara Nugnez Cabeca de Veca, 475. 

Flota, Spanish, some account of, 372. 

Fonseca, bishop of Badajos, minister for Indian 
affairs, obstructs the plans of colonization and 
discovery formed by Columbus, 72. 75. Pa- 
tronizes the expedition of Alonzo de Ojeda, 80. 

Frohisher, Martin, makes three unsuccessful 
attempts to discover a north-east passage to 
India, 395. 

Galcons, Spanish, the nature and purpose of 
these vessels, 372. Arrangement of their voy- 
age, ib. 

Oalvez, Don Joseph, sent to discover the true 
state of California, 341. 

Oama, Vasco de, his voyage for discovery, 79. 
Doubles the Cape of Good Hope, ib. Anchors 
before the city of Melinda, ib. Arrives at C;ile- 
cut, in Malabar, ib. 

Gaming, strange propensity of tiie Americans 
to, 187. 

Ganges, erroneous ideas of the ancients as to tho 
position of that river, 4.)0. 

Gasua, Pedro de la, sent to Peru as president of 
the Court of Audience in Lima, 304. His 
character and moderation, ib. The powers he 
was vested with, ib. Arrives at Panama, 305 
Acquires possession n( Panama with the tleet 
and forces there, 306. Advances towards 
Cuzco, 307. Pizarro's troops desert to biin, 
308. His moderate use of the victory lb 



INDEX. 



533 



Devises employment for his soldiers, 310. His 
division of the country among his foUoweis, 
311. The discontents it occasions, ib. Re- 
stores order and government, ib. His reception 
at his return to Spain, 311, 313. 

Oeminus, instance of his ignorance in geogra- 
phy, 451. 

Oeogiaphy, the Itnowledgeof, extremely confined 
among the ancients, 26. Became a favourite 
study among the Arabians, 28. 

Giants, the accounts of, in our early travellers, 
unconfirmed by recent discoveries, 32. 472. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, conducts the first colony 
to North America, JUG. A charter is granted 
to him and his lieirs, ib. Conducts another ex- 
pedition, vvhicli ends disastrously, and in which 
he perishes, 397. 

Gioia, Flavio, the inventor of the mariner's com- 
pass, 3'1 

Globe, its division into zones by the ancients, 26. 

Gold, why the first metal with which man was 
ac(iuainted, ItiO. Extraordinary large grain of, 
found in the mines at Cinaloa, 509. 

Gomara, character of his Cronica de la Nueva 
Espagna, 485. 

Good Hope, Cape of, discovered by Bartholomew 
Diaz, 40. 

Gosnold, Barlliolomew, is the first who attempts 
to steer a direct course from England to North 
America, 401. Descries Massachusetts Bay, 
and returns to England, ib. The consequences 
of his voyage, ib. 

GoBernment, no visible form of, among the native 
Americans, 163. Exce[)tions, 164. 

Gran Chaco, account of the method of making 
war among the natives ol', from Lozano, 479. 

Granada, new kingdom of, in America, by whom 
reduced to the Spanisii dominion, 346. Its cli- 
mate and produce, ib. A viceroy lately esta- 
blished there, 351. 

Greeks, ancient, progress of navigation and dis- 
covery among them, 21. Their commercial 
intercourse with other nations very limited, 34. 

Greenland, its vicinity to North America, 136. 

Greenville, Sir Richard, establishes a colony in 
Virginia, which, being in danger of perishing 
by famine, is obliged to return to England, 398. 
Appears off the coast soon alter the departure 
of the colony, and lands fifteen of his crew to 
k«ep pos.session of the island, who are destroyed 
by the savages, 399. 

Grijalna, Juan de, sets out from Cuba on a voy- 
age of discovery, 120. Discovers and gives 
name to New Spain, ib. His reasons for not 
planting a colony in his newly discovered 
lands, 121. 

Guarda Costas, employed by Spain to check illi- 
cit trade in the American colonies, 375. 

Guatimala, the indigo there superior to any in 
America, 368. 

Guatimozin, nephew and son-in law of Monte- 
zuma, succeeds Quotlavaca in the kingdom of 
Mexico, 223. Repulses the attacks of the Spa- 
niards in storming the city of Mexico, 249. Is 
taken prisoner by Cortes, 251. Is tortured to 
discovsr his treasure, 252. Is hanged, 257. 

Guiana, Dutch, cause of the excessive fertility 
of the soil there, 467. 

Hakluyt, improves the naval and commercial 
skill of the age in which he lived, 402. Is em- 
powered to settle any part of the south colony 
of Virginia, ib, 

Hanno, his Periplua defended, with an account 
of his voyage, 448. 

Hatuey, a cazique of Cuba, his cruel treatment, 
and memorable i epartee to a Franciscan friar, 
101. 

Hawkesworth's voyaees, account of New Hol- 
land, and the inhabitants from, 476. 

Heat, the different degrees of, in the old and new 
continents accoitnted for, 463. Estimated, 460. 



Heni-y, prince of Portugal, his character and 
studies, 35. Expeditions formed by his order, 
36. Applies for a papal grant of his new dis- 
coveries, 37. His death, 38. 

Hcrrada, Juan de, assassinates Francis Fizarro. 

292. Dies, 293. 

Hirrcra, tile best historian of the conquest of 
New Spain, 486. His accoiuil of Orellana's 
voyage, 499. 

Hispaniola, the island of, discovered by Christo- 
plier Columbus, 58. His transactions with the 
natives, ib. A colony left there by Columbus, 
61. The colotjy destroyed, 66. Columbus 
builds a city called Isabella, 67. The natives 
ill used, and begin to be alannod, 70. A.re de- 
feated by the Spaniards, 71. Tribute exacted 
from tlicm, ib. They scheme to starve the 
Spaniards, 72. St. Domingo founded by Bar- 
tholomew Columbus, 77. Columbus sent home 
in irons by Bovadilla, 84. Nicholas de Ovando 
appointed governor, 85. Summary view of 
the conduct of tlie Spaniards towards the na- 
tives of, 92. Unhappy fate of Anacoaiia, 94. 
Great produce from the mines there, ib. The 
inhabitants diminish, 96. The Spaniards re- 
cruit them by trepanning the natives of the 
Lucayos, ib. Arrival of Don Diego de Colum- 
bus, 97, 98. The natives of, almost extirpated 
by slavery, 100, 103. Controversy concerning 
the treatment of them, 109. Columbus's ac- 
count of the humane treatment he received 
from the natives of, 453. Curious instance of 
superstition in the Spanish planters there, 466. 

Holguin, Pedro Alvarez, erects the royal standard 
in Peru, in opposition to the younger Almagro, 

293. Vaca de Castro arrives, and assumes the 
command, 294. 

Hnmei; his account of the navigation of the an- 
cient Greeks, 21, '>:. 

Honduras, the value of that country, owing to 
its priiduction of the logwood tree, 341. 

Horned cattle, amazing increase of them in Spa- 
nish America, 368. 

Horses, aislonishment and mistakes of the Mexi- 
cans at the Ijrst sight of them, 489. Expedient 
of the Peruvians to render them incapable of 
action, 499. 

Huana Capac, inca of Peru, his character and 
family, 269. 

Huascar Capac, inca of Peru, disputes his bro- 
ther Atahualpa's succession to Quito, 269. la 
defeated and taken prisoner by Atahualpa, ib. 
Solicits tlie assistance of Pizarro against his 
brother, 270. Is put to death by order of Ata- 
hualpa, 274. 

Hutchinson, Mrs., heads a sect of religious wo- 
men in New-England, who are denominated 
Antinomians, 439. Her doctrines are con- 
demned by a general synod there, 440. 

Incas of Peru, received orisrin of their empire, 
268. Their empire founded both in religion 
and policy, 331. See Peru. 

India, the motives of Alexander the Great in bis 
expedition to, 23. The commerce with, how 
carried on in ancient times, 25 ; and when arts 
began to revive in Europe, 28. Tlie first voy- 
age made round the Cape of Good Hope, 79. 
Attempts to discover a north-west passage to, 
unsuccessful, 392. 395. An attempt niade by 
the north-east to, 394. A company of mer 
chants in England is incorporated to prosecute 
discoveries in, 393. A communication with, 
attempted by land, 394. The design is encou- 
raged by Queen Elizabeth, 395. 

Indians in Spanish America. See Americans. 

Indies, West, why Columbus's discoveries were 
so named, 64. 

Innocent IV., Pope, his extraordinary mission to 
the Prince of the Tartars, 30. 

Inquisition, court of, when and by whom first 
tnUoduc«d into Portugal, 452. 



534 



INDEX. 



Insects and reptiles, why so numerous and nox- 
ious in America, i28. 

Iron, the reason why savage nations were unac- 
quainied witli this metal, 100. 

Isabella, queen of Castile, is applied to by Juan 
rerez in belialt' of Christoplic-r Columbus, 48. 
Is again applied to by Uuinianilla and Santan- 
gcl, ib. Is prevailed on to equip him, 50. Dies, 
9]. Her real motives for encouragiii;; discove- 
ries in America, 349. 

, the city of, in llispaniola, built by 

Christopher Columbus, 07. 

Italy, the lirst country in Europe where civiliza- 
tion and arts revived after the overthrow of 
the Roman empire, 2!). The commercial spirit 
of, active and enterprising, ib. 

Jamaica, discovered by Christopher Columbus, 69. 

Jerome, St., three monks of that order sent by 
Cardinal Ximenes to Hispaniola, to regulate 
the treatment of the Indians, 111. Their con- 
duct under this commission, ib. ; are recalled, 
113. 

Jesuits, acquire an absolute dominion over Cali- 
fornia, 341. Their motives for depreciating the 
country, ib. 

Jeics, ancient state of commerce and navigation 
among them, 20. 

John I., king of Portugal, the first who sent ships 
to explore the western coast of Africa, 34. His 
Bon, Prince Henry, engages in these attempts, 
30. 

II., king of Portugal, patronises all attempts 

towards discoveries, 39. Sends an embassy to 
Abyssinia, 41. His ungenerous treatment of 
Columbus, 4U. 

Ladrone islands, discovered by Ferdinand M4- 
gellan, 254. 

Lakes, amazing size of those in North America, 
123. 

Las Casus, Bartholomew, returns from Hispa- 
niola to solicit t!ie cause of the enslaved Indians 
at the court of Spain, 110. Is sent back with 
.powers by Cardinal Ximenes, 111. Relurns 
dissatisfied, 112. Procures a new commission 
to be sent over on this subject, 113 Recom- 
mends the scheme of supplying the colonies 
with Negroes, ib. Undertakes a new colony, 
114. His contorence with the bishop of Darien 
before the emperor Charles V., 115, IIG. Goes 
to America to carry his schemes into execution, 
116. Circumstances unfavourable to him, 117. 
His final miscarriiige, 118. Revives his repre- 
sentations in favour of the Indians at the de- 
sire of the emperor, 235. Composes a treatise 
on the destruction of America, 236. 

Leon, Pedro Cieza de, character of his Cronica 
del Peru, 495. 

Lcnj, his description of the courage and ferocity 
of the Toupinambos, 479. 

Lima, the city of, in Peru, founded by Pizarro, 
231. 

Liston, INJr., the British minister at Madrid, his 
answer to several interesting inquiries relating 
to the admission of Indians into holy orders, 
518. 

Logwood, the commodilv that gives importance 
to the provinces of Honduras and Yucatan, 
341. Policy of the Spaniards to defeat the 
English trade in, 342. 

Loui.s, St., kina of France, his embassy to the 
Chan of the Tartars, 31. 

Lozano, his account of the method of making 
war amoni; the natives of Gran Charo, 479. 

Luijue, Hernando de, a prir-st, associates with 
Pizarro in his Peruvian expedition, 262. 

Madeira, the island of, first discovered, 36. 

Madoc, prince of North Wales, story of his voy- 
age and discovery of Nortij America examined, 
456 



Magellan, Ferdinand, his account of the gigantic 
size of the Patagonians, 147. The existence 
of this gigantic race yet to be decided, ib. Hia 
introduction to the court of Castile, 253. la 
equipped with a squadron tor a voyage of dis- 
covery, ib. Sails through the famous strait 
that bears his name, 254. Discovers the La- 
drone and Philippine islands, ib. Is killed, ib 

Magnet, its property of attracting iron known to 
ttie ancients, but not its polar inclination, 18, 
Extraordinary advantages resulting from this 
discovery, 32. 

J\Ialo, St., account of its commerce with Spanisli 
America, 374. 

Manco Capac, founder of the Peruvian empire, 
account of, 268. 

Mandeville, Sir John, his eastern travels, with a 
character of his writings, 31. 

Manila, the colony of, established by Philip II. 
of Spain, 383. Trade between, and South 
-America, ib. 

Mankind, their disposition and manners formed 
by their situation, 131. Hence resemblances to 
be traced in very distant places without com- 
munication, ib Have unilormly attained the 
greatest perfection of their nature in temperate 
regions, 195. 

Marco Polo, the Venetian, his extraordinary tra- 
vels in the East, 31. 

Maresl, Gabriel, his account of the country be- 
tween the Illinois and Michilimackinac, 477. 

Marina, Donna, a Mexican slave, her history 
201. 

Marinus, Tyrius, his erroneous position of China, 
452. 

Martyr, Peter, his sentiments on the first disco- 
very of America, 4.'J7. 

Maryland,, See Virginia. 

Massachusetts Bay. See America, J^cw-Eng- 
land, (tc. 

Merchants, English, the right of property in the 
North American colonies vested in a company 
of, resident in London, 400. Charters are 
granted to two companies of, to make settle- 
ments in America, 402. Tenor and defects of 
these charters, 403. A new charter is granted 
to them, with more ample privileges, 407. 
They are divided by factions, 415. An inquiry 
is instituted into their conduct, 4IC. They are 
required to surrender their charter, which they 
refuse, ib. A writ of quo icarranto is issued 
out against them, 417. They are tried in the 
court of King's Bench, and the company is 
dissolved, ib. Their charter is transferred to 
the colonies, A)^^ 

Mestizos, in the Spanish American colonies, dis- 
tinction between them and mulattoes, 357. 

Metals, useful, the original natives of America 
totally unacquainted with, 160. 

Mexicans, Iheir account of their own origin, 
compared with later discoveries, 137. Their 
paintings few in number, and of ambiguous 
meaning, 314. Two collections of them dis- 
covered, ib , note. Their language furnished 
with ri spectful terminations for all its woids, 
501. How they contributed to the support of 
government, ,562. Descriptions of their histo- 
rical pictures, ib. Various exaggerated accounts 
of the number of human victims sacrificed by 
them, 506. 

Mexico, arrival of Fernando Cortes on the coast 
of, 201. His interview with two I\Iexican offi- 
cers, 202. Information sent to Montezuma, 
with some Spanish presents, 203. Montezuma 
sends presents to Cortes, with orders not to ap- 
proach his capital, ib. State of the empire at 
that time, 204. Tlie Zempoallans court the 
friendship of Cortes, 2^*. Several raziques 
enter into alliance with »?ortcs, 209. Character 
of the natives of Tlascnla, 212. The Tlasca- 
lans reduced to sue for peace, 215. Arrival 
of Cortes at the caoital -,ity, 218. The city 



INDEX. 



535 



described, 220. Montezuma acknowledges 
himself a vassal to the Spanish crown, iKJ5. 
Amount of the treasure collected by Cortes, ib. 
Reasons of gold being found in such small 
quaatities, 227. The Mexicans enraged at the 
imprudent zeal of Cortes, ib.; attack Alvarado 
during the absence of Cortes, 233. Their reso- 
lute attack on Cortes when he returned, 235. 
Death of Montezuma, 230. The city aban- 
doned by Cortes, ib. Battle of Oturnha, 940. 
The Tepeacans reduced, 242. Prejiaratiotis of 
the Mexicans against the return of Cortes, 243. 
Cortes besieges the city with a fleet on the 
lake, 247. The Spaniards repulsed in stonning 
the city, 249. GuatiniDZin taken prisoner, 2jl. 
Cortes appointed governor, 23(5. His schemes 
and arrangements, 257. Inhuman treatment 
of the natives, ib. Reception of the new 
regulations there, 238. List and character of 
those antliors who wrote accounts of the con- 
quest of, 485. A retrospect into the form of 
government, policy, and arts in, 313. Our in- 
formation concerning, very imperfect, 314. 
Origin of the monarchy, 315. Number and 
greatness of the cities, 316, Mechanical pro- 
fessions there distinguished from each other, 
317. Distinction of ranks, ib. Political insti- 
tutions, 319. Power and solendour of their 
monarchs, 320. Order or government, ib. 
Provision for the support of it, ib. Police of, 
ib. Their arts, 321. Their paintings, ib. 
Their method of computing time, 323. Their 
wars continual and ferocious, 32-J. Their fu- 
neral rites, ib. Imperfection of their agricul- 
ture, ib. Doubts concerning the extent of the 
empire, 325. Little intercourse among its 
several provinces, ib. Ignorance of money, 
326. State of their cities, ib. Temples and 
other public buildings, ib. Religion of, 329. 
Causes of the depopulation of this country, 
347. The small-po.x very fatal there, 348. 
Number of Indian natives remaining there, 
350. Description of the aqueduct for tlie sup- 
ply of the capital city, 5U2. See Colonies. 

Michael, St., the gulf of, in the South Sea, dis- 
covered and named by Balboa, 104. The 
colony of, established by Pizarro, 2u8. 

Jllinrations of mankind, why first made by land, 
17. 

Mind, human, the efforts of it proportioned to 
the wants of the bo<ly, 151. 

Mines of South America, the great inducement 
to population, 340. Some account of, 366. 
Their produce, ib. The spirit with which they 
are worked, 367. Fatal elVects of this ardour, 
ib. Evidence of the pernicious effects of la- 
bouring in them, 514. Of Me.xico, total pro- 
duce of, to the Spanish revenue, 523, 524. 

Molucca islands, the Spanish claims on, sold hy 
the emperor Charles V. to the Portuguese, 255. 

Monastic institutions, the pernicious efTects of, 
in the Spanish American colonies, 361. Num- 
ber of convents there, 515. 

MoTisoons, the periodical course of, when disct)- 
vercd by navigators, 25. 

Mantes ino, a. Dominican preacher at St. Domingo, 
publicly remonstrates against the cruel treat- 
ment of the Indians, 100. 

Montezuma, the first intelligence received by the 
Spaniards of this prince, 121. Receives intel- 
ligence of the arrival of Fernando Cortes in 
his dominions, 203. His presents to Cortes, ili. 
Forbids him to approach his capital, ib. State 
of his empire at this time, 204. His character, 
ib. His perplexity at the arrival of the Spa- 
niards, ib. His timid negotiations with Cortes, 
90(5. His scheme for destroying Cortes at Cho- 
lula discovered, 217. His irresolute conduct, 
218. His first interview with Cortes, 219. Is 
seized hy Cortes, and confined to the Spanish 
quarters, 223. Is fettered, 221. Acknowledees 
himself a vassal to the Spanish crown- ^£25 



Remains inflexible with regard to religion, 227. 
Circumstances of his death, 236. Account of 
ti gold cup of his in England, 502. 
Mulaltoes, in the Spanish American colonies, 
explanation of this distinction, 357 

Marvacz, Pampbilo, is sent by Velasquez with 
an armament to Mexico, to supersede < 'ortes. 
229. Takes possession of ZempoaDa. 231. Is 
defeated and taken prisoner by Cortes, 233. 
How he carried on his correspondence with 
Montezuma, 491. 

J\ratc/tcz, an American nation, their political in- 
stitutions, 164. Causes of their tame submis- 
sion to the Spaniards, 166. Their religious 
doctrines, ib. 

J^aviffalion, the arts of, very slowly improved 
by mankind, 17. The knowledge of, prior to 
commercial intercourse, ib. Imperfections of, 
among the ancients, 18. More improved by 
the invention of the mariner's compass thau 
by all the efforts of preceding ages, 32. The 
first naval discoveries undertaken by Portugal, 
33. 

J\regroes, their peculiar situation under the Spa- 
nish dominion in America, 357. Are first in 
troduced into Virginia, 412 

JiJ'cw England, first attempts to settle in, unsuc 
cessful, 426. Reli.Tious disputes give rise to 
the colony there, 427. A settlement is formed 
at New Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay, 432. 
Plan of its goveri'-nent, ib. All property is 
thrown into a common stock, 433. A grand 
council is appointed, ib. A new colony is pro- 
jected at Massachu.setts Bay, and a charter 
granted for its establishment, 434. Its settle- 
ment there, 435. A new church is instituted 
there, ib. Its intolerance, 436. Charter of the 
English company of merchants in London is 
transferred to the colonies, ib. The colony 
at Massachusetts Bay extends, 437. None but 
members of the church are admitted as free- 
men there, ib. Bad consequences of this regu 
lation, 433. The settlement increases, and the 
assembly is restricted to the representatives ol 
freemen, ib. Extent of political K'oeriy as- 
sumed by th? assembly, ib. Spirit of fanati- 
cism spreads in the colony, 439. New settlers 
arrive, and the doctrines of the Antinomians 
are condemned by a general synod, 440. Secta- 
ries settle in Providence and Rhode Island, ib. 
Theological contests give rise to the colony of 
Connecticut, 441. Emigrants from Massachu 
setts Bay settle in Cotmecticut, ib. The Dutch, 
who had established a few trading towns on 
the river there, peaceably withdraw, ib. Set- 
tlements are formed in the provinces of New 
Hampshire and Maine, 442. Further encroach- 
ments of the English are resisted by the natives, 
ib. War with thePequod tribes is commenced, 
443. Purification of the army, ib. The In- 
diana are defeated, ib. Cruellies exercised 
against them, 444. Emisrations from England 
to the colonies are prohibited by proclamation, 
ib. Colony of Massachusetts Bay is sued at 
law, and found to have forfeited its rights, ib. 
Confederacy of the States in, 445. Spe Colo' 
nics. 

J^cirfoundland, its situation described, 462. Dis- 
covery of, by Cabot, 390. 

JVVw Holland, some accoimt of the country and 
inhabitants, 476. 

JVcw Plymoulh, settlement at, 432. See Colo- 
nies, J^Tew England. 

Jfew Spain, di.scovered and named by Juan de 
Grijalva, 120. Sec Mexico. 

J^igno, .Monso, his voyage to America, 81. 

jVo7-ipegians, miclil in anciet.t times have ml 
grated to and colonized .America, 136. 

A''ugnez Vela, Bla.sco, appointed viceroy of Peru, 
to enforce tlif new regulations, 297. His cha- 
racter, 299. Committi Vaca de Castro to prison. 



536 



INDEX. 



ih. Dissensions between him and tlie Court of 
Audience, 300. Is confined, ih. Recovers his 
liberty, 301. Resumes tiis command, ib. Is 
pursued by Gonzalo fizarro, ib. Is defeated 
and liilled by Pizarro, 30-2. 

Ocampo, Diego, sent with a squadron from His- 
pauiola to desolate the country of Cumana, 
117. 

■, Sebastian de, first sails round Cuba, 
and discovers it to be an island, 97. 

Ocean, though adapted to iacilita;e tlie inter- 
courso between distant countries, continued 
long a formidable barrier, 17. See Compass 
and JSTaoigation. 

Ojeda, Alouzo de, his private expedition to the 
West Indies, 80. His second voyage, 85. Ob- 
tains a government on the continent, 08, 99. 

Olmedo, Father Bartholomew de, checks the 
rash zeal of Cortes at TIascala in Mexico, 216. 
Is sent by Cortes to negotiate with Nar\'aez, 
230. 

■ rellana, Francis, is appointed to the command 
of a bark built by Gonzalo Pizarro, and deserts 
him, 2y0. Sails down the Maragnon, ib. Re- 
turns to Spain with a report of wonderful dis- 
coveries, ib. Herrera's account of his voyage, 
499. 

Orgognez, commands Almagro's party against 
the Pizarros, and is defeated and killed by 
them, 286. 

Orinoco, the great river of, discovered by Chris- 
topher Columbus, 76. Strange method of 
choosing a captain among the Indiau tribes on 
the banks of, 173. Tlie amazing plenty offish 
in, 475. 

Otaheiu, the inhabitants of, ignorant of the art 
of boiling water, 482. 

Otumba, battle of, between Cortes and the Mexi- 
cans, 239, 240. 

Ovando, Nicholas de, is sent governor to Hispa- 
niola, 85. His prudent regulations, ib. Re- 
fuses admission to Coliimlius, on Ins fourth 
voyage, 87. His ungenerous behaviour to Co- 
'umbus on his shipwreck, 89, 90. Receives 
.lim at length, and sends him home, 91. En- 
gages in a war with the Indians, 93. His cruel 
treatment of them, ib. Encourages cultivation 
aufl •; It -far tiues, 95. His method of trepan- 
ning the natives of the Lucayos, 96. Is re- 
called, 97 

Pacific Ocean, why and by whom so named, 254. 

Packet boats, first esta. '• il? nent of, between | 
Spain and her Americaik <,: .Ln.es, 37S. 

Panama, is settled by Pedrarias Davila, 107. 

Parmenides, the first who divided the earth by 
zones, 451. 

Patagonians, some account of, 147. The reality 
of their gigantic size yet to be decided, 472. 

Pedrarias Davila, is sent with a fleet to super- 
sede Balboa in his government of Santa Maria 
on the isthmus of Darien, 105. Treats Balboa 
i'l, 108. Rapacious conduct of his men, ib. 
Is reconcil'^d to Balboa, and gives him his 
daushter, 107. Puts Balboa to death, ib. Re- 
moves his settlement from Santa Maria to Pa- 
nama, ib. 

Penguin, the name of that bird not derived from 
the Welsh languaae, 45ti. 

Perez, Juan, patronizes Columbus at the court 
of Castile, 48. His solemn invocation for the 
success of Columbus's voyage, 52, 

Periplas of Hanno, the authenticity of that work 
justified, 448. 

Peru, the first intelligence concerning this country 
received by Vasco Nuznez de P>a!boa, 104. 
The coast of, first discovered by Pizarro, 264. 
Pizarro's second arrival, 267, His hostile pro- 
ceedings against the natives, ib. The colony 
of St. Michael established, 208. State of the 
empire at the time of this invasioB, ib. The 



kingdom divided between Huascar and Ata 
hualpa, 269. Atahualpa usurps the govern ■ 
ment, ib. Hua^!car solicits assistance from 
Pizarro, 270. Atahualpa visits Pizarro, 272. 
Is seized by Pizarro, 273. Agreement for his 
ransom, ib. Is relustd his liberty, 275. Is 
cruelly put to death, 277. Confusion of the 
empire on this event, ib. Quito reduced by 
Benalcazar, 278, 279. The city of Lima 
founded by Pizarro, 281. Clnli invaded by 
Alniagro, ib. Insurieclion of the Peruvians, 
282. Almagro put to death by Pizarro, 287. 
Pizarro divides the country among bis follow- 
ers, 288. Progress of the Spanish arms there, 
289. Francis Pizarro assassinated, 2L.2. Re- 
ception of the new regulations there, 2J7, 298. 
Tlie viceroy confined by the court of audience, 
300. The viceroy defeated au>l killed by Gon- 
zalo Pizarro, 302. Arrival of Pedro de la 
Gasca, 306. Reduction and detith of Gonzalo 
Pizarro, 308. The civil wars there not carried 
on with mercenary soldiers, 309. But never- 
theless gratified with immense rewards, ib. 
Their profusion and luxury, ib. Feiocity of 
their contests, 310. Their want of faith, ib. 
Instances, ib. Division of, by Gasca, among 
liis followers, 311. Writers who gave accounts 
of the conquest of, 493. A retrospect into the 
original government, aits, and manners of the 
natives, 313. The high antiquity tliey pretend 
to, 329. Their records, 330. Origin of their 
civil policy, ib. This founded in religion, 331 
The authority of the incas absolute and un 
limited, ih. All crimes were punished capi 
tally, 332. Mild genius of their religion, ib. 
Its influence on their civil policy, ib. ; and on 
their military system, 333. Peculiar state of 
property there, ib. Distinction of ranks, 334. 
State of arts, ib. Improved state of agricul- 
ture, ib. Their buildings, 335. Their public 
roads, ib. Their bridges, 336. Theh mode of 
refining silver ore, 337. Works of elegance, 
ib. Their civilization, nevertheless, but im- 
perfect, 338. Cuzco the only place that had 
the appearance of a city, ib. No perfect sepa- 
ration of professions, ib. Little commercial 
intercourse, ib. Their unwarlike spirit, ib. 
Eat their flesh and fish raw, .339. Brief ao 
couiit of other provinces under the viceroy of 
New Spain, ib. Causes of the depopulation 
of this country, 347. The small-pov verv fatal 
there, 343. Their method of building', 508. 
State of the revenue derived from, by the 
crown of Spain, 520. See Colonies. 

Peter I., czar of Russia, his extensive views in 
pio.secutiug Asiatic di.scoverie-s, 133. 

Philip II. of Spain, his turbulent disposition aided 
by his American treasures, 369. Establishes 
the colony of Manila, 383. 

Philip HI., exhausts his country by inconsiderate 
bieotry, 370. 

Philippine Islands, discovered by Ferdinand Ma- 
gellan, 254. A colony established there by 
Philip H. of Spain, 383. Trade between, and 
America, ib. 

Phoenicians, ancient state of commerce and na- 
vigation among them, 19. Their trade, how 
conducted, 418. 

Phrisic, tlie art of, in America, why connected 
with divination, 1S4. 

Pinto, Chevalier, his description of the charac- 
teristic features of the native Americans, 470. 

Pinion, Vincent Yanez, commands a vessel 
under Columbus in his first voyage of disco 
very, 51. Sails to America on a private ad 
venture with four ships. 81. Discovers Yuca 
tan, 97. 

Pizarro, Ferdinand, is besieged in Cuzco by the 
Peruvians, 282. Is surprised there by AlninfTrn, 
283. Escapes with Alvarado 2R5. Pc-fei'iils 
his brother at the court of Spain, 288. Ih 
committed to prison, ib. 



INDEX. 



S3T 



Pitarro, Francisco, attends Balboa in his settle- 
ment on the isthmus of Darien, 100. Marches 
under hini across the isthmus, where they dis- 
cover the South Sea, 103. His birth, education, 
and char.icter, '201. Associates with Alinagro 
and De Luque in a voyage of discovery, 20iJ. 
His ill succeas, ib. Is recalled, and deserted by 
most of his (bllowers, a03, 2li4. Remains on 
the island ol" Gorgona for supplies, 264. Dis- 
covers the coast of Peru, ib. Returns to Pa- 
nama, 265. Goes to Spain to solicit reinforce- 
ments, ib. Procures the supreme command 
for himself, 2G6. Is assisted with money by 
Cortes, ib. Lands agaiu in Peru, 207. His 
hostile proceedings against the natives, ib. 
Establishes the colony of St. Michael, 268. 
State of the Peruvian empire at this time, ib. 
Cause of his easy penetration into the country, 

270. Is applied to by Huascar for assistance 
against his victorious brother Atahualpa, ib. 
State of his forces, ib. Arrives atCaxanialca, 

271. Is visited by the inca, 272. His perfi- 
dious seizure of him, 273. Agrees to Atahu- 
alpa's offer for his ransom, ib. Division of 
their plunder, 274. Refuses Atahualpa his 
liberty, 275. His ignorance exposed to Atahu- 
alpa, 276. Bestows a form of trial on the inca, 
ib. Puts him to death, 277. Advances to 
Cuzco, 278. Honours conferred on him by the 
Spanish court, 280. Beginning of dissensions 
between him and .\lmagro, ib. His civil regu- 
lations, ib. Founds the city of Lima, 281. 
Insurrection of the Peruvians, 282, 283. Cuzco 
seized by Almagro, 284. Deludes Almagro by 
negotiations, 285. Defeats Almagro, and takes 
him prisoner, 286. Puts Almagro to death, 
287. Divides the country among his followers, 
233, 28D. The impolitic partiality of his allot- 
ments, ih. Makes his brother Gonzalo governor 
of Q,uito, 289. Is assassinated by Juan de 
Herreda, 292. 

, Gonzalo, is made governor of Quito 

by his brother Francis, 239. His expedition 
over the Andes, ib. Is deserted by Orellana, 
290. His distress on this event, ib. His disas- 
trous return to (iuito, 291. Is encouraged by 
the people to oppose Nugnez Vela, the new 
viceroy, 299. Assumes the government of 
Peru, 301. Marches against the viceroy, 302. 
Defeats and kills him, ib. Is advised by Car- 
vajal to assunK .ne sovereignty of the country, 
ib. Chooses tO negotiate with the court of 
Spain, 303. Consultations of the court on his 
conduct, ib. His violent resolutions on the 
arrival of Pedro de la Gasca, 305. Resolves 
to oppose him by violence, 306. Marches to 
reduce Cenleno at Cuzco, 307. Defeats him, 
ib. Is deserted by his troops on the approach 
of Gasca, 308. Surrenders, and is executed, 
ib His adherents men of no principle, 309. 

Plata, Rio de, discovered by Dias de Solis, 108. 
Its amazing width, 461. 

Playfair, Mr., professor of mathematics in Edin- 
burgh, the result of his comparison of the nar- 
rative and charts given in Captain Cook's 
voyages, published in 1780, and Mr. Coxe's 
account of the Russian discoveries, printed in 
the same year, in which the vicinity of t^■e two 
continents of Asia and America is clearly as- 
certained, 408, 469. 

Pliny, the naturalist. Instance of his ignorance in 
geography, 451. 

Police de Leon, Juan, discovers Florida, 101. 
Romantic motive of his voyage, ib. 

Population of the earth, slow progress of, 17. 

Porto Bello, discovered and named by Christo- 
pher Columbus, 88. 

Porto Rico, is settled and subjected by Juan 
Ponce de Leon, 97. 

Porto Santo, the first discovery of, 36. 

Portugal, when and by whom the court of In- 
(^uisition was first introduced into, 452. 
Vol. I.— 68 



Portuguese, a view of the circumstances that 
induced them to undertake the discovery of 
unknown countries, 33. First African disco- 
veries of, 34. Madeira discovered, 36. They 
double Cape Bojador, ib. Obtain a papal grant 
of all the countries they should discover, 38. 
Cape Verd islands and the Azores discovered, 
ib. Voyage to the East Indies by Vasco de 
Gama. 79. 

Potosi, the rich silver mines there, how disco- 
vered, 366. The mines of, greatly exhausted, 
and scaicely worth working, 519. 

Prisoners of war, how treated by the native 
Americans, 170. 

Property, the idea of, unknown to the native 
Americans, 161. Notions of the Brasilians 
concerning, 477. 

Protector of the Indians in Spanish America, his 
function, 359. 

Ptolemy, tlie philosopher, his geographical de- 
scriptions more ample and exact than those of 
liis predecessors, 27. His Geography translated 
by the Arabians, 28. His erroneous position 
of the Ganges, 449. 

Quetlavaea, brother of Montezuma, succeeds 
him as king of Mexico, 243. Conducts in per- 
son the fierce attacks which oblige Cortes to 
abandon his capital, ib. Dies of the small- 
pox, ib. 

Qnevedo, bishop of Darien, his conference with 
Las Casas on the treatment of the Indians, in 
the presence of the emperor Charles V., 115. 

Qicksilver, the property of the famous mines of, 
at Guanacahelica, reserved by the crown of 
Spain, 519. The price of, wliy reduced, 520. 

Quinijuina, or Jesuits' Bark, a production pecu- 
liar to Peru, 368. 

Qv.ipox, or historic cords of the Peruvians, some 
account of, 330. 

Quito, the kingdom of, conquered by Huana 
Capac, inca of Peru, 269. Is left to his son 
Atahualpa, ib. Atahualpa's general revolts 
after his death, 278. Is reduced by the Spa- 
niards under Benalcazar, 278, 279. Benalcazar 
deposed, and Gonzalo Pizarro made governor, 
289. 

Raleigh, resumes the plan of settling colonies in 
North America, 397. Despatches Amadas and 
Barlow to examine the intended fettlements, 
who discover Virginia, and return to England, 
397, 398. Establishes a colony in Virginia, 
which, on account of famine, is obliged to re- 
turn to England, 398, 399. Makes a second 
attempt to settle a colony there, which perishes 
by famine, 400. Abandons the design, ib. 

Ramusio, his defence of Hanno's account of the 
coast of Africa, 448. 

Register ships, for what purpose introduced in 
the trade between Spain and her colonies, 376. 
Supersede the use of the galeons, ib. 

Religion of the native Antericans, an inquiry 
into, 179. 

Ribas, his account of the political state of the 
people of Cinaloa, 481. Of their want of reli- 
gion, 483. 

Rio de la Plata and Tucuman, account of those 
provinces, 343. 

River 9, the amazing size of those in America, 123. 

Rohinson, Professor, his remarks on the tempera- 
ture of various climates, 462. 

Roldan, Francis, is left chief justice in Hispaniola 
by Christopher ('olumbus, 73. Becomes the 
ringleader of a mutiny, 77. Submits, 78. 

Romans, their progres.' in navigation and disco- 
very, 24. Their military spirit averse to me- 
chanical arts and commerce, ib. Navigation 
i and trade favoured in the provinces under their 
gnvernment, 24,25. Their extensive discove- 
ries by land, 27. Their empire and the sciences 
destroyed together, ih. 



538 



INDEX. 



Rubruquis, Father, his embassy from France to 
the Chan of the Tartars, 31. 

Russia, a trade to, opened by the English, 393. 
Restricted to a company of British nierclianls, 
ib. The connection with the Russian empire 
encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, 395. 
^Russians, Asiatic discoveries made by them, 134. 
Uncertainty of, 467. 

Sacotecas, the tich silver mines there, when dis- 
covered, 306. 

San Salvador, discovered and named by Chris- 
toplier Columbus, 56. 

Saitcko, Don Pedro, account of his history of the 
conquest of Peru, 495. 

Sandoval, the sliocking barbarities executed by, 
in Mexico, 257. 

, Francisco Tello de, is sent by the 

emperor Charles V. to Mexico, as visitador of 
America, 297. His moderation and prudence, 
ib. 

Savage life, a general estimate of, 189. 

Scalps, motive of the native Americans for taking 
them from their enemies, 479. 

Serralvo, Manjuis de, his extraordinary gains 
during his viceroyalty in America, 526. 

Seville, extraordinary increase of its manufac- 
tures by tlie American trade, 520. Its trade 
greatly reduced, ib. The American trade re- 
moved to Cadi/,, 371. 

Silver ore, method of refining it practised by the 
native Peruvians, 337. 

Small-pojc, Indian territories depopulated by, 438, 

Sonora, late discoveries of rich mines made tliere 
by the Spaniards, 340. 

Soul, American ideas of the immortality of, 
183. 

South Sea, first discovered by Vasco Nugnez de 
Balboa, 104. 

Spain, general idea of the policy of, with regard 
to the American colonies, 350. Early interpo- 
sition of tlie regal authority in the colonics, ib. 
All the American dominions of, subjected to 
two viceroys, 352. A third viceroyalty lately 
established, ib. Tlie colonies of, compared 
with those of Greece and Rome, 354. Advan- 
tages she derived from her colonies, 369. Why 
she does not still derive the same, ib. Rapid 
decline of trade, 370. This decline increased 
by the mode of regulating the intercourse with 
America, ib. Employs giiarda costas to check 
illicit trade, 375. The use of register ships in- 
troduced, 376. Establishment of the company 
of Caraccas, 377. Enlargement of commercial 
ideas there, ib. Free trade permitted to several 
provinces, 378. Revenue derived from Ame- 
rica, 384. Specification, 523. 

Spaniards, their curious form of taking posses- 
sion of newly discovered countries, 459. 

Strabo, a citation from, proving the groat geo- 
giaphical ignorance of the ancients, 449. His 
own want of geographical knowledge, 451. 

Superstition always connected with a desire of 
penetrating into the secrets of futurity, 184. 

Tapia, Christoval de, is sent from Spain to INTex- 
ico, to supersede Cortes in his command, but 
fails in the attempt, 256. 

Tartars, the possibility of their migrating to 
America, 135. 

Tithes of Spanish Ameiica, how applied by the 
court of Spain, 524. 

Tlascala, in Mexico, character of the natives of, 
213. Oppose the passaae of the Spaniards, ib. 
Are reduced to sue for neace, 214, 215. 

Tobacco, that of Cuba the best flavoured of any 
in all America, 368. The use of, first intro- 
duced into England, 399. Culture of, in Vir- 
ginia, and its consequences, 411. Its exporta 
tion thence is annually increased, 412. Trade 
fur, opened with Holland, 413. Grants and 
monopoly of, 418, 419. 



Toupinambos, account of their ferocious courage, 
from Lery, 479. 

Trade, no elibrts made in England to extend it 
in the reign of Henry Vll. or his immediate 
successors, 391. To what causes that neglect 
was owing, ib, 

, free, opened between Spain and her colo- 
nies, 378. Increu3e of the Spanish customs 
from tliis measure, 522. 

winds, the periodical course of, when dis- 
covered by navigators, 25. 

Travellers, ancient, character of their writings 
31, 32. 

Trinidad, the island of, discovered by Christopher 
Columbus on liis third voyage, 76. 

Tiicuman and Rio de la Plata, account of those 
provinces, 343. 

Tijre, the commerce of that city, how conducted, 
448. 

Ulloa, Don Antonio de, his description of the 
characteristic features of the native Ameri- 
cans, 479. His reason for the Americans not 
being so sensible of pain as the rest of man- 
kind, 480. His account of the goods exported 
from Spain to America, with the duty on them, 
525. 

yaca de Castro, Christoval, is sent from Spain 
to regulate the government of Peru, 288. Ar- 
rives at Gluito, 293. Assumes the supreme 
authority, ib. Defeats young Almagro, 294. 
The severity of his procei^dings, ib. Prevents 
an insurrection concerted to oppose the new 
regulations, 298. Is imprisoned by the new 
viceroy, 299. 

Valverde, Father Vincent, his curious harangue 
to Atahualpa, inca of Peru, 272. Gives his 
sanction to the trial and condemnation of Ata- 
hualpa, 277. 

yega, Garcilasso de la, character of his com- 
mentary on the Spanish writers concerning 
Peru, 495. 

Vegetables, their natural tendency to fertilize the 
soil where they grow, 129. 

Velasquez, DioL'o de, conquers the island of Cuba, 
100. 118. Hi^ preparations for invading New 
Spain, 197. His difficulty in choosing a com- 
mander for the expedition, ib. Appoints Fer- 
nando Cortes, 198. His motives to this choice, 
ib. Becomes suspicious of Cortes, 199, Orders 
Cortes to be deprived of his commission, and 
arrested, ib. Sends an armament to Mexico 
after Cortes, 228. 

Venegas, P., his character of the native Califoi- 
nians, 474. 

Venereal disease, originally brought from Ame- 
rica, 148. Appears to be wearing out, 149. 
Its first rapid progress, 472. 

Venezuela, history of that settlement, 345. 

Venice, its origin as a maritime state, 29. Travels 
of Marco Polo, 31. 

Verd Islands, discovered by the Portuguese, 38. 

Viceroys, all the Spanish dominions in America 
subjected to ;wo, 351. A third lately esta- 
blished, ib. Their powers, ib. A fourth esta- 
blished, 380. 

Villa, Segnor, his account of the stale of popu- 
lation in New Sjiain, 511. His detail of the 
Spanish American revenue, 523. 

Villefagna, Antonio, one of Cortes's soldiers, 
foments a mutiny among his troops, 245. Is 
discovered by Cortes and haneed, ib. 

Virginia, first discovery of, 398. Attempt to 
settle there unsuccessful. 398, 399. A second 
attempt to seitle there, when the colony per- 
ishes by famine, 400. The scheme of settling 
there abandoned, ib. Is divided into two colo- 
nies, 402. Charters are granted to two com- 
panies to make settlements in, ib. Captain 
Newport sails from England to, and discovers 
the Cbesapeak, 404. He proceeds up James 



INDEX. 



639 



rivtr, and founds a colony in Jamestown, ib. 
Its bad adminisiraiion, ib. Captain Smith is 
excluded fioiii liis seat at the council ttoard, 
4U5. The colony is aanoyed by tlie Indians, 
and suffers from scarcity and the unhcalthini'ss 
of the climate, ib. Smith is recalled, and the 
prosperity of the colony restored, ib. He is 
taken prisoner by the Indians, his life spared, 
and his liberty obtained through the interces- 
sion of the favourite daught t of an Indian 
chief, 405, 406. Returns to Jamestown, and 
finds the colony in distress, 406. The colonists 
are deceived by the^ppearance of gold, ib. A 
survey of the country is undertaken by Smith, 
ib. The company obtains a new charter with 
more ample privileges, 407. The jurisdiction 
of the council in, is abolished, and tlie govern- 
ment vested in a cuncil resident m London, 
ib. l,ord Delaware is appointed governor and 
captain-general uf the colony, and Sir Thomas 
Gates and Sir George Summers are vested with 
the command till his arrival, ib. The vessel 
in which they embark is stranded on the coast 
of Bermudas, ib. Smith returns to England, 
and anarchy prevails in the colony, 408. The 
Indians wiUihold supplies, and the colony is 
reduc<-d by famine, ib. Gates and Summers 
arrive from Bermudas, and find the colony in 
a desperate situation, ib. They are about to 
return to England, when Lord Delaware ar- 
rives, 409. He reconciles all differences, and 
perfectly restores subordination, ib. Is obliged 
to resign the government, and return to Eng- 
land on account of his health, ib. Is super- 
seded by Sir Thomas Dale, who establishes 
martial law, ib. Another charter is granted 
to the colony, with new privileges, 410. The 
land is cultivated, and a treaty concluded with 
the Indians, ib. Rolfe, a man of rank in the 
colony, marries the daughter of an Indian 
chief, ib. The land first becomes property, 

411. The culture of tobacco is intrrnluced, ib. 
The quantity exported increa.«es every year, 

412. Negroes are first introduced, ib. A ge- 
neral assembly of representatives is formed, 
ib. A new constitution is given to the colony, 
and a trade for tobacco openi'd with Holland, 
41 J. The necessary precautions for the defence 
of the colony being neglected, a general mas- 
sacre of the English is planned by the Indians, 
and executed m most of the settlements. 413, 
414. A bloody war is commenced with the 
Indians, 414. Their plantations are attacked, 
and the owners murdered, 415. A f'-w escatie 
to the woods, where they [)erish with hunger, 
ib. The settlements extend, and industry re- 
vives, ib. The streneth of the co'opy is consi- 
derably weakened, 418. A temporary council 
is appomted for its government, ib. The arbi- 
trary government of the colonies on the acccs- 
oob' of Charles I., ib. The coionistE seize Sir 



John Harvey, the governor, and send him pri 
soner to England, 419. He is released by the 
king, and reinstated in his government, ib. la 
succeeded by Sir John Berkeley, whose wise 
administration is productive of the Ikjsi effects, 
ib. New privileges are granted to the colony, 
which flourishes under the new government, 
420. It Is attacked by the Indians, 423. Dis 
contents are produced by grants of land from 
the crown, ib. An insurrection breaks out, 
and the governor and council are forced to fiy, 
424. They apply to England for succour, 425. 
Tlie rebellion is temunaied by tiie death of 
Nathaniel Bacon, ib. The governor is rein- 
stated, and an assembly called, ib. The mo- 
deration of its proceedings, ib. General slate 
of tlie colony till the year 1688, 426. See 
Coioniea. 
yolcanos, remarkable number of, in the northern 
parts of the globe, discovered by the Russians, 
467. 

JVafer, Lionel, his account of a peculiar race of 
diminutive Amencans, 146. Compared with 
similar productions in Africa, ib. 

IVar song of the native Americans, the senti- 
ments and terms of. 479. 

IVilloagkby, Sir Hugh Eails in search of a north 
east passage to India, 393. Steers along the 
coast of Norway, and doubles the North (,"ape, 
ib. His squadron is separated in a storm, and 
his ship driven into an obscure harbour in Rus- 
sian Lapland, where he and all his companions 
are frozen to death, ib. 

IVumen, the condition of, among the native Ame- 
ricarLS, 153, 1.54. Are not prolific, 154. Are 
not permitted to join in their drunken feasts, 
188. Nor to wear ornaments, 431. 

Xerez, Francisco de, secretary to Pizarro, the 
earliest wri;er on his Peruvian expedition, 495 

Ximenes, Cardinal, his regulations for the treat- 
ment of the Ir.dians in the Spanish colonies. 
111. Patronizes the attempt of Ferdinand 
Magellan, 253. 

Yucatan^ the province of, discovered by Pinzon 
and Dias de Solis, 97. Described, 40), 461. 
From whence that province derives its value, 
342. Policy of the court of Spain w ith respect 
to, ib. 

Zarate. Don .Augustine, character of his History 

of the Conquest of Peru, 495. 
ZoTus, the earth how divided into, by the geo- 

eraohv of the ancients, 28. By whom first so 

divided, 451. 
Zummcragn, Juan de, first bishop of Mexico, 

llie destroyer of all the ancient records of tlie 

Mexican empire, 314. 



QUESTIONS 

FOR THE 

EXAMINATION OF STUDENTS. 

BY JOHN FROST, A.BI. 



QUESTIONS 



EXAMINATION OF STUDENTS 



ROBERTSON'S HISTORY OF AMERICA. 



^.B. — The figures prefixed to each paragraph refer to the pages of Harpefs stereotype 
edition of Robertson's History of America. 



DOOK L 

Page 17. 
Was the earth rapidly peopled? — What oc- 
casioned the first dispersion ol' the human 
race ! — How were the early migrations made? 
— Were navigation and sUip-building rapidly 
perfected? — How is their early imperfection 
proved? — From what era must we date the 
origin of commerce ? 

Page 18. 
What is the first species of commerce '< — 
Give some account of its progress. — What 
besides conquest became a motive for long 
Yoyages ? — Of what did trade become a great 
source! — Did navigation advance as rapidly 
as commerce? — Before the discovery of the 
mariner's compass how far were voyages ex- 
tended? — Were voyages longer than at pre- 
sent ? — Al what season were they undertaken 1 

Page 19. 
Where did the Egyptians open a commerce ? 
— What seas were crossed in these voyages ?— 
By what route were iheir commodities brought 
from India to Egypt'— What change took 
place in the character of the Egyptians? — 
Where is Egypt?— What other ancient nation 
was devoted to commerce ? — Where was an- 
cient Phoenicia? — What were its commercial 
cities ? — ^Which way is it from Tyre to Egypt ? 
— At what did the Phoenicians aim?— What 
places did their shijis visit? — Where are the 
Straits of Gades? — What is the modern name? 
— Did the I'lioenicians plant colonies < — Where 
did they acquire commodious harbours ? — With 
what countries did they establish a regular in- 
tercourse ?— Under what kings did the .Jews 
direct their attention to commerce?— How did 
they obtain a share of the Phcenician com- 
merce ? 

Page 20. 
'WTiere is Idumea? — Where is Palestine? — 
AVhich way from Phoenicia ?^Which way are 
Tyre and Sidon from Jerusalem! — Whilher 
did Solomon send fleets?— Where were prob- 
ably the places called Ophir and Tarshisli? 
— Did the Jews long continue commerce ! — 
Did they improve navigation or extend dis- 
covery ? — Wiio were the descendants of the 
Phtenicians? — Where was ancient Carthage? 
— Did the Carthaginians inherit the commer- 
cial spirit ? — What countries did Iheir voyagers 
visit in the north-west? — What countries in 
the south ? — How far south did they sail ? — 
What islands did they discover? — Did they 
underta'.(u voyages of discovery ? — Under what 



leaders ?— Describe the voyage of Hanno.— 
Of Himlico. 

Page 21. 
Describe the voyage said to have been ac- 
complished by a Phcenician fleet fitted out by 
Nccho. — Who else is said to have accom 
plished the same? — Are these accounts well 
authenticated? — Why did the Phcenician and 
Carthaginian voyagers conceal their disco- 
veries ?— When did the memorials of their 
naval skill perish?— Did the Greeks and Ro- 
mans learn navigation and commerce from the 
Ph(pnicians and Carthaginians?— What was 
the first object among the early Grecian voya- 
gers?— What was the extent of the famous 
expedition of the Argonauts? — What is the 
modern name of the Euxine Sea? — Had navi- 
gation advanced much in Homer's time ? 

Page 22 
Describe the ships of Ihj early Greeks.— To 
what rank among maritime nations did th 
ancient Greeks afterward arrive? — What sort 
of vessels were used in the Persian war ?— 
How far did the ancient Grecian commerce 
extend?— With whom was their chief inter 
course?— What places did they occasionally 
visit ? — Which way from Greece is Asia Mine 
or Lesser Asia ?— Italy ?- -Sicily ?— 'I he Eux- 
ine?— The Hellespont ?— What example of the 
ignorance of the (ireeks is quoted ?— How far 
did the geographical knowledge of the Greeks 
extend ? — Of what facts were they ignorant 

Page 23. 
What expedition enlarged the geographical 
knowledge of the Greeks?— What commercisi 
republic was among the conquests of Alex 
ander?— After reducing Tyre and Egypt what 
plan chd he form?— What city did he found 
—Where ? — With what design ? — What was 
the consequence of its situation ? — Whither 
did he conduct his army by land !— How tar 
into India did he advance? — What did he re- 
solve to examine ? — Hy what communication 
did he design to furnish his Asiatic dominions 
with the commodities of the East ? — How did 
he design to distribute them to the rest of the 
world ?— Whom did he send lo survey the Per- 
sian Gulf! — Was this justly considered a grea 
undertaking? 

Page 24. 
In executing it, what surprising discovery 
was made? — How was it regarded! — How 
long did the voyage last?— Was the navigation 
to India by this course continued '—Who were 
enriched afterward by the Indian trade of 



644 



QUESTIONS. 



Alexandria ?— What progress did the Romans 
make in navigation and discovery 1 — Why was 
this ?— What made them first aim at maritime 
power ?— For what purpose was this power 
used !— Did the Romans ever become a com- 
mercial people?— In whose hands did their 
commerce remain ?— Was it well protected 
and profitable ?— What improved under it 1 

Page 25. 
What fact was observed in the Indian 
Ocean ?— What use was made of this obser- 
vation?— What was the utmost limit of the 
Roman navigation?— How far did travellers 
probably penetrate by land ? — What amount 
of money was drawn annually from Rome by 
the Indian trade ?— What nninber of ships an- 
nually sailed from the Arabian Gulf to India! 
■ -How was the knowledge of remote countries 
obtained in ancient times .'—What countries of 
Europe were conquered by the Romans ? 

Page 2fi. 
In Africa?— In Asia ? — Of what countries in 
Europe were the ancient Romans ignorant? — 
In Africa? — In Asia! — What did the ancients 
believe concerning the Zones! — By what class 
of people was this theory held!— What conse- 
quences follow from tiiis theory? 

Pago 27 

What other extravagant theory did the an- 
cients believe ?— What does this theory prove! 
— Who brought geography to its highest point 
among the ancients! — When did he flourish, 
and what did he publish ! — Did geographical 
knowledge decline after Ptolemy's time! — 
What city became first in point of commerce? 
— What was the consequence of the fall of the 
Roman empire !— What was the tirst effect of 
the settlement of the barbarous nations in the 
south of Europe ? 

Page 28. 

Did geographical science nearly perish in 
the wreck of the Roman emi)ire ? — Did com- 
merce ? — What prevented commerce from 
ceasing altogether ? — How far did the trade of 
Constantinople extend! — After the conquest 
of Egypt by the Arabians, how were commodi- 
ties conveyed from India to Constantinople! 
— How did the Arabians acquire a fondness 
for geographical science ?— Did they advance 
the science! — Where is Arabia? — Which way 
from Egypt ? 

Page 29. 
Wliat country first began to recover from 
the desolation and barbarism occasioned by 
the fall of the Roman empire !— What hap- 
pened to the Italian cities !— What was the 
consequence? — What foreign cily became the 
chief "mart of the Italians ! — At what other 
cities d'd they purchase the commodities of 
the East? — Where is Aleppo?— Tripoli ! — 
Syria? — How were the goods conveyed from 
India to these ports ? — To what port of Egypt 
did the Italian merchants resort? — What were 
the chief commercial citiesof Italy ?— To what 
countries beyond the Mediterranean did their 
merchants resort? — What event gave a new 
impulse to commerce? — Who furnished trans- 
ports and provisions to the crusaders !— Were 
the Italians enriched by the crusades ? 

Page 30. 
Did the other countries of Europe partici- 
pate in the benefits of the crus:ides! — Give an 
account of the travels of Benjamin of Tudela. 
— Give an account of the mission of Carpini 
and Ascoliao. 



Page 31. 
What induced St. Louis to send a mission 
to Tartary? — Who were sent? — What was 
the result? — Who was Marco Poio? — When 
did he flourish ? — Under whose protection did 
he travel? — How long? — What countries be- 
fore unknown did he visit!— What English- 
man visited the same countries! — When' — 
Where is Pekin ?— Japan ! 

Page 32. 
What was the character of the narratives 
of these travellers? — What was their effect 
on the public ' — What important discovery 
was made at this time ! — What use did navi- 
gators make of it ! — Who was the author of 
the discovery? — What injustice did he suffer! 
— Why was not the discovery immediately 
used for the purpose of making distant dis- 
coveries ! 

Page 33. 
How long time elapsed before it was used 
for discovery ?— For what purposes did the 
Spaniards first visit the Canaries! — Where 
are they ! — To whom did Clement VI. give 
them ! — By what right ? — Who conquered 
them!— How far had navigation advanced ai 
the beginning of the fifteenth century ?— What 
kingdom first roused that spirit of curiosity 
and enterprise which led to the discovery of 
the New World!— Who was trained in this 
school ! 

Page 34. 
What had raised the military spirit and en- 
terprise of the Porlnsuese ! — When did John 
I. become king of Portugal !— What was his 
character? — For what did he equip a fleet and 
armament?— Whither did he send ships for 
discovering new regions ! — What may we 
date from this !— What had been the former 
boundary of the Portuguese voyagers! 

Page 35. 
What was the literary ciiaracter of the Por- 
tuguese in the fifteenth century !— How far did 
their discoverers go in the first voyage ! — What 
was the character of Henry duke of Viseo? — 
Where did he fix his residence !— For what 
purpose ! — To what sources of information 
did he apply?— Whom did he engage in his 
service ? 

Page 36. 
Describe his first effort !— What island did 
Zarco and Vaz discover! — Wliat was done 
next year ! — Describe the settlement of Ma- 
deira and its consequences ? — Who first dou- 
bled Cape Bojador ?— When ? 

Page 37. 

What further discoveries did the Portuguese 
make towards the south of Africa !— Where is 
the river Senegal! — In what latitude? — In 
what latitude is Cape Blanco!— Cape Verd! — 
What sort of inbabiiaiils did the Porlugueso 
find south of thi' Senegal ?— What objections 
were made to prince Henry's schemes?— Was 
he deterred by them !— Who supportei? 'lim in 
his designs ?— What did he request of the 
pope! 

Piige 38. 

What grant was obtained from the pope ?— 
What advantage arose from It ?— What was 
the effect of the Portuguese discoveries on the 
public mind?— What new adventurers entered 
their service ?— What new discoveries wera 
made by them ?— Where are the Azores ?— The 
Cape Verd Isles ?— What does the discovery of 



QUESTIONS. 



543 



these clusters prove ?— When did prince Henry 
die ?— How far south had the Portuguese dis- 
coveries ttien extended ? — What extent of the 
west coast of Africa was explored ! 

Page 39. 
What prevented Alplionso king of Portugal 
from prosecuting the African discoveries with 
ardour ; — To whom did he commit them ? — 
What was the consequence? — When did the 
Portuguese cross the equinoctial ! — What then 
surprised them ? — When did John II. succeed 
Alphonso? — What did his voyagers find to be 
the character of the country norlhof the Sene- 
gal 7— What, south?— What ensued? — When 
did king John fit out a new fleet? — What 
kingdoms were discovered? — Where did he 
build forts and settle colonies? — Where is 
Benin ? — Congo? — Guinea? 

Page 40. 
What country did the Portuguese expect to 
arrive at by going round Africa to the south? 
— To whom did the king of Portugal send an 
embassy ?— Was Prester John a real person- 
age?— What was the origin of his name? — 
Who were the ambassadors sent in quest of 
Prester John's dominions by the king of Por- 
tugal ? — What other expedition did king John 
project ? — To whom was it intrusted ?— When ? 
— What was the length of the voyage ? — What 
discoveries did he make ? 

Page 41. 
What cape was the limit of his voyage ? — 
Why was it so called ?— How far did Covillam 
and Payva travel together? — What countries 
did they respectively visit after separating ? — 
What important conclusion was conveyed in 
Covillam's despatches? — What design did the 
king of Portugal now entertain ? — \Vho were 
alarmed at it? — Why? — What news was re- 
ceived before the expedition sailed ? 

BOOK n. 

Page 42. 

Of what country was Christopher Columbus 
a subject? — How was he educated ?— When 
did he first go to sea? — What places did he 
visit in 1467? — Whose service did he next en- 
ter? — Relate an adventure of his off the coast 
of Portugal.— Whither did he go ?— What hap- 
pened to him there ? 

Page 43. 

Who was his wife?— What effect did the 
perusal of Perestrello's papers have on Colum- 
bus? — With what places did he trade? — What 
did he acquire by these voyages?— What was 
the great object of voyagers at this time ? — 
Why ? — What was the only route to India 
which had ever been thought of before Colum- 
bus's time ? — What rftute did he propose to 
take? 

Page 44. 
On what arguments, drawn from the figure 
and structure of the earth, did Columbus found 
his belief of a continent in the west? — What 
facts led to the same conclusion? — What led 
Columbus to believe that this western conti- 
nent was connected with India ? — Did Colum- 
bus suppo.se that the western continent was 
near the Western Isles ? 

Page 45. 

To whom did Columbus communicate his 
opinions?— Did Pail I iMicouragehini !— To what 
design did Columbus's c^iimons lead him ? — 

iToL. I.— 69. 25 



What was the first step towards prosecuting 
this design ? — To Whom did he first submit his 
project ? — How was it received ? — To whom 
next 1 

Page 46. 
How did the king receive the proposal ? — To 
whom did he refer it ? — What was the result ? 
— To whom did Columbus next apply ? — When 
did he land in Spain ? — To whom did he send 
his brother? — What circumstances were un- 
favourable to Columbus's success in Spain ? — 
How was his character suited to please the 
Spanish ? 

Page 47. 
What did he gain by it ? — To whom did Fer 
dinand and Isabella remit the consideration of 
Columbus's project ?— What remarks did the 
Spanish philosophers make on Columbus's 
project?— How long did Columbus urge his 
project before obtaining a report from Tala- 
vera? — What was the answer of Ferdinand 
and Isabella founded on this report ? — To what 
Spanish subjects did Columbus next apply ? — 
With what success? 

Page 48. 
What had befallen Bartholomew Columbus? 
— Who prevented Columbus trom leaving 
Spain, and going to England ? — What was the 
character of Perez ? — To whom did Perez ap- 
ply on behalf of Columbus? — What did Isa- 
bella do? — What was the first effect of the 
interview ? — What new friends did Columbus 
acquire ? — How did Ferdinand regard Colum- 
bus's plot? 

Page 49. 
What demands did Columbus make ? — How 
did the commissioners jiroceed ? — What was 
the result of the negotiation? — What did Co- 
lumbus then do ? — What great event happened 
about this time? — What advantage did Quin- 
tanilla and Santaiigel take of it ? — What argu- 
ments did they offer to the queen ? 

Page 50. 
What was the effect ? — What generous offer 
did Isabella make? — How did Santangel re- 
ceive it .' — When was the treaty of negotiation 
signed? — What was the first article?— The 
second ?— Third ?— Fourth ?— Fifth ?— How did 
Ferdinand behave ' 

Page 51. 
Who defrayed the expense ? — What precau- 
tion was taken with respect to the Portuguese ? 
— Where was the expedition fitted ? — Where 
is Palos ? — Who assisted and accompanied Co- 
lumbus ? — Of what did the armament consist ! 
— Who were the several commanders, and 
what were their vessels' names ? — What was 
the number of men ? — What was the whole 
sum employed in fitting out the squadron? — 
What circumstances rendered the undertaking 
a very bold one ? 

Page 52. 
What religious act preceded the embarka- 
tion? — When did the squadron sail ? — Where 
did they arrive August 13lh ? — Where are these 
islands ? — What accident happened to the Pin- 
ta? — Whence and when did ("olumbus next 
take his departure ?— What disposition did the 
sailors manifest ? — How were the effects of it 
prevented ?— What character and quaUfications 
did Columbus now exhibit ? 

Page 53. 
What did he endeavour to conceal ? — What 



646 



QUESTIONS. 



new phenomenon respecting the compass 
alarmed them ?— How did Columbus dissipate 
the fears occasioned by this appearance?— 
What wind did lie fail in with ?— Wlial new 
appearance alarmed tlie sailors 400 h^apues 
west of the Canaries ?— How did Colunilms 
reconcile them to this !— How far had they 
advanced, October 1st?— How far did Colum- 
bus pretend that they had advanced? 

Page 54. 
What did the sailors now resolve to do?— 
How did Columbus prevent them from open 
mutiny ?— liy what did he next sleer his 
course?— Did he make the land in this direc- 
tion ?— What was the consequence ^ 

Page 55. 

By what means did he overcome this new 
dilKcuUy?— What signs of land appeared?— 
What orders did CoUimbus give?— What did 
Columbus discover at 10 o'clock, P. M.?— From 
which ship was the cry of land first heard ?— 
What was discovered in the morning?— What 
religious act was performed ? — How did tlie 
crews behave towards Columbus ?— What was 
done at sunrise?— What was discovered on 
shore ? 

Page 56. 

How did the voyagers behave on landing 1 
—For whom did they take possession of the 
country?— How did the natives regard the 
Spaniards and their ships?— Of this newly 
discovered island, what was the appearance of 
the soil ?— Climate ?— Trees ?— Inhabitants ?— 
What sort of trade was carried on between 
the Spaniards and natives?— What were the 
boats of the natives called?— What title and 
authority did Columbus assume?— What did 
he call the island ?— Where is it ?— Was it as 
rich as had been expected ? 
Page 57. 

What Induced Columbus to sail towards tne 
south?— Whom did he take along with him? 
—To what other islands did he give names?— 
What did he next discover ?— Whom did he 
send into the. interior?— Give the particulars 
of their discoveries in the interior. — What is 
maize? — Does it appear by the narrative that 
this is an original production of Cuba? — 
Where did the native.? tell Columbus that they 
found their gold?- Wh.at did he infer from 
this?— What part of the coast of Cuba did he 
explore ?— Where is Porto del Principe ! 

Page 58. 
To what island did the natives direct Colum- 
bus in quest of gold?— Where is Hayli?— 
What captain deserted the squadron?— When 
did Columbus reach Hayti ?— What did he call 
the port ?— The country ?— What port did he 
next visit?— How did he here contrive to open 
a communication with the natives?- How did 
they behave?— Did they possess morn gold than 
the natives of Cuba?— By whom was Colum- 
bus here vLsited ?— How did this person be- 
have ?— What led Columbus to suppose that 
he had arrived at Japan ? 

Page 59. 
Whither did he novv direct his course?— 
What harbour did he put into !-r-What cazique 
governed the district ?— What present did he 
make to Columbus ?— When did Columbus set 
sail to visit Guacanahari? — Give an account 
of his shipwreck.- How did the natives be- 
have ! — How did Guacanahari ? — What were 
«ow Columbus's circumstances ? 



Page 60. 
Did Columbus determme to return to Spain ? 
— What means did he adopt of prosecuting 
discoveries in Hayli ! — How was an o|)port\t- 
nity presented of colonizing the country? — 
Did the cazique accept his oflTer? — Give an ac- 
count of the settlement. — How did ColumbuB 
strike terror into the natives s 

Page 61. 
What was the effect of firing the cannon? — 
How many men did Columbus leave ?— Under 
whom?— What advice did he give?— When 
did he sail ?— Whom did he overtake''— Did he 
excuse Pinzon ?— What had Pmzon done in 
his absence ?— What did Columbus now de- 
termine to do? — What preparations did he 
make ?— How far and how long did he sail 
prosperously ? 

Page 62. 
What now befell Col umbus ?— How were the 
sailors alfected '—What did Columbus do to 
preserve a record of his voyage ? — What land 
was discovered on the 15th ? — Where are the 
Azores ?— What disquieted Columbus here ? — 
Whither was he driven by a second storm ? — 
How was he treated there ? 

Page 63. 
What satisfaction did Columbus enjoy? — 
How long did he remain in Lisbon ? — When 
did he arrive in Palos ? — Atler how long a voy- 
age? — How was he received? — When did the 
Pinta arrive ? — Where were the sovereigns ? — 
What did they order !— Describe Columbus's 
journey. — His entrance into the city. — How 
was he received by Ferdinand and Isabella ! 
How was he honoured ? 

Page 64. 
How rewarded ? — What was he commanded 
to do? — How was Columbus's discovery re- 
garded in Europe ? — To what opinion did Co- 
lumbus adhere?— By what was it conlirmed? 
— Was Columbus's opinion generally adopted ? 
— What name was given to the country dis- 
covered by Columbus !— After the country 
was found not to be India, what was it called? 
— What were the natives called ? 

Page 65. 

What number of ships were provided for 
the second expedition ? — Of men ? — What did 
they carry with them?— Did Ferdinand enter 
into the spirit of his subjects?— Who was 
pope at this time?— What grant did he make 
to Ferdinand and Isabella? — Where was the 
celebrated line drawn which vvas to separate 
the Spanish from the Portuguese possessions? 
— What preparations were made for convert- 
ing the Indians ? 

Page 66. 

When did Columbus sail on his second voy- 
age?— Where did he touch ?— How did he vary 
his course? — When did he make the land? — 
What did he call it ?— What islands did he af- 
terward visit? — Where is Dominica'— Mar- 
linica ?— Marigalante ?— Guadaloupe '—Anti- 
gua?— Porto Rico?- What people inhabited 
these islands ?— Were they cannibals ?— When 
did he arrive at Navidad?— What had hap- 
pened there? — What accuimt did the cazique's 
brother give of the colony ? 
Page 67. 

What colony did t^olumbus now found ?-- 
What was the character of Columbus's colo- 
nists ?— Were they suitable persons for colo- 



QtJESTIONS. 



547 



nizing a new country 7— To what did their 
discontent lead ?— How did Columbus ireat 
those who COM spired against him! — How many 
ships were sent home !— What did he request 
from Spain ! 

Page 6S. 
Whom did Columbus send to explore Cibao ? 
— How did he proceed ? — What were the In- 
dian opinions concerning ihe horses? — How 
did they find the gold !— Why did Columbus 
call the port St. Thomas ?— What distresses 
came upon the colonists ? — Did these lead to 
discontents ? 

Page 69. 
Who joined in them 1— Was their discontent 
removed ?— Whom did Columbus leave to 
govern the colony while he should make fur- 
ther discoveries? — What island did he dis- 
cover I — What happened to him on the south 
coast of Cuba! — Whom did he meet on his 
return to Hispaniola-? — Give an account of 
Bartholomew's adventures. 

Page 70. 
What had been the conduct of the soldiers 
under Margarita ! — What were the habits of 
the Indians with respect to food ?— What did 
they resolve to do ? 

Page 71. 
What did Columbus determine to do ?— What 
was the number of the Indians? — What king 
remainedfaithful to the Spaniards?— How was 
the attack managed ?— What was the result? 
—How did Columbus then employ himself! — 
What tax did he impose ?— Why did Columbus 
tax the Indians ! 

Page 72. 
Who was Columbus's enemy at court? — 
What was his only means of counteracting 
the machinations of his enemies at court? — 
Why was the tribute peculiarly opi)ressive to 
the Indians ?—Wh:U e.vpedient did they devise 
for freeing themselves ?— What was its effect 
on the Spaniards !~On the Indians? — What 
proportion of the inhabitants of Hayii peri.sh- 
ed? — What complaints were made of Colum- 
bus? — What was the consequence? — What 
person was appointed a commissioner to ex- 
amine into Columbus's conduct 7 

Page 73. 
How did Aguado behave in his new office ?— 
What resolution did Columbus take?— To 
whom dill he commit the administration of 
a-Tairs ?— What was he called! — Who was 
appointed chief justice? — What mistake did 
Columbus make in directing his course home • 
— What was the consequence? — How did he 
behave in this extremity ?— How was he re- 
ceived at court ? 

Page 7-1. 
What had he done for Spain ?— What did he 
promise' — What was the effect on the king 
and queen ?— What plan was now formed ? — 
What sort of labourers were to po out ! — How 
were they to be supported ! — What improper 
persons did Columbus propose to take out? 

Page 75. 
What hindrance.s to Columbus's enterprise 
existed ? — How long was he delayed by them ! 
— How many ships were prepared ? — What 
course did he resolve lo steer ? — When did he 
sail ?— Where did he touch ?— From the Cana- 
ries, how many ships were sent lo Hispaniola? 
— What befell him near the equinoctial ? 



Page 76. 
How did he alter his course ? — What island 
was discovered, August 1st ? — Where is il^ — ■ 
Near what river? — Describe the river. — How 
was Columbus's squadron endangered by it? 
— What did he call it? — What inference did 
he draw from its size and violence ? — Was il 
confirmed?— What part of the continent of 
America did Columbus first visit? — What sort 
of people did he there find ?— What animals? 
— What did the admiral imagine concerning 
it?— What compelled him to go to Hayti? — 
What islands did he discover on his way 1 — 
What did they become remarkable for? — What 
was Columbus's condition on his arrival?— 
What happened in his absence ' 

Page 77. 

What city had the adelantado Bartholomew 
founded in Hayti ?— Where is it ?— How did he 
there employ the Spaniards? — Who rebelled 
against Bartholomew ? — Who saved the fort 
at St. Domingo from the mutineers?— Whither 
did they retire?— What did they do? — What 
had befallen the ships sent by Columbus from 
the Canaries ?— Who had gained a large part 
of the crews of these ships 7— What was their 
character ? 

Page 78. 

When did these ships arrive at St. Domin- 
go? — Why was Columbus reluctant to fight 
the rebels? — How did he recover them to obe- 
dience ! — How did he gain Roldan ? — Did these 
negotiations occupy much time? — What new 
regulation concerning the Indians was intro- 
duced !— What did this regulation introduce? 
^Whatwere the repartimientos' — What ef- 
fect did they have ? — What prevented Colum- 
bus from prosecuting his discoveries? — What 
did he send to Spain ? — What cx)mplaint8 did 
Roldan make?— What did Columbus? 

Page 79. 
Which gained most credit ?— For what pur- 
pose did Emanuel of Portugal send out a fleet? 
— To whom did he give the command ?— What 
was his character? — Whence did he sail ? — 
How long was he in passing the Cape of Good 
Hope? — Why? — Which way did he steer? — 
Where did he anchor ? — What sort of people 
had he (bund on the east coast of Africa? — 
How did they change as he advanced north? — 
Whither did' he go from Melinda ! — Where is 
Melinda?- Calecut ? — What sort of country 
and people did he find ? — What is observed of 
Ihe voyage? 

Page 80. 
When did he land at Lisbon, and after how 
long a voyage? — Give a summary of Ihe dis* 
coveries of the fillcenth century. — What pri- 
vate adventurer set out (or the new world? — 
With how many ships' — How did Fonseca, 
bishop of Badajos, assist him ? — Give an ac- 
count of his voyage. 

Page 81. 
Who accompanied him ?— What was the 
conseipience of Amerigo's account of the voy- 
age !— What other private adventurers went 
to the new world ! — Describe Ihe voyage. — 
Describe Piiizon's voyage. — What did the king 
of Portugal undertake ?— To whom did he give 
the command of the expedition ! 

Page 82. 

Wliich way did Cabral steer, in order to 

avoid the coast of Africa?— What country did 

he accidentally discover?— For whom did he 

I take possession of it?— Where is Brazil'— 



548 



QUESTIONS. 



Dctes it appear by this that America would 
have been discovered wiihout Columbus's voy- 
age? — What was the stale of things in His- 
paniola ? — What was taking place in Spain to 
Columbus's disadvantage ? 

Page 83. 
Wliat was the effect of the accusations on 
the minds of the sovereigns? — What person 
was sent out to try and to supersede Colum- 
bus ? — How did he proceed on his arrival ? — 
What did Columbus do ?— How was he treated ? 
—How did he bear it ? 

Page 84. 
How did Bovadilla render himself popular 
and Columbus unpopular? — How did he accu- 
mulate cliarges against Columbus? — How did 
the captain treat Columbus ? — What was Co- 
lumbus's answer to the captain's offer to take 
off his chains > — How were Ferdinand and 
Isabella affected on hearing of Columbus's ar- 
rival in chains?— What orders did they give? 
— How did he behave at the interview with the 
sovereigns? — Did they degrade Bovadilla? — 
Why did they not restore Columbus ? 

Page 85. 
Whom did they appoint governor of His- 
paniola?— How did Columbus manifest his 
feelings at this indignity ? — What private ad- 
venturers fitted out two ships for America in 
January, 1501 ? — What coast did they" discover? 
— What is that country now called ? — What 
other adventurers visited the same coast ? — 
For what was a deet equipped at the public 
expense ? — How was Bovadilla proceeding in 
Hispaniola? — How did he govern the Sjianish 
colonists ' — How did he treat the Indians ? 

Page 86. 
What was the effect of this oppression on 
the Indians ? — How many ships were there in 
Ovando's armament? — How many settlers? 
— How did the new governor, on his arrival, 
treat Bovadilla ?—Roldan ?— The Indians?— 
The Spaniards?— Who was Bovadilla?— Rol- 
dan? — What regulation was introduced re- 
specting the gold ?— What did Columbus de- 
mand of the sovereigns ! — Why was it not 
granted ? — How long was he urging his claim 
at court ? — What opinion did Columbus adopt 
concerning a passage to the East Indies ? 

Page 87. 
What did he ask of the sovereigns? — For 
what purpose ? — What reasons disposed them 
to grant his request? — What had been the re- 
sult of the Portuguese voyages to the East 
Indies? — What sort of fleet was allowed Co- 
lumbus to find his passage to the East Indies ? 
— Who accompanied him ? — When did he 
sail ? — Where did he touch ?— What occasioned 
his going to Hispaniola? — What found he 
there? — What request did he make of Ovan- 
do?— Who was Ovando?— What advice did 
Columbus give him ? — How were Columbus's 
request and his counsel treated ? — What was 
the consequence? — I)id Columbus suffer by 
the storm ? 

Page 88. 
How many ships ofOvando's fleet were lost ? 
—What men perished?— What amount of 
money was lost?— Weie Columbus's effects 
saved?— What is remarked concerning this 
event by historians?— What construction did 
the people of that age put upon it ?— When did 
Columbus leave Hispaniola '—What island 
d'i he discover?— What sort of inhabitants 
did he find ?— What information did they give 



him ?— Did Columbus go to the west ?— What 
kingdom would behave found there? — Which 
way did he go?— What did he discover?— De- 
scribe the situation of these countries on the 
map. — Where is Cape Gracias a Dios ? — Porto 
Bello ? — Where did he attempt to fix a colony I 
— What was the result ? 

Page 89. 
What misfortunes now befell Columbus? — 
Where was he wrecked? — When ? — Who un- 
dertook to carry intelligence of his situation 
to Hispaniola ? — In what sort of vessel ? — De- 
scribe the voyage.— IIow were they treated on 
their arrival? — How long did ihey solicit as- 
sistance ? — In the mean time, what happened 
to Columbus and his companions in Jamaica? 
— What did the seamen do ? 

Page 90. 
How did the natives behave? — Relate Co- 
lumbus's expedient for striking awe into the 
minds of the Indians ! — What was the effect? 
— Meantime wliat had the mutineers done? — 
How did Ovando, the governor of Hispaniola, 
insult Columbus ? 

Page 91. 
How did Columbus explain this cruel pro- 
ceeding to his followers ? — How did the muti- 
neers proceed ! — Who marched against them? 
— Describe the battle and its results. — What 
happened after tranquillity was restored ! — 
How long had they remained on the island? — 
What island was it ?— Which way is it from 
Hispaniola? — How far distant?— How did 
Ovando treat Columbus on his arrival at St. 
Domingo? — How did he treat the captain of 
the mutineers ? — How the faithful men who 
had adhered to Columbus ? — When did he sail 
for Spain ? — What hefell him on his voyage ? — 
Where did he arrive? — Where is St.Lucar? 
— What event did he hear of on his arrival '' 
— Why was this news afflictive to him ! 

Page 92. 
What did Columbus demand of Ferdinand ? 
— How were his claims treated?— What was 
the result ?— When and where did he die ? — 
How! 

BOOK III. 

What was the effect of Isabella's regulations 
in favour of the Indians of Hispaniola ? — 
What was the effect of the king's claiming 
half the gold ?— How did Ovando modify these 
regulations? 

Page 93. 
Were these acts of Ovando approved ? — 
What was the effect of this new oppression of 
the Indians ?— How did the .Spaniards regard 
the Indians? — How did they treat them? — 
Wliat occasioned the war against the ca/.ique 
of Higuey ?— How was it terminated ? — Who 
was cazique of Xaragua? — How had she 
treated the Spaniards ? 

Page 94. 
What exasperated the adherents of Roldan 
against her? — Of what did they accuse her? 
— With what force did Ovando march into her 
country ? — Under what pretence ! — Relate the 
manner in Vthich he betrayed her and her peo- 
ple. — What was her fate ? — What was the 
effect of this cruel treatment on the Indians? 
— How was Isabella's death a misfortune to 
the Indians? — How much of the revenues of 
the New World belonged to Ferdinand ? — To 
whom did he confer grants ?— How did the 



QUESTIONS. 



649 



courtiers profit by these grants ?— What was 
the effect in Ilispaniola ? 

Page 95. 

What amount of money was annually re- 
ceived from Hispaniola ?— How did Ovando 
govern the Spaniards ?— What new source of 
wealth did he open ?— What was the effect? 
— Who seconded Ovando in promoting the 
welfare of the colony ?— What court did he 
erect .' — Where did it assemble ? — Where is 
Seville ? — How did he regulate the ecclesiasti- 
"al government of America 1 — What did he 

jhibit 1 

Page 9G. 

How many inhabitants were there in His- 
paniola when Columbus discovered it ? — To 
what number were they reduced in fifteen 
years 7 — To what causes does the historian 
attribute this waste of human life? — What 
was its effect on the Spanish improvements? 
— What remedy did Ovando propose ? — Under 
what pretence were the inhabitants of the 
Lucayo islands removed to Hispaniola ? — How 
many were removed ? — What urged the Span- 
iards to new discoveries ? 

Page 97. 
Who was Juan Ponce de Leon ? — Wliat 
island did he settle ? — Which way is it from 
Hispaniola ? — Is it larger or smaller than 
Hispaniola 1 — What became of the original in- 
habitants of that island ?— What two adven- 
turers made a voyage to the continent ? — What 
country did they discover ? — How is it situ- 
ated ? — Between what bays ? — What important 
discovery did Sebastian de Ocampo make'' — 
What claim did Don Diego Columbus prefer 
against king Ferdinand ? — How much time did 
he waste in fruitless imporiunity'— Before 
what council did he then bring his celebrated 
lawsuit with the king ? — What was the deci- 
sion ? — How did Don Diego strengthen his in- 
fluence at court ? — At the instance of the duke 
of Alva and his family, what did king Ferdi- 
nand then do? 

Page 08. 
^Vho accompanied the new governor to 
Hispaniola? — How did he there live? — Who 
are descended from the persons who accom- 
panied Don Diego Columbus ? — How were the 
Indians treated by Don Diego?— For what pur- 
pose was Cubagua settled .' — Who were em- 
ployed to dive for pearls ? — What was the 
effe"ct ?— How far south did Solis and Pinzon 
go in their second voyage ? — Did they leave a 
colony? — What adventurers went out to colo- 
nize the north coast of South America? — 
Under whose patronage ? — What part of the 
coast did Ferdinand give to Ojeda? — What 
part to Nicuessa ? — Point these out on the 
map, and show to what governments they now 
belong. 

Page 99. 
Describe the manner in which the Spanish 
lawyers and priests directed these adventurers 
to take possession of South America. — Did 
the natives assent tolhedoctrine.«? — What did 
Ojeda and Nicuessa then do?— What was the 
character of the natives?— How were tliey 
armed ? — What was the conse(iuence ? — What 
other disasters befell the Spaniards ? 

Page 100. 
How many reinforcements did the colony 
receive llrom Hispaniola ! — What befell the 
greatest part of the colony ?— Where did the 



remnant settle ?— Under whom ?— What two 
otlier great Spanish leaders were originally 
engaged in this expedition?— Why did Cortes 
stay at Hispaniola? — What roused the spirit 
of adventure among the Spaniards ?— What 
made them leave Hispaniola?— What island 
did Don Diego Columbus propose to conquer ? 
—When ?—Wlio was sent for that purpose? 
—With how many men?— What is the length 
of Cuba? 

Page 101. 
What was the character of the people of 
Cuba ?— Did they prepare for defence ?— Who 
opposed the Spaniards ? — How was he treated ? 
—Give an account of his conference with the 
Franciscan friar. — What was the effect of Ve- 
lasquez's cruelty to Hatuey?— How many 
ships did Juan Pouce de Leon tit out ' — To- 
wards what islands did he sail ?— Where did he 
touch ?— What country did he discover ?— Why 
did he call it Florida?— Where is it ?— To 
whom does it now belong? — How did the na- 
tives behave? — Through wliat channel did he 
return to Porto Rico ?— What curious tradition 
led Ponce de Leon to the Lueayos'' 

Page 102. 
How is the Spanish belief of this tradition 
accounted for ?— Where was Balboa's colony ? 
—How did he try to gain from the crown a 
confirmation of his election as governor?— 
Relate the incident which happened in one of 
his e.\cursions.— To what country did the 
cazi(iue refer in this conversation? — What did 
Balboa suppose ? 

Page 103. 
What preparations did Balboa make for his 
e.xpedition ? — Describe the isthmus of Darien. 
— Was it easy to cross it? — What was Bal- 
boa's character ? — What was the number of 
his men ? — Of Indians who accompanied him ? 
—For what purpose did he take dogs with 
him ?— What difficulties did he encounter ?— 

Page 104. 
How did he reassure his men ?— How was 
he opposed ?— What ensued ?— How many 
days had they spent?— Relate the manner of 
Balboa's discovering the Pacific Ocean.— In 
what manner did he take possession of it ?— 
What part of the Pacific did lie discover?— 
Where is it ?— What wealth did he obtain ?— 
How ?— Wliat information did he receive con- 
cerning Peru ? — What country did be suppose 
it to be near t 

Page 105. 
What did Balboa determine to do? — To 
what place did he return ? — Alter how long an 
absence? — What officer distinguished himself 
in this expedition ?— What was Balboa's first 
care?— What was the effect of this intelli- 
gence ? — Who was Balboa's enemy at court ? 
— Who was appointed governor of Darien in- 
stead of Balboa? — How many vessels and 
soldiers were sent out ? — How many people 
embarked in the fleet? — How did he find 
Balboa engaged ?— How was he received by 
him? 

Page 106. 
How did Balboa behave?— IIow was he 
treated ? — What misfortunes befell the colony ? 
— How did the forces of Pedrarias treat the sur- 
rounding Indians ?— What country was deso- 
lated by him?— What is this country now 
called ?— What accounts were sent to Spain 
by Balboa?— By Pedrarias ?— What did king 



650 



QUESTIONS. 



Ferdinand do ]— What did he order Pedrarias 
to do! 

Page 107. 
How did Pedrarias treat Balboa? — Who ef- 
fected a reconciliation between them ? — What 
was the consequence of it > — What was the 
first effect of their concord ? — For wliat did he 
begin to prepare? — With what number of 
ships and men did he furnish himself? — How 
did Pedrarias regard this ? — What did he order 
Balboa to do ? — Relate the manner of his ar- 
rest, trial, and death. — Why did not the king 
punish Pedrarias for this arbitrary act ? — 
Whither did he remove the c.dony ? — Of what 
use was this removal ?— Where is Santa Ma- 
ria ?— On what ocean Panama ? 

Page 108. 
For what purpose did king Ferdinand fit out 
two ships ? — Under whose command did he 
place them ? — What river did he enter Janu- 
ary 1st, 1516? — Where is Rio de Janeiro? — 
What mistake did he make concerning the 
Bio de la Plata ? — What put a stop to their 
discoveries and sent the ships home? — How 
did the Spaniards still regard Hispaniola?^ 
How did king Ferdinand retrench the author- 
ity of Don Diego Columbus in Hispaniola ? — 
What did Don Diego do ? — Who was appointed 
to the office of dislrihuting the Indians '. — How 
did he execute it ? — How many Indians did he 
find of the 60,000 who had escaped their former 
oppressions? — What was the effect of his 
causing them to be sold at auction ! 

Page 109. 
What was the occasion of a controversy be- 
tween the Dominican and Franciscan friars ? 
— Which party befriended the Indians ! — To 
whom did they apply to decide the dispute ? — 
To whom did Ferdinand refer it ? — What was 
the decision? — Did it abolish the repartimie7L- 
tos7 — What did the Dominicans then do? — 
What was the substance of the decree by 
which Ferdinand silenced them? 

Page 110. 
What grants did Ferdinand make ?— What 
edict did he publish ?— How did the Domini- 
cans then proceed? — What new advocate for 
the Indians did the oppression of Albuquerque 
call forth ? — What was his history and char- 
acter? — How did he now attempt to serve the 
cause of the Indians?— How was he received 
by the king ? — What did Ferdinand promise ? 

Page 111. 
What prevented him from fulfilling his prom- 
ise T — Who succeeded him ? — How was Las 
Casas prevented from visiting Charles in the 
Low Countries ? — How did Cardinal Ximenes 
settle the affair? — Why did he confide the 
office of superintendents to monks of St. Je- 
rome ? — What lawyer was joined with them ? 
— What title did he give to Las Casas? — Who 
opposed this measure of Ximenes? — How did 
he treat them? — Did they issue the necessary 
despatches ? — How did these new-made offi- 
cers proceed on their arrival in Hispaniola? — 
What was the effect on the colonists ? — What 
conclusion dij the fathers of St. Jerome after- 
ward arrive at ' 

Page 112. 
What were the habits of the Indians?— 
What did the superintendents find necessary? 
— What did they endeavour to secure ' — How ? 
— What did Zuazo do?— Who was Zuazo? — 
How were the Spanish settlers pleased with 
'<^azo and the auperinteudeuts ? — To whom 



did they give the credit of the whole ?— Give 
an account of Las Casas's behaviour. — Where 
did he take shelter ' — With what determination 
did he set sail for Europe ?— In what state did 
he find Cardinal Ximenes' — Who took the 
government ? — Who were Charles's counsel- 
lors? 

Page 113. 
How did Las Casas ingratiate himself with 
Charles's Flemish ministers ? — What scheme 
did he censure? — Who joined in his censures ? 
— Who were recalled ? — Who superseded 
them? — What was he instructed to do? —What 
was the objection to treating the Indians as 
free subjects ! — What remedy did Las Casas 
propo.se for this ? — Had this trade been abol- 
ished ? — When had slaves been iniporled into 
America? — By whose permission ?— For what 
reasons were they preferred to the Indians ? — 
Had Cardinal Ximenes encouraged this traf- 
fic ; — Why did Las Casas ? 

Page 114. 
Was his plan adopted ? — What patent did 
Charles grant? — To whom? — To whom did 
he sell it ?— What did they do '—What limited 
»he effects of their trade .' — What otfier e.xpe- 
dient did Las Casas have recourse to' — Who 
defeated it ?— What did he next attempt ?— Of 
what country did he solicit a grant? — How, 
and with what sort of people did he propose to 
colonize it ? 

Page 115. 

What objections did the bishop of Burgos 
and the Council of the Indies make to this 
scheme? — To whom did he then have re- 
course ? — To whom did Charles refer his pe- 
tition? — What country did they grant Las 
Casas ? — Who censured this determination ? — 
What was the effect? — For what did the em- 
peror Charles V. himself discover an inclina- 
tion ?— How was an opportunity afforded? — 
Where was the court then held ? — Where is 
Barcelona? — For what purpose did Charles re- 
solve to confront Las Casas and the bishop of 
Darien ? — Where was the solemn audience 
held' 

Page 116. 

Who attended ? — What observations did the 
bishop of Darien make ? — What reply did Las 
Casas make ? — What patent did Charles grant ? 
— What hindered Las Casas from procuring 
settlers ? — How many did he obtain ? — Did he 
set sail with the.se? — Where did he touch? — 
What news did he hear there ? — Owing to the 
high price of negroes, whilher had the Span- 
iards lately resorted for slaves? 

Page 1 17. 
How did they obtain them ? — How were the 
Indians of Cumana aflTected by these atroci- 
ties ? — Whom did they murder ? — How did the 
people of Hispaniola resolve to revenge tliis ? — 
What number of ships and men were placed 
under the command of Ocampo ! — For what 
purpose \ — Where did Las Casas meet this ar- 
mament? — What did he perceive to be the effect 
of this movement ?.^Whither did he go? — 
How was he received there? — What had ren- 
dered him unpopular there ?— What experi- 
ment had Figueroa there made .' — What infer- 
ence was drawn from the result of this experi- 
ment ?— What did Las Casas obtain in His- 
paniola? 

Page 118. 
What did he find on returning to Port* 
Rico ;— What did he do with the remnant of 



QUESTIONS. 



551 



his colonists ?— What rendered their situation 
dangerous ? — What did he call the place where 
he established liis colony ? — Did the troops re- 
main with turn.' — Whither did he go in search 
of protection for his colony ? — VVliat happ'^ned to 
them in liis absence? — Whither did lie retreat 
after the complete failure of a'l his schemes? 

— What comment does the historian niaiie on 
Las Casas's system? — When did Diego Ve- 
lasquez conquer Cuba ? — What had been the 
state of the island under his administration? 

— How is Cuba situated ? — Had the sea west 
of it been explored? — Was this sea considered 
the best field for discoveries ? 

Page 119. 
What officers were desirous to attempt dis- 
coveries in that quarter ? — Whom did they 
persuade to join them ? — Who approved and 
assisted in the design ? — How many anen em- 
barlved ? — Wiien ?— From what port ? — Where 
is this port situated ?— Who was pilot ?— Why 
did they sail due west ? — When did they make 
land ! — What did it prove to be ? — Where is 
this cape? — Where is Yucatan? — How were 
they received ? — By what sort of people ? — On 
landing, what bclell them ?— Which way did 
he sail when he lell this place? — What place 
did he come to next ? — Where is this place ? — 
Which way from Cape Catouche? — What 
surprised the Spaniards ? — Where did they find 
a river' — Which way is this place from Cam- 
peachy ? — What befell the watering party 
which Cordova landed? — What betiill the Span- 
iards on their way back to Cuba ? 

Page 120. 
What befell Cordova on his return? — Did 
the result of this expedition damp the ardour 
of discovery ? — Why did Velasquez encourage 
a new expedition' — How many embarked in 
the new enterprise ? — Under whose command ? 
— Whence and when did it sail ?— Who was 
pilot ? — Wha' was the first land they made ? — 
Where is this island ?— Why did they not stay 
there? — Where did they next land? — What 
transpired there ?— Which way did they sail 
from Potonchan ? — What did they observe on 
the coast ? — What country did one of the sol- 
diers say it resembled' — What name did Gri- 
jalva, in consequence, give the country ? — Was 
this name retained ' — Where did they next 
land ? — Where is the river Tabasco ? 

Page 121. 
How were they here received ? — At what 
place did they next touch? — Where is the 
province of Guaxaca' — How were the Span- 
iards there received? — What amount of gold 
did they obtain for their toys in trade with the 
natives?— Who did the natives say was their 
king?— VSHiere did Grijalva behold the horrid 
effects of the Indian superstitions ' — Whom 
did he dtspatch to Vala.-squez^ — With what 
information?— From what place' — To what 
river did he then proce.;d '.— What did Grijal- 
va's officers wish him t) do ? — Why did he not 
comply with heir wisies? — To what port of 
Cuba did he retnrn? — When '--Alter how long 
a voyage?— What tiad the Spaniards disco- 
vered in this jmortant voyage ? 

Page 122. 
In what direction had they pursued their 
course? — How far? — Foi what purposes did 
Velasquez send a confidential messenger to 
Spam ? — What preparations did he make be- 
fore Giijalva's return? 

Note.— The editor has omitted the Fourth 
Book in bis set of Questions, as it interrupts the 



narrative with a disquisition concerning the 
aborigines of America, which may be consider- 
ed assuperseded by the works of writers of later 
date ar.d better means of information on that 
particular subject. 

BOOK V. 

Page 197. 
What did Grijalva find on his return to 
Cuba ?— Who was the author of this expedi- 
tion ?^Did he defray a considerable part of 
the expense! — What sort of commander did 
Velasquez seek ? — Could he find one courage- 
ous and servile too ? — Who was recommended 
to him by Lares and Ducro ? — Where and 
when was Cortes born ? — Where is Estrema- 
duni .' — To what university was Cortes sent? 
— Did he finish his studies there .' — Why did 
his father send him abroad ? 

Page 198. 
What were then the two great fields of mili- 
tary enterprise for tlie Spanish youth I — What 
prevented Cortes from going to Italy ? — Under 
whose patronage did he seek his fortune in 
America? — How was he employed in Hispan- 
iola? — With whom did he go to Cuba! — 
When ? — How did Velasquez reward his ser- 
vices there ! — What was now his ciiaracter? — 
What did Velasquez expect from him? — How 
did he proceed on receiving his commission ! 
— How were his zeal and activity misrepre- 
sented to Velastiuez ? 

Page 199. 

Was Velasquez suspicious of him? — Why 
was his departure hastened ?— When did he 
sail?— From what port ? — Where did he touch 
lor stores and recruits ? — What did Velasquez 
do after his departure! — Whom did he em- 
power to deprive Cortes of his commission ? — 
How did Cortes prevent this ?^For what port 
did Cortes next sail ? — What did Velasquez 
then do ? — How did Cortes hear of Velasquez's 
intentions ? 

Page 200. 

How did Cortes remove Diego de Ordaz ? — 
Why ?— What information did Cortes then 
give his troops? — What request did they make ? 
— What ensued ' — Were great eflbrts made in 
fitting out this expedition ? — ^What was the 
number and size of the ves.sels ? — Of men ? — 
How were the soldiers divided and com- 
manded ? — How many of them had muskets ? 
—How many were crossbow-men ?— How were 
the rest armed ! — What sort of defensive arm- 
our did they wear ! — How many horses, field- 
pieces, and fiilconets had they ? — When did 
they sail ? — What sign and superscription was 
on their banners ! 

Page 201. 

Were they confident of success? — Where 
did Cortes first touch ? — What important ac- 
quisition did he make there? — Where did he 
next touch ? — How was the disposition of the 
Indians here altered since Grijalva's visit? — 
Did Cortes make war on them ? — With what 
success ? — Where did Cortes next land ? — How 
was he here received ? — What embarrassed 
him in his intercourse with these Indians? 
— How was he relieved ? — Give an account of 
Donna Marina. 

Page 202. 

Who had sent two persons to Cortes ? — For 

what purpose had they bien sent !— What an 

swer did he give? — What did hedoiiextmorn- 

j ing ?— Who entered the camp next morning 1 



852 



QUESTIONS. 



— How did Cortes receive them '—What did 
he tell them ? — How did they receive the in- 
formation? — How did they attempt to concili- 
ate him ? — Of what did this present consist !— 
What was its etfect ? — (Jn what did Cortes in- 
sist? — During the interview, how were some 
of the Mexican attendants etnployed? — How 
dii'. Cortes take advantage of this? 

Page 203. 
What exhibitions of power and skill did he 
make ? — How were the Indians affected by it ? 
— What information and presents were now 
aent to Montezuma? — What refinement in po- 
lice had the Mexican monarchs introduced? — 
How far was the capital from St. Juan de 
Ulua? — How soon were the presents trans- 
ported and the answer returned? — How did 
the Mexican ambassadors renew the negotia- 
tion ? — Of what did these presents consist ? — 
How did Cones receive them? — With what 
message were they accompanied ? 

Page 204. 
What reply did Cortes make? — What did 
the astonished Mexicans prevail on him to do? 
— What was the state of the Mexican empire 
at this time ? — How long had it existed ? — What 
was its length and breadth ? — The character 
of the people ? — The situation of the monarch ? 
— What would have been the result, if Monte- 
zuma had brought his forces at once to act 
against the Spanish intruders?— What was 
Montezuma's general character ?— What symp- 
toms had he discovered since the appearance 
of the Spaniards ? — What seems to have been 
the remote source of his indecision and fear ? 

Page 205. 

Does this tradition account in part for the 
alarm of Montezuma and his subjects ? — What 
was the effect on Montezuma of Cortes's re- 
fusal to depart ? — What did his counsellors 
advise ? — With what was their positive in- 
junction to Cortes to depart accompanied? — 
What two parties existed in the Spanish camp ? 
— Had Cortes become popular among tlie sol- 
diers? 

Page 206. 

During the intrigues in the camp, who ar- 
rived from the Mexican court ?— With what ? 
— When Cortes refused to depart, how did 
Teulile behave? — What happened next morn- 
ing ? — How did the adherents of Velasquez 
takei-dvantageof this?— Whom did they send 
to remonstrate with Cortes? — What request 
did they make through Ordaz? — What orders 
did Cortes then issue? — What ensued?— Had 
Cortes foreseen this ? — Did he affect surprise 
at it ?— What did he declare ?— What did he 
say had been his own private opinion ? 

Page 207. 
What did he offer to do ?— How was the offer 
received ? — Were the malecontents obliged to 
join in the enthusiastic applause expressed by 
the other soldiers > — What did Cortes set 
about ?^What officers of the colony were 
elected by his contrivance ? — What sort of per- 
sons were chosen ? — Did ihey acknowledge de- 
pendence on Velasquez ? —What name did they 
give the settlement ?— What is this in Span- 
ish?— What is the place now called? — How 
is St. Juan de Ulua situated with respect to 
Vera Cruz ? — What did Cortes do at the first 
meeting of the council?— What was the sub- 
stance of his harangue > — What did he do alter 
having finished his discourse ? 

Page 208. 
Was hii resiipiation accepted?— To what 



offices was he then elected ? — Who ratified the 
choice? — On accepting his new commission, 
how did Cortes proceed ? — What did the adhe- 
rents of Velasquez do ? — Who of them were 
arrested by Cortes ?— How were they treated ' 
— What was the effect on their dependants ?— 
How did Cortes conciliate these three leaders ! 
— Did they always afterward remain faithful 
to him ? — What was the chief instrument 
of Cortes's intrigue ? — What caziques offered 
friendship to Cortes ?— Why ?— What did Cor- 
tes infer from this offer ? 

Page 209. 
How did lie receive the Zempoallans ?- 
What place had been fixed on for a settlement ? 
— How far from Vera Cruz? — Which way? — 
In marching thither whom did Cones visit? — 
What did he learn from the cazique ? — To what 
place did Corles continue his march ? — Relate 
the manner of building and fortifying this 
town. — Who assisted the Spaniards in their 
labours? — How did Cortes gain the caziques 
of Zempoalla and Quiabislan to his interest 
while tlie town was built ? — What insult did 
they offer to the Mexican power ? 

Page 210. 
Who saved the deputies of Montezuma frowi 
being sacrificed? — How did the tvvo caziques 
now complete their union with the Spaniards ? 
— What did they offer ? — How long had Cor 
tes been in Mexico ? — What hail he reason to 
apprehend?— Why ?— Before he began his 
march towards the capital of Mexico, what 
did he persuade the magistrates of Vera Cruz 
to do? — In this letter, what did tliey say con- 
cerning Velasquez? — Concerning (Jortes and 
his officers ? — What request did they make ? — 
What did they say concerning the country ? — 
Did Cortes write ? 

Page 211. 
What did he prevail on his soldiers to do ?— 
Who were sent with the letters and present ' 
— With what instructions? — What alarming 
event occurred while the vessel was preparing 
for their departure ? — How was the conspiracy 
betrayed? — What appearances did Cones now 
observe in his army?— What did he appre- 
hend ?— What did he resolve to do ?— How did 
he prevail on his soldiers to destroy the ships ? 
— How was the project executed ? — What re- 
mark does the historian make on this transac- 
tion? 

Page 212. 
What act of Cortes at this time gave great 
offence to the Zempoallans?— How were the 
consequences of it avoided 1 — When did Cortes 
march from Zempoalla ? — With what forces 
and equipments ?— Where and with whom did 
he leave a garrison ?— With what did the ca- 
zique of Zempoalla supply him? — Where is 
Flascala ? — Which way from Vera Cruz 7 — 
What was the character of the people of Flas- 
cala ?— How did Cortes hope to gain their alli- 
ance ? 

Page 213. 
Whom did Cortes send to the Flascalans ' — 
How were they treated ?— Why ?— When did 
rortes advance into the Flascalaii territories ? — 
What loss did he sustain in the first battle viith 
the Flascalans ?— What precaution did he then 
take ! — How long did he suffer assaults from 
them? — Did they make any iini)ression on the 
Spaniards? — What peculiar practice was a 
hindrance to them ? 

Page 214. 
What were their weapons ?— Were they of 



QUESTIONS. 



553 



much use against the Spaniards?— What ex- 
amples of generosity did the Flascalans ex- 
hibit !— When repulsed, to whom did they 
have recourse? — What answer did the priests 
give ? — What did they do in consequence of 
the priests' opinion ? — Bid their night-attack 
succeed ? — To what did they then incline ! 

Page 215. 
What made the Flascalans suppose the 
Spaniards to be benevolent ? — What circum- 
stance favoured the opposite opinion ? — What 
curious address did their deputies make ? — On 
what terms was peace concluded ?— What suf- 
ferings had the Spaniards endured? — What 
caused them to forget these sufferings 1 — How 
long did Cortes remain at Flascala ? — For what 
purpose ? — What information did he there ac- 
quire ? 

Page 216. 
How did the Flascalans regard the Span- 
iards? — What did they offer? — How did the 
Spaniards all consider themselves ? — Did Cor- 
tes attempt to convert the Flascalans to 
Christianity ? — Did they acknowledge the 
truth of what tie taught ? — What did they 
claim of him and the other Europeans ? — What 
did Cortes demand ? — When refused,what was 
he about to do? — Who prevented him! — By 
what arguments? 

Page 217. 
When leaving the Flascalans in the exer- 
cise of their own rites, what did Cortes re- 
quire ? — What warning did the Flascalans 
give Cortes on his leaving the country for 
Mexico ? — How many Flascalans accompanied 
him ?— Towards what place did they march ? 
— Where is Cholula ?— Had Montezuma con- 
sented to their going thither? — How was the 
place considered by the Mexicans ? — What 
offerings were there made ? — Why did Monte- 
zuma invite the Spaniards thither ? — What 
signs of treachery did two Flascalans disco- 
ver ? — What information did Marina obtain ? — 
How did Cortes prepare to revenge this treach- 
ery ?— Describe the massacre. 

Page 218. 
How long did it last? — How many Cholu- 
lans fell ? — How many Spaniards ? — What did 
Cortes then order? — Was he obeyed? — To- 
wards what city did Cortes next advance ? — 
Which way is Mexico from Cholula? — In his 
march, what dispositions did he observe among 
the Mexicans towards Montezuma's govern- 
ment ? — Where did the Spaniards first behold 
the plain of Mexico? — Describe the appear- 
ance of the plain.— The situation of the city of 
Mexico. — What messages did Cortes receive 
fVom Montezuma? — What persuasion seems 
to have preserved the Spaniards from any at- 
tack? 

Page 219. 
Over what did they continue their march ? — 
Who met them as they drew near the city ? — 
Whose approach did they announce? — Who 
preceded Montezuma ? — How was he attend- 
ed ? — Describe the pageant. — How did Cortes 
receive him ?— Describe the ceremonial.— What 
did the Spaniards hear among the crowd of 
Mexicans? — What did Montezuma say at part- 
ing? — Describe the place allotted for the Span- 
iards. — How did Cortes strengthen it? — What 
happened in the evening! 

Page 220. 
What tradition did Montezuma communicate 
to Cortes ?— What reply did Cortes make ?— 
Vol. I.— 70 



What happened next morning? — How were 
the three succeeding days employed ! — Hovv is 
Mexico situated? — How watered? — What is 
the size of the two largest lakes ? — On what is 
the city of Mexico built ? — By what was the 
access to the city ? — What was the length of 
these causeways ! — How were they construct- 
ed ? — Describe the buildings.— How large was 
the great square for the market ? 

Page 221. 
What was now tlie situation of the Span- 
iards ? — What circumstances rendered it very 
perilous ? — What had Cortes heard before 
leaving Cholula ! — Of v;hat did he become sen- 
sible on his arrival in the city of Mexico? — On 
what did his success depend ? 

Page 222. 
What bold resolution did he form? — How 
did his officers at first receive it? — Did they 
afterward accede to it? — How did he prepare 
to execute it ? — Who accompanied him ? — How 
was Cortes received ? — How did he address 
Montezuma? — How did Montezuma behave? 
— Wliat orders did he give? — What reason did 
Cortes then offer for Montezuma's repairing 
to his quarters ! — What did he promise ? — 
How was the proposition received? — What 
was the reply ?— How long did the interview 
last? 

Page 223. 
What exclamation did Velasquez de Leon 
utter? — What was the effect ! — How were the 
officers and people of Montezuma affected by 
his surrender ? — How did Montezuma hush the 
tumult? — What remark is made concerning 
this transaction ? — How was Montezuma re- 
ceived and treated in the Spanish quarters ? — 
Who were brought prisoners to Mexico ? — By 
whose order ? — For what act ? — How were they 
tried?— What was their sentence? — What 
part had these men acted? — Of what was the 
pile composed on which they suffered death ? 

Page 224. 
How was Montezuma treated? — How did 
this treatment affect him and his attendants? 
— What happened on the return of Cortes from 
the execution ? — What motive of policy seems 
to have actuated Cortes in these atrocious acts 
of cruelty to the othcers, and contumely to- 
wards the sovereign? — Did they produce the 
desired effect? — IIow long did Montezuma re- 
main tranquilly in the Spanish quarters ? — 
How were the affairs of the empire conducted ' 

Page 225. 
How was Montezuma guarded when hunt- 
ing beyond the lake ? — Is this management of 
Cortes considered an extraordinary refinement 
in policy < — For what i)urpo.se did he send 
Spaniards into the interior ? — While they were 
thus employed, what did Cortes do ? — What 
was still wanting to complete his security? — 
How was this attained ! — What did he next 
urge Montezuma to do ? — Did he comply ? 

Page 226. 
In what manner was Montezuma affected on 
making his submission to the Spanish govern- 
ment? — How did his princes receive the pro- 
posal ? — How did Cortes reconcile them to it ? 
— With what was Montey.uma's submission 
accompanied ?— To what did the amount of 
treasure received from the Mexicans amount ? 
— How much was set apart for the king? — 
For Cortes? — How was the rest divided? — 
How much did each soldier's share amouiitto? 
—Were they satisfied ? 



664 



QUESTIONS. 



Page 227. 
Why was the amount of gold collected in so 
rich a country so small? — Did the Mexicans 
use it as money ? — For what purposes did they 
use it? — Did they work the mines of their 
country ? — How did they obtain gold ? — On 
what point was Montezuma inflexible ? — What 
was the effect of his firmness on Cortes? — 
How was Cortes deterred from throwing down 
all the idols ? — With what did he content him- 
self?— What did the Mexicans now resolve? 
— How did they propose to effect it ? — What 
did Montezuma observe to Cortes ? 

Page 228. 

What threat did tie add to this declaration ■ 
— What answer did Cortes give ? — What pre- 
parations did he make ? — How long had his 
messengers to Spain been gone? — What was 
his situation ? — What news was brought by a 
Mexican courier? — What by Sandoval's cou- 
rier ? — How had Velasquez learned the situa- 
tion of Cortes ? — How was he affected by the 
intelligence ? 

Page 229. 

How had Velasquez's messenger been re- 
ceived at the Spanish court? — What appoint- 
ment had Velasquez received ? — What did he 
determine to do ? — What number of ship.?, 
men, and cannon composed his armament !— 
Under what commander? — What were his in- 
structions ?— When and where did he land ? — 
How did he obtain interpreters and informa- 
tion of Cortes's movemwits ? — How did these 
soldiers inisreiiresent Cortes's situation ? — 
What message did he send to Sandoval, the 
governor of Vera Cruz ? — How were his mes- 
senger and suite treated by Sandoval ? — How 
by Cortes '—What was the benefit which Cor- 
tes derived from this ? — What information did 
they give concerning Narvaez ? 

Page 230. 
What representations had Narvaez secretly 
conveyed to Montezuma ? — What was their 
effect on the Mexicans?— On Montezuma? — 
What did Cortes resolve to do? — Whom did 
he send to Narvaez ? — How did he receive Ol- 
medo ? — How was Olmedo received by Nar- 
vaez's men ?— What was the effect of Cortes's 
presents on Narvaez's soldiers ? 

Page 231. 

What course did Narvaez take? — What did 
Cortes determine to do ? — Whom did he leave 
in charge of Montezuma and the capital ? — 
With how many men? — When reinforced by 
Sandoval, what was his force ? — How did he 
arm his soldiers against Narvaez's cavalry ? — 
Towards what place did he advance ? — What 
prevented an accommodation between Cortes 
and Narvaez'? — How did Cortes take advan- 
tage of the intercourse between the two ar- 
mies ? — How were nearly all Narvaez's officers 
and men inclined ? — What was the effect of 
this on Narvaez ? 

Page 232. 

Which leader offered battle ? — Was the offer 
accepted ? — What compelled Narvaez's soldiers 
to retreat to Zempoalla? — What did Cortes 
now resolve? — What part of the undertaking 
did he intrust to Sandoval? — To Olid? — 
What did he reserve lor himself? — Describe 
the action. 

Page 233. 

What befell Narvaez ?— What was the re- 
sult of the action ? — What was the loss of 
Cortes ?— Of Narvaez ?— How were the van- 



quished party treated ?— What was the effect 
of this treatment? How many soldiers had 
Cortes now ?— To what should these events be 
ascribed ? — What news came from Mexico ? 

Page 234. 

Wliat had occasioned the revolt in the city 
of Mexico ? — What was its extent ? — What did 
Cortes do on hearing the news of this revolt? 
— What number of Flascalans joined him? — 
What did he learn on entering the Mexican 
territories? — What precautions did the Mexi- 
cans neglect to take ? — What was the conse- 
quence ? — When did Cortes enter the city? — 
How did Alvarado and his soldiers receive 
him? — Of what imprudence was Cortes 
guilty ? 

Page 235. 

Who reported the contemptuous expressions 
of Cortes? — What was their effect? — Where 
was the first attack made? — What discovery 
was made by the Mexicans on this occasion 1 
— What happened next day? — What was the 
effect of this deiermined attack on Cortes ? — 
How did it affect the .soldiers who had come 
with Narvaez? — What was the cause of the 
Mexicans ceasing from hostilities at night ? — 
Whatdid Cortes do next day ? — What animated 
the courage of the Mexicans ? — What enabled 
the Spaniards to cut through the Mexicans 
wherever they met? — What disadvantages did 
they suffer from fighting among houses ? 

Page 236. 

Did the Spaniards effect any thing decisive 
on the second day of battle ? — What loss did 
they suffer ? — What happened to Cortes in the 
next sally ? — What expedient was now re- 
sorted to? — What was the effect of Montezu- 
ma's appearance ? — What did he advise ? — 
How was his harangue received? — When 
Montezuma fell, how did his subjects behave? 
— How did Montezuma treat Cortes's attempt 
to console him ? — In what manner did he die t 
— For what did Cortes now prepare ? — What 
new motion of the Mexicans engaged him in 
new conflicts ? — Who was commissioned to 
dislodge them from the tower? — How often 
was he repulsed ? 

Page 237. 

What did Cortes then do ?— What extraor- 
dinary instance of self-devotion in two Mexi- 
cans is recorded? — When possessed of the 
tower, how did the Spaniards dispose of it? — 
What rendered a retreat absolutely necessary? 
— How did the Spaniards attempt to effect their 
escape ? — Who commanded the van ? — The 
rear? — The centre ? — What relations of Mon 
tezunia were carried with tnem ? — How did the 
Mexicans mterrupt their retreat? — Describe 
the attack. 

Page 238. 

What happened when the Spaniards began 
to give way ? — Which general first passed the 
causeway, and reached the mainland ? — With 
how many men?— What did they hear? — 
Where did those who escajied from the pity to 
the mainland assemble ?— What number?— 
What trait of feeling was observed in Cortes ? 
—What distinguished officer fell in the action ? 
— What supplies were lost ? — What number 
of Flascalans? — What injury was occasioned 
by the gold in possession of the Spaniards '' 

Page 239. 
Where did the Spaniards take shelter 7— 
Which side of the lake were they on ?— Oa 
which side was Flascala ?— Which end of the 



QUESTIONS. 



585 



lake were they obliged to go round ?— Under 
whose guidance? — To what distresses were 
they exposed in their retreat towards Flas- 
cala ! — What circumstance animated them ? — 
Where did they arrive on the sixth day ?— What 
exclamation did they hear from the Mexicans 
as they approached towards it ? — How was its 
meaning explained ? — What was the effect of 
this sight on the Spaniards? — What did Cortes 
do? 

Page 240. 
How did Cortes effect the dispersion of this 
great army?— What treasure did he get? — 
Where did they arrive next day ? — How were 
they received by the Flascalans ? — What losses 
did Cortes now hear of? — Was he discouraged 
from his undertaking by this intelligence ? 

Page 241. 
What colony of the Spaniards in New Spain 
remained unmolested? — How did Cortes se- 
cure the Flascalan chiefs ? — What did he bring 
from Vera Cruz? — For what did he send to 
Hispaniola and Jamaica ? — What did he pre- 
pare to build ? — What portion of his army was 
discontented ? — What was the effect of their 
discontent ? — What was the utmost which 
Cortes could effect with them ! —What expedi- 
tion did he employ them in ? 

Page 242. 
What was its success ? — How did he after- 
ward employ his troops ? — How did Cortes 
gain the soldiers sent by Velasquez to reinforce 
Narvaez? — What other reinforcement did Cor- 
tes receive ?— What occasioned their joining 
him ? — What reinforcement did he receive from 
Spain '! — What was now the amount of his 
army? 

Page 243. 
Whom did Cones now dismiss? — What 
number of soldiers and guns did he then mus- 
ter? — Of Flascalans and other friendly In- 
dians ? — When did he begin his march towards 
Mexico ? — Who had succeeded Montezuma ? — 
How had he shown his courage and capacity? 
— What preparations had he made for resisting 
the renewed attack of the Spaniards ? — Had 
he succeeded in gaining Ihe Flascalans? — 
What happened in the midst of his prepara- 
tions? — Who succeeded Quetlavaca? 

Page 244. 
Of what city did Cortes take possession ? — 
Where was it situated 7 — How did Cortes se- 
cure his possession of this place ? — Was he 
ready to attack the city ? — How did he employ 
his troops? — What was the condition of most 
of the cities adjacent to the city of Mexico ? — 
How did Cortes prevail on several of them to 
acknowledge the king of Castile as their sove- 
reign ?— Did Guatiniozin attempt to prevent 
this? 

Page 245. 
What soldiers formed a conspiracy in the 
Spanish camp? — Who headed it?— How far 
had it'proceeded ? — How was it betrayed? — 
How suppressed ! — By what stroke of policy 
did Cortes retain the allegiance of all the sur- 
viving conspirators ? 

Page 246. 
Whom did Cortes send to bring down the 
materials for the brigantines to the lake 1 — 
With what force ? — What did these materials 
consist of? — In what manner were they con- 
veyed !— By how many Tamenes? — What 
were the Tamenes ?— How did they carry these 



heavy articles? — How far did the company ex- 
tend when most scattered? — Did they arrive 
safe at Tezeuco ? — What number of men, 
horses, and cannon arrived at Vera Cruz from 
Hispaniola ? — How long was the canal through 
which the brigantines were conveyed IVom the 
building-place to the lake ? — When were they 
launched?— With what ceremonies? 

Page 247. 
How did Cortes determine to attack the 
city ? — To what officers did he assign the three 
points of attack ? — What dd he reserve for 
himself? — How did Alvarado and Olid dis- 
tress the inhabitants of the city ?— In what 
condition did they find the towns which they 
were sent to occupy on the borders of the 
lake .' — How did Guatitnozin attempt to de- 
stroy the Spanish brigantines ?— Describe the 
attack, and its resull. — Of what advantage did 
(fortes find the possession of the lake? — Did 
Cortes conduct the siege in a regular manner? 
— What was done each morning ? 

Page 248. 
What rendered this mode of warfare neces- 
sary ?— How long did Cortes adhere to it ? — 
How did he then attempt to take the city? — 
What officer was charged to secure a retreat ? 
— How? — How did he discharge the duty ? — 
How did Guatitnozin take advantage of his 
neglect ? 

Page 249. 
How did he inspirit his men ? — Describe the 
consequences of this movement of Guatimo- 
zin. — How many Spaniards were lost? — What 
did the Spaniards observe in the city at night ? 
— How did Cortes bear his misfortune? — 
What proclamation did the Mexicans»send into 
the country? 

Page 250. 
How did Cortes defeat this stratagem? — 
When the eight days expired, how did the In- 
dians proceed ?— How many of them joined 
Cortes ? — How did Cortes now piocecd in the 
siege ? — What weapons did his men use ? — 
How did Cortes deprive the besieged Mexicans 
of supidies? — What were the consequences^ 
— How did Guatimozin behave? 

Page 25). 
How much of the cily was laid in ruins? — 
What did the Mexicans now design ? — How 
did they endeavour to conceal this design ? — 
Who was ordered to watch their movements 
on the lake? — Relate the capture of Guatimo- 
zin. — What was his address to Cortes ? — What 
was the effect of his ca))ture ?— How long had 
the siege lasted ? — Uy whose aid did Cortes 
effect the reduction of Mexico ? 

Page 252. 
In what were the Spaniards disappointed ? 
— What had Guatimozin done with his trea- 
sures? — By what deed did Cortes sully the 
glory of his conquest ?— Relate the behaviour 
of Guatimozin under the torture. — What was 
the consequence of Ihe fate of the capital ? — 
How far did the Spaniards penetrate ?— What 
new discovery did Cortes now meditate ' 

Page 253. 
Who was Ferdinand Magellan? — Where had 
he served ! — Whither did he go, on quitting 
the service under Alhiuiuerque' — What offer 
did he make to the king of Portugal ? — Why 
was his suit refused ! — How did Magellan 
manifest his indignation at this treatment ?— 
Where did he next offer his project ? — To what 



656 



QUESTIONS. 



minister did he apply? — What monarch or- 
dered an expedition to be equipped under Ma- 
gellan ! — What titles were given him ? — When 
did he sail? — From what port? — With how 
many ships and men ? 

Page 254. 
Where did he search for a passage to India? 
— What river did he reach January 12th, 1520? 
— What led him to suppose that this was the 
long-sought passage ? — What made him re- 
nounce the idea .' — Where did he winter ? — In 
what latitude ? — What events transpired there ? 
— In what latitude did he discover the strait ? 
— How long was he in passing through it to 
the great Southern Ocean ! — What name did he 
give to the strait ? — How long did he sail north- 
west without discovering land ? — What did the 
crews suffer ? — Why did they call the ocean 
Pacific ? — What islands did he discover March 
6th?— What others? — What happened at one 
of them ? — At what place did the expedition 
arrive November 8th I 

Page 255. 
What surprised the Portuguese there? — 
What sort of cargo was put on board the Vic- 
tory ? — Under whose command did the expedi- 
tion return to Spain ? — By what route ? — After 
how long a voyage? — Was this the first voy- 
age round the world ? — To whom belongs the 
honour of these great discoveries ? — What 
merit now belonged to Spain ? — For what did 
their men of science contend ? — In what trade 
did their merchants engage? — For what sum 
did Charles V. give up the rich commerce of 
the Spice Islands to the Portuguese ! — Was it 
ever recovered by Spain? — What important 
commercial effects resulted to Spain from the 
voyage of Magellan ? 

Page 256. 
While effecting the conquest of Mexico, 
of what was Cortes destitute? — Who was 
sent to supersede him ?— By whose influence ? 
— When and where did Tapia land ? — What 
was his character? — How did Cortes prevail 
upon him to abandon the province? — With 
what did he send deputies to Spain ? — What 
request were they ordered to urge ? — At what 
juncture did they arrive in Spain ? — How was 
their account received ? — What appointment 
did the emperor give to Cortes? — What au- 
thority had Cortes already exercised ? 

Page 257. 
Where did he determine to establish the 
seat of government? — Did he attend to the 
mines and to the agricultural interests of the 
country ? — What did he grant his officers ? — 
Did the Mexicans submit to their conquerors 
without resistance ? — How did the several re- 
bellions end ? — How were the common people 
treated? — The chiefs?— How many were burnt 
at once inPanuco? — By whose command? — 
With the advice of Cortes ? — What circum- 
stance heightened the cruelty of the scene ? — 
What other horrible example of severity was 
Cortes guilty of ?— What was the effect of these 
examples on the inferior Spanish officers ? 

Page 258. 
Who distinguished himself by acts of cru- 
elty ? — What circumstance probably saved the 
Mexicans from extermination ? — When were 
the rich mines of Mexico discovered? — What 
was then the state of the colony ? — Were the 
conquerors of Moxicoenabled to live in ease and 
splendour ? — What arrangement did Charles 
V. make?— What was the character of these 



commissioners 7— What representations did 
they make concerning Cortes ? — What effect 
did these have on the ministers ? 

Page 259. 
Did they infuse the same suspicions into 
Charles's mind?— What did he order !— What 
prevented the execution of Ponce de Leon's 
commission ?— What was its effect on the mind 
of Cortes ?— Were his actions still misrepre- 
sented to his sovereign ? — What was the con- 
sequence ?— What did the followers of Cortes 
advise?— What did Cortes do?— How did he 
appear in Spain ?— What did he take with him ? 
— Who attended him ? — How was he received ? 
— What honours and rewards did he receive ! 

— How was he treated by the emperor him- 
self? — was he reinstated in his office? — What 
department was committed to him ? 

Page 260. 
To whom was the supreme direction of civil 
affairs in Mexico given ? — Who was allerward 
made viceroy ?— What effect did this arrange- 
ment have on Cortes ?— What did he now en- 
gage in ? — What befell the squadrons sent out 
by him to make discoveries? — What did he 
then do ? — What country did he discover ? — 
When did he return once more to Spain ? — 
What sort of reception did he meet with ? — 
How did the emperor treat him ? — How was 
the rest of his life passed ?— When did he die ? 

— In what particulars did his fate resemble that 
of all the other persons who had distinguished 
themselves in the discovery or conquest of the 
New World ? 

BOOK VI. 

Page 261. 
Who discovered the Pacific Ocean ? — What 
was the effect of this discovery on the adven- 
turers of the 16th century ? — For what pur- 
pose were several armaments fitted out ? — 
Under what sort of leaders ? — What opinion 
resulted from their failure? — What three per- 
sons resolved to execute Balboa's scheme ? — 
Who was Pizarro ? — What was his character? 
— Where did he first serve? — Where after- 
ward ? — With what success ? 

Page 262. 
AVho was Almagro ? — What was his charac- 
ter ? — Who was Luque ? — Who authorized 
their confederacy ? — VVhat did Pizarro engage 
to do ? — What did Almagro ? — Luque ?— How 
was the confederacy confirmed ? — Whence did 
Pizarro sail ? — With what force ? — What re- 
tarded his progress ? — Where did he touch ''— 
What difficulties did he encounter ? 

Page 203. 
Whither did he retire ? — Describe Almagro's 
adventures. — What wound did he receive ? — 
After joining Pizarro, whither did he repair ? — 
For what purpose ? — How many men did he 
raise? — What bay did he and Pizarro reach? 
— Where is it ? — What sort of country did they 
find? — What prevented their invading' it? — 
Whither did Pizarro retire? — Whither did Al- 
magro go? — For what purpose? — What pre- 
vented his succeeding? — What did the gov- 
ernor of Panama do ? — What advice did Al- 
magro and Luque send to Pizarro ? 

Page 264. 

WTiat was Pizarro's resol ution ? — How many 

of his men adhered to him ? — Where did they 

stay 7 — How long was it before the governor 

sent a vessel to their relief ?— What did Pizarro 



QUESTIONS. 



667 



induce the crewof the vessel and his followers 
o do? — What coast did they discover? — 
Where did they land ? — Where is Tumbez ? — 
What did they find there? — What chiefly at- 
tracted their notice ? 

Page 265. 
After exploring the country, what did Pizarro 
take with him ? — Whither did he then sail ?— 
After how long an absence ?— What is ob- 
served of Pizarro ? — Uid the governor of Pa- 
nama still discourage Pizarro's scheme? — 
Why? — To whom did the three associates now 
resolve to apply ? — What stations did they re- 
spectively resolve to apply for?— Who went 
to Spain to urge their suit ? — How did Pizarro 
conduct at court ? — How was his scheme re- 
garded by the emperor Charles V. and his min- 
isters ? — What did he obtain for Luque ? — For 
Almagro ? 

Page 266. 
What did Pizarro secure to himself? — What 
was the extent of his territory ? — Of his power 
with respect to his appointments ? — Was he 
to be independent of the governor of Panama ? 
— What did he engage to do in return for these 
concessions ? — From what port did he sail ? — 
In what manner ? — Why secretly ? — Who sup- 
plied him with money ? — Where did he land ? 
— Whither did he march ? — What were the 
names of the four brothers who accompanied 
him ? — What was their character? — Why was 
Almagro offended with Pizarro .' — How was 
he pacified ? — On what terms was the confede- 
racy renewed ? — What was their force !— When 
did Pizarro sail ? 

Page 267. 
For what purpose was Almagro left at Pa- 
nama ? — How long was the voyage ? — Where 
did Pizarro land his troops? — Which way did 
they march ! — What difficulties did ihey en- 
counter ? — What amount of booty did they gain 
in Coaque ? — What was the effect of this suc- 
cess ? — Whither did Pizarro despatch ships ? — 
Did he use force, or did he use policy in re- 
ducing the natives ?— How long was he occu- 
pied in subjecting Piina?— Where is this 
island ? — How long was he detained at Tum- 
bez ? — By what cause ? — What reinforcements 
did he receive? — Under what commanders ? — 
Where did he establ ish the first Spanish colony 
in Peru ? — Under what name ? 

Page 268. 
Wliat was the extent of Peru at the time of 
the Spanish invasion ? — What was the char- 
acter of its early inhabitants? — Who, accord- 
ing to their tradition, appeared on the banks of 
the Titiaca lake ? — From whom did they claim 
descent ! — For what did they say they had been 
sent ! — What city did they found ? — What were 
their names ' — What did Manco Capac teach .' 
—What did Mama OcoUo?— What did Manco 
Capac introduce, after teaching the arts of 
civilized life ? — What was thus founded ? — 
What was at first the extent of the empire ? — 
What was the nature of Manco's authority ? 

Page 269. 
How were the incas regarded ? — Were the 
royal family forbidden to ally them.selves with 
their subjects ?^Wa8 their despotic ])ower 
abused? — What was the character of twelve 
of their monarchs in succession .' — Who was 
their monarch when the Spaniards first visited 
Peru ? — W hat was his character ? — What king- 
dom did he subject ? — How did he violate the 
ancient laws ? — When did he die ? — How did i 



he divide his empire?— What did Huascar re- 
quire his brother to do ?— How did Atahualpa 
proceed ? — Which brother conquered ? — What 
use did he make of his victory ! — Why did he 
spare Huascar ? 

Page 270. 
What was the state of the empire when Pi- 
zarro visited Peru the second time ? — What 
prevented the Peruvians from resisting his 
encroachments ? — Who sent to solicit his aid ? 
— What did he determine to do? — Where did 
he leave a garrison ? — With what force did he 
march ? — Towards what place ? — Who was 
there ? — Who met him on his march ? — What 
assurances did Pizarro send to Atahualpa 1 

Page 271. 
What opinions did the Peruvians form con- 
cerning the Spaniards 7 — What sort of recep- 
tion did the inca resolve to give them ? — Did 
he, in consequence of this resolution, neglect 
good opportunities to cut them off .'—Where 
did Pizarro take his station on entering Caxa- 
malca ?— Whom did he send to Atahualpa ? — 
For what purpose ?— How were they received ? 
— What did they observe ?— On their return, 
what did Pizarro resolve to do' 

Page 272. 
How did he prepare for seizing the inca ? — 
In what style did the inca appear when he 
came to Pizarro's quarters? — What part did 
Father Valverde perform in this transaction i — 
Describe his proceedings. — What did he re- 
quire of Atahualpa? — Was his harangue un- 
derstood ? — What was the inca's reply ? 

Page 273. 

How did he exasperate the priest ? — What 
did the priest say?— What did Pizarro do? — 
Describe the massacre of the people and the 
capture of the inca. — How many Peruvians 
fell ? — How many Spaniards ? — How were the 
Spaniards affected by their victory ?— How was 
the inca affected by his misfortune ? — Did Pi- 
zarro attempt to console him ? — What disco- 
very did the inca make ! — What offer? — Was 
it accepted ? 

Page 274. 

How was the gold collected, the inca being 
a prisoner ? — Why was not his rescue attempt- 
ed ? — Did all the Spaniards remain at Caxa- 
malca? — What news did Pizarro hear? — What 
number of soldiers did Almagro bring ? — How 
was the inca aflected with the intelligence of 
this reinforcement ? — What news did he hear 
from his brother ? — Why did this alarm him? 
— How did he dispose of Huascar? — Did the 
Siianiards wait lor the reception of all the 
promised treasure belbre dividing it ? — How 
much was set apart for the crown of Spain ? 
— How much for Almagro's men ? — How 
much remained for Pizarro and his men ? 

Page 275. 
With what ceremonies was it divided? — 
How much did each soldier receive ?— Is there 
any parallel for this in history ? — Why did Pi- 
zarro allow sixty of his followers to go to 
Spain ? — Did he now grant Atahualpa his 
liberty? — What is observed of this transac- 
tion? — Was the possession of Atahualpa'a 
person of as great advantage to Pizarro as 
Montezuma's capture was to Cortes ! — Why 
not ! — What part of Pizarro's army was dis 
satisfied?- Why; 

Page 276. 
What did they insist on?— What alarmed 



569 



QUESTIONS. 



Pizarro ?— Who increased his apprehensions ? 
— Who was this miscreant ?— Why did he 
wish to cut off Atahualpa ? — How did Atahu- 
alpa hasten his own late?— How did Pizarro 
seek to cover the guilt of Atahualpa's murder? 
— Who were his judges? — What crimes was 
he charged with ? 

Page 277. 
How did Philippine conduct during the trial ? 
— What was Atahualpa's sentence? — How 
was he affected by it ? — What did Valverde 
offer him lor embracing the Christian faith? — 
How was tie put to death ? — Whom did Pi- 
zarro now invest with the ensigns of royalty ? 
— Whom did the people of Cuzco acknowledge 
as inca ?— What was the state of the country? 

Page 278. 
How did the people behave after Atahualpa's 
death ? — How did the general who commanded 
for Atahualpa in Uuito behave?— Were the 
Spaniards pleased with these appearances? — 
Towards what city did Pizarro march ? — What 
had been ihe effect of the return of some of 
his followers with their gold to Panama?— 
How many men had he now ? — Was he op- 
posed ?— What was the result?— Did he take 
Cuzco ? — What treasures were found there ?— 
When did Atahualpa's son die ? — Who was 
then acknowledged as inca ? — What general 
set out to reduce Quito ? 

Page 279. 
What difficulties did he encounter ?— Did he 
take the city ?— What disappointment did he 
meet there? — What other general advanced to 
attack Quito ? — With how many men ? — Where 
did he land ?— What route did he take ?— What 
hardships did he suffer? — How many men did 
he lose ? — On arriving at the plain of Quito, 
whom did he find opposed to him? — On what 
terms did Alvarado agree to return to Guati- 
mala ? — What did most of his followers do ? — 
When did Ferdinand Pizarro land in Spain ? — 
What was the effect of his wealth? — How 
was he received by the emperor? 

Page 280. 
How were his brother's services recom- 
pensed ? — How was Almagro rewarded ? — 
How was Ferdinand ? — Did he set out again 
for Peru? — When Almagro heard of his pro- 
motion, what did he do ? — Who opposed him ? 
Wh'at was the effect of Francis Pizarro's ar- 
rival ?— What were the terms of their recon- 
ciliation ?— To what part of the country did 
Pizarro now march? — How did he employ 
himself? 

Page 281. 
Where did he establish the capital of the 
empire? — Where is Lima?— Cuzco? — Quito? 
—Callao?— Whither did Almagro march? — 
With what force? — What route did betake? 
— What was the consequence ?^What sort of 
people did they find in Chili ! — Were the Span- 
iards completely victorious and successful in 
Chili? 

Page 282. 
What recalled them from Chili to Peru? — 
How did Pizarro find occupation for the nu- 
merous adventurers who llocked to Peru ? — 
How did Manco Capac take advantage of their 
dispersion into different parts of the empire? 
— How did he contrive to raise troops while 
he was himself a prisoner? — How did he make 
his escape? — How many men did he raise' — 
What city did he attack ? — Who defended it ? 
— With how many men ! — What other city did 



the Peruvians invest ;— What did the men of 
these besieged cities suppose concerning each 
other? — How long was Cuzco invested? — 
Who commanded there 1 

Page 283. 
How did the Peruvians imitate the Span 
iards ? — How much of the city did they re- 
cover from the Spaniards 7 — What officer fell 
in the siege ?— What Spaniard appeared in the 
neighbourhood of Cuzco?— What had he re- 
ceived from Spain ? — How did he interpret it ? 
— What was his object in coming to Cuzco J 
— Who endeavoured to gain his friendship ? 

Page 284. 
Failing of this, how did Ihe inca proceed? - 
Did he gain his object ? — How did Almagro 
gain possession of the city ? — Was his juris- 
diction over Cuzco acknowledged ? — Whom 
did Francisco Pizarro send to Cuzco to relieve 
his brothers! — With how many men? — On 
what river were they opposed by Almagro?— 
How did Almagro attempt to pain these men 
and their leader ? — When he did not succeed 
in this, how did he contrive to surprise Alva- 
rado's camp and take him ? — What advice did 
Orgognez give Almagro ? — What prevented 
his taking his advice? 

Page 285. 
What did Almagro do ? — Was Pizarro ac 
qnainted with the late events at Cuzco ? — What 
eveiitsdid he hear of at one time ? — What was 
his situation ? — How did he contrive to gain 
lime? — Who escaped from Almagro? — With 
how many men ? — What proposal liid Pizarro 
then make to Almagro ? — Did Almagro accede 
to it ? — When Ferdinand Pizarro was released, 
how did Francisco proceed ? — What city did 
he design to attack?— How many men did he 
muster ? — Who had command of them ? 

Page 286. 
By what route did they approach Cuzco ?- 
Why did not Almagro cut them off in the de- 
files of the Andes ? — On what plain did the 
two factions meet? — Who were assembled to 
witness the battle?— Who led Almagro's ar- 
my ? — Why did not he lead it himself? — What 
is observed of the respective forces ? — Of the 
battle? — What forces decided the fate of the 
day ?— Who was dangerously wounded ? — 
Who were massacred ! — How many men fell ? 

Page 287. 
What befell Almagro ?— How did the Indians 
behave ?— What city was pillaged ?— By whom 1 
— Was much plunder obtained? — Were the 
new adventurers of Ferdinand Pizarro's army 
satisfied with this plander ?— How did he em- 
ploy them ? — For what did the conquerors im- 
peach and try Almagro? — What was his sen- 
tence ? — Did he attempt to avert his fate ? — 
How ?— How did he die ?— At what age ?— How 
many children did he leave ? 

Page 288. 
Who first carried the news of the dissen- 
sions in Peru to Spain ? — Who arrived in liparn 
afterward ?— What did he endeavour to do ?— 
Who was sent out to settle the disputes of the 
Spaniards in Peru?— What were his instruc- 
tions ? — How was Ferdinand Pizarro treated 1 
— How was Francisco Pizarro proceeding in 
Peru ? — How did he proceed in parcelling out 
the territory ? 

Page 289. 

To whom did he assign the best portions of 

the country ?— What was the effect of tlii» 



QUESTIONS. 



559 



partiality ?— How did Pizarro's officers employ 
themselves ? — Who invaded Chili ? — What city 
did he found ? — Who succeeded to the govern- 
ment of Quito I — In whose stead .' — What was 
Gonzalo instructed to attempt ! — Why 1 — Witli 
how many soldiers did he set out from Quito ? 
— How many Indians ? — What did they sutler '! 

Page 290. 

What river did they reach ? — Into what does 
It empty ?— Where is the Maragnon .'—Into what 
does it cmi)ty ? — What ocean borders on Peru .' 
— What did they construct on their arrivil at 
the banks of tlie Napo .' — Who took command 
of it ? — Witli how many men ? — What scheme 
did Orellana now Ibrm ! — What is said of it '. — 
How far had he to sail .'—By what rivers did he 
reach the ocean ? — How did he obtain provi- 
sions on his way ? — To what island did he at 
last arrive.' — Whither did he then go; — What 
marvellous stories did he tell there ? — What 
was the fabulous region described by him 
called.' — Have reason and observation at last 
exploded Orellaim's fables .'—t)f what e.xtensive 
'countries was he the first discoverer! — How 
was Gonzalo Pizarro affected on not finding 
Orellana at the junction of the Napo and Ma- 
ragnon? 

Page 201. 

How far did he advance en the Maragnon in 
search of him ? — How did he hear of Orellana's 
treachery ? — What was tlie effect of this news 
on his men ? — Did Pizarro consent to return 1 
— How far were they from Quito ? — To what 
extremities of famine were they reduced on 
their return? — How many Spaniards and In- 
dians perished in this expedition ? — How many 
returned to Quito? — In what condition? — Who 
composed the discontented party in Peru? — • 
Who headed them '. — What was his character ? 
— What did they plot ? — Was Pizarro warned 
of it? — Did he regard the warnmg? 

Page 292. 
Who was Almagro's tutor? — What part did 
he take? — Relate the story of Pizarro's assas- 
sination. — Alter the assassination, how many 
conspirators joined the nineteen assassins? — 
Whom did they proclaim governor? — What 
dwellings were pillaged ? 

Page 293. 

Hovv many men did Almagro muster'— 
Whom did he appoint to act as general? — 
Why? — Did all the Spanish officers join Al- 
magro? — Why not? — At what city was the 
royal standard erected? — While thisop[iosjtion 
to Almagro was acquiring vigour, who arrived 
in Popayan ?— To what city did he march ?— 
On learning Pizarro's death, what did he do? 
— What two commander.s acknowledged his 
jurisdiction ? — What talents did Vaca de (Cas- 
tro discover ?— =How did he gain followers ? — 
For what place did Almasro set out? — Who 
commanded there ? — Whom did he lose on the 
march ? 

Page 294. 

Did Ilolguin escape from Almagro? — ^Vhom 
did b| join ?— Who entered their camp and took 
the supreme command ? — By what right ? — 
Where did he meet the followers of Almagro? 
— How far from Cnzco ? — What distinguished 
veteran fought on Vaca de Castro's side? — 
Which side prevailed? — How many fought on 
both sides !— How many fell ? — What did Vaca 
de Castro do after the battle?— What was Al- 
Diagro's fate ? 

Page 295. 

Was the expense of the expeditions to Peru 



paid by the Spanish crown ?— By whom then ? 
— How long were the Spaniards occupied in 
acquiring their possessions in America ?— ^ 
Was the crown entitled to claim much from 
the conquerors? — Why not?— What was re- 
served for the crown ? — What was the great 
object of the conquerors? — Had they any thing 
like well-regulated government ? — What evil 
in particular required a remedy ? — Were the 
emperor Charles V. and his ministers anxious 
to prevent the extinction of the Indian race ' 
— Who was at Madrid then ! 

Page 290. 
What representations did he make to the 
emperor? — What treatise did he compose? — 
How was Charles affected ? — Were his views 
confined merely to the relief of the Indians' 
— How did he regard the conquerors of Peru? 
—What did he prepare ? — What provisions of 
his code of laws were approved ? — What re- 
gidations were disapproved 1 

Page 297. 
Who remonstrated against these rogula 
tions? — What did they say? — Did Charles 
persist? — Whom did he send to Mexico? — In 
what capacity ? — To Peru ? — With what title ? 
— How was the entry of Sandoval into Mexico 
viewed? — Did the inhabitants submit to the 
new laws ? — Why ? — Did Mendoza and Sando- 
val agree to remonstrate against the new 
laws? — Did Charles relax the rigour of the 
laws ? 

Page 298. 
Were the laws as well received in Peru? — 
Why not ? — What did the colonists say con- 
cerning the new laws ? — For what were they 
ready ? — How were they diverted from their 
design? — What had now become necessary? 

Page 299. 
What was the character of the viceroy? — 
How did he proceed on landing at Tumbez?— 
How was he received ? — What did he declare 
on entering Lima ? — How did he behave there ? 
— How did he treat the persons of rank in 
Lima ? — How Vaca de Castro ? — To whom did 
the colonists look for relief? — What was his 
character ?— What considerations prompted 
him to rebel ? — What restrained him ? — What 
induced him to repair to Cuzco ? 

Page 300. 
How was he received ? — To what office did 
the people elect him ? — What did (hey em- 
power him to do ?— What measures did he take 
under the sanction of this nomination ? — Who 
resorted to his standard ?— Who deserted from 
the viceroy to him ? — What had happened at 
Lima ? — Who had quarrelled with the viceroy? 
— Which prevailed ?— What did they do with 
the viceroy ? — What did the judges thei. do ? — 
With what intention? — Who corresponded 
with Pizarro? — What adviser had Pizarro? — 
What did he wish Pizarro to aim at ? — What 
did Pizarro demand ? 

Page 301. 
When the judges hesitated to comply with 
this command, wliat did Carvajal do 7— What 
did the court of audience do next morning? — 
Was Pizarro's government firmly and ijuietly 
settled ? — Relate the circumstances of Nugnez 
Vela's embarkation, sailing (or .Spain, and re- 
turn to Tumbez — What did he do on landing 
at Tumbez ?— Who joined liim ! — Who put the 
lieutenant-governor of Charcas to death, and 
declared for the viceroy ? — Against whom did 
Pizarro march !— Whither did Vela retreat!— 



660 



QUESTIONS. 



Who pursued Km ?— Whither did he fly from 
Quito ? — Who now pursued him ? — To what 
place did Pizarro return ? 

Page 302. 
Whither did he send Carvajal ? — How many 
men did the viceroy raise in Popayan ? — By 
•whose assistance ? — Whither did tie march ? — 
When did he and Pizarro meet ? — What was 
the result of the battle ?— Who fell ?— What 
city did Pizarro enter in triumph ? — Who de- 
feated Centeno? — Where did Centeno conceal 
himself? — What was now the extent of Pizar- 
ro's command ? — Where did he place a garri- 
son ? — Where is Nombre de Dios ?— How did 
Pizarro's followers behave? — What was the 
substance of Carvajal's letter to Pizarro? 

Page 303. 
Who seconded these exhortations? — What 
did he attempt to demonstrate ? — To what did 
Pizarro confine his views ? — For what did he 
send a person to Spain ? — How was Charles V. 
occupied during these troubles in Peru ? — ^To 
whom did he leave the care of providing a 
remedy for them? — What were the chief ob- 
stacles to the employment of force in quelling 
the rebels in Peru ? 

Page 304. 
What were the different routes for arriving 
at Peru ? — Were they practicable at that time 
for an army ? — What remained for the minis- 
ters to do ? — Whom did the ministers choose 
for an envoy to Peru? — What was his charac- 
ter?— What did the emperor do ?— Did Gasca 
accept the appointment ? — What did he refuse ? 
— What title did he accept ? — What instances 
of self-denial did he exhibit ? — What sort of au- 
thority did he require to be invested with ? 

Page 305. 
Enumerate some of the powers which he 
demanded for himself? — Who refused them ? 
— Who granted them ? — In what style did he 
set out for tlie purpose of quelling a rebellion? 
— Who received him at Nombre de Dios? — 
How? — Why ?— Who received him at Pana- 
ma? — How? — What did he declare in both 
places? — Who were gained over to his inter- 
est? — What exasperated Pizarro ?— What did 
he resolve to do? — For what purpose did he 
send a deputation to Spain ? — What did these 
persons require of Gasca ? 

Page 306. 
Wliat instructions did they carry to Hino- 
josa ? — What circumstances pushed Pizarro to 
these wild measures ? — To what did he trust 
for continuance in jiower? — Was he aware of 
the disaffection spreading among his follow- 
ers? — What did Hinojosa and his officers do? 
— What did the deputies ?— What news did 
Pizarro hear ? — For what did he prepare ? — For 
what did he order Gasca to be tried? — Who 
acted as judge and condemned him?— What 
was the object and effect of this proceeding? 
— Had Pizarro the powerof executingthe sen- 
tence at this time ? — Why not ? — How many 
men did he raise?— From what places did 
Gasca raise troops ? — When did he detach a 
squadron of his fleet to the coast of Peru ? — 
Did they 'and ? — How did they do more effect- 
ual service ? — What was the effect of the offers 
of pardon ? 

Page 307. 

Who emerged from his cave, and took Cuzco 

with a tew men ? — What was the number of 

soldiers there? — What did most of them do' 

— Whom did Pizarro set out to oppose ? — What 



happened on the march ?— How many soldieili 
had he on arriving in sight of Huarina? — 
Where is Huarina? — Where is the lake of Ti- 
tlaca? — What was the character of Pizarro's 
remaining troops? — When did he attack Cen- 
teno? — What was Centeno's force? — What 
was the result of the battle? — What counter 
balanced this "/ictory ? — Who took possession 
of Lima?— Who landed at Tumbez?— With 
how many men ?— What territory was novt in 
Pizarro's possession ? — What was in Gasca's 7 
— Which way did Gasca march ? — How did he 
behave ?— Where did he stop ?— For what pur- 
pose ? 

. Page 308. 
How many men had Pizarro? — Did he listeu 
to Gasca's offers of pardon 7 — Who advised him 
to do so 1 — Towards what city did Gasca 
march ?— With how many men ?— Why did 
not Pizarro advance to meet him ? — How near 
did Gasca approach to Cuzco ? — When Pizarro 
had marched out to meet him, who chose the 
ground 7— What was there unusual In the ap- 
pearance of Pizarro's army? — Of Gasca's? — 
Who deserted Pizarro when both armies were 
ready to engage ? — What was the effect of this 
defection ? — What did Pizarro and Carvajal 
do? — How soon was their army dispersed? — 
What did Pizarro say to his officers 7 — What 
answer did they make 7 — What did he do? — 
What befell Carvajal 7- How did Gasca use 
his victory ? — When was Pizarro beheaded? — 
How did he die 7 — How did Carvajal die ? 

Page 309. 
What befell Cepeda ? — Were the adventurers 
to Peru hired soldiers?— What did each of 
them expect to do for himself? — Were the 
troops raised at a great expense ? — Did the 
chiefs make expensive presents to their offi- 
cers? — What did Gonzalo Pizarro expend in 
raising a thousand soldiers 7 — What did Gasca 
expend in raising his army 7— What did Cepeda 
receive? — For what? — What did Hinojosa re- 
ceive ?— For what ? — What was the effect of 
this wealth on the soldiers ? 

Page 310. 
What was the character of the conquerors 
of Peru ? — What was their leading passion ? — 
Give examples of their rapacity. — Of their 
treachery and inconstancy. — What was the 
effect of Pizarro's death ? — What two objects 
now occupied the president's attention 7 — How 
was Ihe/ormer of these accomplished 7 

Page 311. 
What was the amount of repartimuntns to 
be distributed in consequence of Pizarro's 
death'— Did Gasca reserve any of it for him- 
sell'?— Whither did he retire to make the dis- 
tribuiion ? — With whom ? — How did he avoid 
the effects of his impartiality in the distribu- 
tion?— What was the effect of publishing the 
decree of partition 7 — Of what was Gasca ac- 
cused ? — How was this mutinous spirit check- 
ed '—How did Gasca labour to sooth the male- 
contents ?— How did he endeavour to strength- 
en the hands of his successors ? — Whaf im- 
provements did he make ?— To whom did he 
commit the government of Peru?— When did 
he sail for Spain ?— How much of the public 
money did he carry with him 7 

Page 312. 
How was he received in Spain 7 — Give a 
summary account of his services. — How did 
the emperor receive him ?— To what office was 
he promoted? — How did he pass the remainder 
of his days ?— Did tranquillity continue long 



QUESTIONS. 



561 



in Peru after Gasca's departure ?— 'WTiat deso- 
lated the coiinlry for several years ? — What 
%%'ere the ulurnateetTects of ihBse commotions? 
— To what siaie was Peru finally brouglit? — 
Where in Peru .' — How is it boandeil ? — WhaX 
are its duel' cities '—Ports? — Mountains? — 
Does it now belong to Spain ? 

BOOK VII. 

Page 313. 
How did Mexico and Peru differ fi-om the 
other parts of the New World ? — How did 
Ihey coniiiare with Eurojie? — Were the people 
of these countries acquainted with the uselul 
metals?— What animals had the Mexicans 
reared ? — What had the Peruvians tamed ? — 
For what were the lamas useful? — What are 
ronsidered very important steps in the progress 
9f civilization ? 

Page 314. 
What effect had the ignorance of these on 
llie Mexicans and Peruvians ? — Which empire 
was first subjected to the Spanish crown ? — 
Were Corte.s and his followers well qualified 
to examine the government and policy of Mex- 
ico ?— Why not ? — How was the memory of 
past events preserved ?— Why did the early 
missionaries destroy these records ? — Wliat 
was the effect of this piece of fanaticism? — 
Can tradition be depended upon for a history 
of past events? — On what writers must we 
depend for the particulars of the Mexican his- 
tory ? 

Page 315. 
Was the Mexican empire of long duration ? 
— How was their country originally peopled? 
— When did certain tribes from the north and 
north-west enter New Spain ? — When did the 
Mexicans take possession of the plain of Mex- 
ico ! — What town did I hey found filly years 
afterward ? — How were they for a long time 
governed '. — How afterward? — Wliowas their 
ninth monarch? — According to this account, 
what was the age of the Mexican nation ? — 
Of the monarchy ? 

Page 316. 
Was the right of private property understood 
in Mexico ! — Was the distinction between real 
and personal est."4te esiablislied ? — Did any 
part of the citizens hold land so as to trans- 
mit it to iheir heirs ? — What was the second 
mode of tenure? — To what classes of citizens 
did these modes of tenure appertain ? — How 
was land divided among the great body of the 
people? — What other striking circumstance 
distinguishes Mexico from other nations in 
America ? 

Page 317. 
Which were the principal cities ? — Did Cor- 
tes and his followers exaggerate the import- 
ance of these cities ? — How many inhabitants 
had the city of Mexico? — What is the next- 
mentioned symptom of imiirovcmcnt ' — Does 
it ex'st among savages? — Did it exist to any 
considerable extent in Mexico ? — What is the 
next circumstance that merits attention ? — 
Were the savage tribes of America diatin- 
guisked by this characteristic? 

Page 318. 

Did it exist in Mexico? — ^Vho were the 
Mayeques? — Describe their situation. — How 
were the freemen treated ? — How were the no- 
blesdivided ?— Were their titUis and lands here- 
ditary ? — What mark of distinction between the 
nobles and the people existed ? — What marks 

Vol. I.-71 



of homage did the nobles pay the king ?— What 
is observed of the Mexican tongue? — Have the 
.Spaniards described the Mexican government 
and laws accurately ?— What inconsistency 
appears in their accounts ? 

Page 319. 
From what has it arisen ? — What was Mon- 
tezuma's object? — How did he pursue it ? — 
How was Cortes benefited by these jiroceed- 
ings of Montezuma? — Where can we discover 
the original form and genius of the Mexican 
policy ? — Wlio composed the most respectable 
order of the state? — Were they all of equal 
rank? — How many inhabitants were therein 
the territories of each cf the first thirty no- 
bles ? — How many inferior nobles were mere ? 
— What nobles levied taxes from their vassals? 
— Did ihey all pay military service and tribute 
to the emperor? — What policy is found in this 
view of the Mexican state ?— What nre the 
three disiinguishhig feaiuips of tl'e fi nr'al 
system? — Did the sjste.m operate h-" as in 
Europe ? — Who possessed the real and effect- 
ive power in Mexico? — Wliat constitutional 
restraints had the nobles impo>ed on the em- 
peror? — How was the crown disposed of? — 
\Vho at first were electors ?— Who afterward ? 
— Where did the choice generally fall ? 

Page 320. 
What was the character of the Mexican 
princes? — At what particular ajipearances in 
Montezuma's court were the Spaniards sur- 
prised ? — How was justice adininisiered in 
the different jiarts of the empire ?— How was 
the government supported ? — How were the 
taxes paid ? — Where was the produce o( the 
taxes collected? — What use was made of 
them ? — How did people of inferior condition 
and without property pay their taxes? — What 
evidence of civilization is found in the Mexi- 
can police and public works? 

Page 321. 
What Improvements of jiolished life existed 
in (he city of Mexico? — What is considered as 
the most decisive proof of Mexican refine- 
ment ? — Give cxamjiles. — Are the Spanish ac- 
counts of these manufactures probably exag- 
gerated? — Are they contradicted by the exist- 
ing remains of Mexican art ? 

Page 322. 
In what view are these rude pictures im- 
portant and interesting ? — For what were the 
first essays of this art probably first used ? — 
What is this sort of record called? — Where 
do we find traces of it? — For what did the Indian 
cU'efs use it ? — Are the Mexican pictures su- 
perior to these Indian records? — What could 
the Mexicans represent in their pictures? — 
\\ho has published the best series of them?— 
What does the first part coniaui ? — The sec- 
ond ? — Tlie third ? — Who has published another 
specimen ? 

Page 323. 
What do these pictures represent ? — Do they 
address the eye or the understanding? — What 
may they be considered > — .\re they very de- 
fective records ? — To what might the Mexicans 
have eventually arrived? — Uy what steps?— 
Were they approaching towards writing ? — 
How difl lliey indicate a town ? — How did they 
distinguish one town from another? — Did they 
sometimes indicate a particular town by the 
emblem without the house? — How did they 
represent a king who had made conquests?— 
In what notation did they attempt to exhibit 
ideas without any corporeal form ?— How dl 



662 



QUESTIONS. 



they represent a unit ?— How small numbers ? 
—How large numbers?— To what amount ?— 
Wlial prevented a furtli.er improvement?— 
Are tlieir records any Hung more tlmn picture- 
writiiiii? — How dill tlia Mexicans divide llieir 
year? — Flow did Uisy make out the compleie 
year ?— What did they call these five days ? 

Page 324. 
How did they employ them ? — Were the 
Mexicans a warlike jieople ?— What was usu- 
ally their object in war? — How were tlieir 
captives treated ? — How was the emperor's 
funeral celebrated? — Were the Mexicans a 
hardy, laborious jieople ? — To what was their 
weakness attributed? 

Page 325. 
Did Montezuma rule over the whole of what 
is now called Mexico ? — Who possessed the 
provinces towards the north and west ? — 
What othiir provinces were independent of the 
emperor? — Was there much intercourse be- 
tween the different parts of the emgire? — 
What proofs of this are given ? 

Page 326. 
Had the Mexicans any money? — Is this a 
strong jiroof of barbarism? — Was money an 
early invention in the Old World ? — How 
was coiumercial intercourse carried on in 
Mexico? — What sort of nuts had acquired a 
standard value like that of money? — What is 
said of the Mexican cities ?— How is Tlascala 
described ? — What sort of a structure was the 
great temple of Mexico ? 

Page 327. 
Did the other temples resemble this? — Do 
the Spaniards describe the emperor's houss 
and those of the nobility as being magnificent? 
^What reason is there to doubt their state- 
ments ? — From this enumeration of facts, what 
is evident ? — What is no less manifest ? 

Paga 328. 
Are the Spanish accounts of the Mexican 
government and policy to be considered sub- 
stantially true ?— If Cortes had made false 
statements to the emperor, would his enemies 
have contradicted thein? — What institution of 
the Mexicans is mentioned which had no par- 
allel in Europe at that lime ? 

Page 329. 
In what respect were the Mexicans repre- 
sented as more barbarous than they really 
were? — What was the character of the Mexi- 
can religion? — What were the ornaments of 
their temples ? — What means were employed 
to appease the wrath of their gods? — What 
sacrifices were deemed most acceptable ? — 
What was the effect of this religion on the 
feelings and character of the people ? — How 
long had Peru subsisted as an empire before 
the conquest ? — Under how many rnonarchs ? 

Page 330. 
What were the quipos ? — For what were 
they used ? — Were they still more imperfect 
records than the Mexican pictures? — How 
were most of them lost ? — Who attempted to 
throw light on the Peruvian history by means 
of the quipos ? — Did he succeed ? — Is much 
credit due to the traditional stories of the early 
Peruvian rnonarchs ? 

Page 331. 
Is there any satisfactory statement concern- 
ing the real origin of Manco Capac and Mama 
OcoUo ?— Whe did they pretend to be?— How 



far did Manco's successors' extend their do- 
minion ' — On what was the whole system of 
policy in Peru founded '. — How were the chil- 
dren of the sun regarded ? — Was it a jiari of 
the people's religion to reverence the royal 
lainily ? — What consequences resulted from 
these ideas ? — What was the badge of an ex- 
ecutive officer of the emperor? 

Page 332. 
How were all crimes punished in Peru ?— 
Why ? — Did these severe laws render crimes 
rare? — What were the principal objects of 
worship among the Peruvians? — Is this sort 
of superstition milder than the worship of 
imaginary divinities? — Where have we exam- 
jiles of the two kinds? — What were offered to 
the sun? — Did the incas offer human sacri- 
fices? — What was the national character of 
the Peruvians compared with that of llie Mex- 
icans? 

Page 333. 
Was the mixture of religion in the Peruvian 
system of policy favourable to the character 
of both kings and people ? — Were rebellious 
subjecls and tyrannical rulers equally rare? — 
For what did the incas conquer? — How were 
prisoners treated? — How were the lands di- 
vided in Peru ? — How was the product of the 
first share employed? — The second? — The 
third? — How often was the land divided? — 
How was it cultivated ? — What was the effect 
of this arrangement on the character of the 
people ? 

Page 334. 
Was the distinction of ranks established in 
Peru? — Who were the Yanaconas? — Were 
they numerous ?— Who were the next class? 
— Who were the Orejonts ? — Who were the 
head of all ? — To what was this form of soci- 
ety favourable? — Were the arts more advanced 
in Peru than in Mexico ?— What is observed 
of agriculture in Peru?— How did the Peru- 
vians provide for times of scarcity ? — Is Peru 
well watered?— How did the Peruvians water 
their fields ? 

Page 335. 
Did they use the plough?— How did they 
turn up the earth ? — How were the houses 
built on the coast? — In the mountainous re- 
gions? — Do any of their buildings remain? — 
What is observed of their temples and pal- 
aces? — What was the extent of the temple 
of Pachacamac ? — Describe it. — What was the 
greatest work of the incas ? 

Page 336. 
What was the extent of these roads ? — De- 
scribe their construction. — Did the Spaniards 
keep this work in repair?— In what respect 
did the Peruvian policy resemble the Roman ? 
— Were the roads of the incas superior to any 
work of public utility then existing in Europe? 
— Describe the rope bridges of the Peruvians. 

Page 337. 
What advances had the Peruvians mi \e in 
navigation ? — How did tlie Peruvians obtain 
gold? — How did they obtain silver? — How did 
they supply the want of bellows? — What is 
said of their vessels and trinkets ? — What 
were the gvacasl — What articles were found 
in them ? — Did they use copper ? 

Page 338. 
What was the only city, properly so called, 
of ancient Peru ? — Are cities necessary to the 
progress of refinement in arts and manners?— 



QUESTIONS. 



663 



Was the separation of professions so complete 
In Peru as in Mexico! — Wiial was tlie only 
separate order of artists? — Wliat oilier conse- 
quence followed from the want of cities in 
Peru! — Explain t'le connexion between com- 
merce and agriculture. — What was the differ- 
ence between Mexico and Peru with respect 
to commerce! — What was the most fatal de- 
fect in the Peruvian character ? 

Page 339. 
How did they differ from the other Ameri- 
cans in this respect ! — Does the same pacific 
character still appear in the native Peruvians? 
— What cruel custom existed in Peru? — What 
was their reason for it ? — How many were 
sacrificed on the death of Huana Capac? — In 
what particular were the Peruvians more bar- 
barous than the most rude tribes ? — Were Peru 
and Mexico the only possessions of Spain in the 
New World! — When were the others con- 
quered? — By whom? — What provinces of New 
Spain were never subject to the dominion of 
the Mexicans ? 

Page 340. 
What is said of their soil and productions? — 
What circumstance is favourable to the in- 
crease of their population ? — What happened 
iu the provinces of Cinaloa and Sonora in 
1765 ? — To whom did the Spanish inhabitants 
apply for aid ! — Why was he at llrst unable to 
give it ? — How did he raise money for the 
■war? — How long did it last? — How did it ter- 
minate ? — What discoveries were made during 
the war! — What was discovered at Cine- 
guilla? 

Page 341. 
Who discovered California ? — When ? — 
Where is it situated ? — What religious order 
acquired dominion over it? — Why did they 
represent it as barren and unwliolesome ! — On 
the expulsion of the Jesuits from the S|ianish 
dominions, who was sent to California ? — 
What discoveries did he make ? — What prov- 
inces are east of Mexico? — What is their ex- 
tent? — What do they produce in abundance? 
— After conquering Jamaica, what was the 
first object of the English ? 

Page 342. 
Where did they make their first attempt 7 — 
Where did they afterward establish their prin- 
cipal station ! — How did the Spaniards endea- 
vour to stop this encroachment on their terri- 
tories ! — Have they been compelled to consent 
to it! — What method did they devise for ren- 
dering it of little consequence ? — Where are 
Costa Rica and Veragua ? — What is said of 
them ! — Where is Chili ? — Who attempted Its 
conquest! — Did Almagro succeed! — What was 
the fateof Valdivia ! — Who saved the remnant 
of his army! — What part of Chili was con- 
quered by the Spaniards ! — What part is pos- 
sessed by the Indians ? — What is the extent of 
Chili ? — What is observed of its soil and cli- 
mate? 

♦ Page 343. 

What is said of its animals?— Its mines?— 
Was it neglected by the Spaniards ? — Through 
what ports was its commerce long carried on 
with Spain?— Has a direct intercourse been 
since opened !— What are now the chief ports 
of Chili ?— Is it a Spanish province at the pres- 
ent lime!— What provinces areeast of fliili ! 
— What mountains separate them from Cliili ? 
— On what vicernyalty were they formerly de- 
peudent?— What is their extent ?— How is this 



region divided ?— What country is north o( 
Rio Ue la Plata ? 

Page 344. 
Where are Tuciiman and Buenos Ayres? — 
What is tlie chief settlement ?— What is the 
most remarkable feature of the inovince of 
Tucuman ? — By what European animals have 
these plains been tilled?— What article of 
commerce do lliey furnish?— What sort of 
trade was carried on through tht Rio de la 
Plata and Brazil with Peru?— Where is Terra 
Firma?— What is it now called ?— Where is 
New Granada ?— What lies east of Veragua! 

Page 345. 
What are its harbours ?— Which is on the 
cast side ? — What were they called ? — Was 
another communication to the Pacific opened 
afterward ? — Where are Carthagena and St. 
Martha ? — Who conquered these provinces ? — 
When? — What does the country produce? — 
What is the chief port ? — What enriched this 
place?— What Spaniard first visited Santa 
Martha?— Why was Venezuela so called! — 
Upon whom did Charles V. bestow the prov 
ince of Venezuela 1 — For what ? 

Page 346. 
On what condition? — To whom did they 
commit the execution of their plan? — How 
did they proceed ? — What was the conse- 
quence ? — To whom did the province revert ! — 
What were the other Spanish provinces on the 
north coast of South America! — Where are 
they situated ? — Who conquered New Grana- 
da? — When? — What rendered its conquest 
dilHcult ?— What renders the climate of New 
Granada temperate? — How is gold obtained 
there? — Who are employed in finding it! — 
Why are the negroes unfit for mining ! 

Page 347. 
What facts are mentioned illustrating the 
wealth of New Granada!— To what country 
does New Granada now belong ?— Is it now a 
Spanish province ? 

BOOK VIII. 

To what objects does the historian now di- 
rect our attention !— What was the first conse- 
quence of I he establishment of the Spaniards 
in America! — What was the first cause of 
depopulation ? — Where was it first experi- 
enced ?— What was there besides war to cause 
the depopulation of these countries?— flow 
were many "f the natives destroyed in Mexi- 
co ? — In Peru ? 

Page 348. 
What was more destructive than war to the 
natives of Mexico and Peru !— What was the 
chief object of the conquerors of these coun- 
tries?— For this, what did they neglect? — 
Where were the mines situated?— Who were 
employed to work ihem ? — From whence were 
they brought ?— What was the consequence? 
— What disease increased the evil ! — What 
false charge is brought against the Spaniards^ 
— Is such a design necessary to account (br 
the depopulation of Spanish America? 

Page 349. 
Did the Spani.sh government try to prevent 
the destruction of lives among the Indians? — 
Why could it not be prevented by the govern- 
ment? — To whom should the desolation of the 
New World be attributed?— To what other 
cause is the depopulation 'Of Spanish America 



564 



QUESTIONS. 



unjustly attributed ?— What reasons are op- 
posed to this ? 

Page 350. 
Whom did the Indians consider as their 
natural guardians and piolectors ! — Are many 
of the Indians still left in Mexico and Peru ?— 
In wliat other provinces are they numerous .'— 
How many were there in New Spain in 
Robertson's time? — What nations were most 
easily civilized? — Were tlie Spaniards suc- 
cesslul in civilizing the most savage tribes ? — 
What was the condition of the government of 
Spain when Spanish America was settled 1 — 
What peculiarity distinguishes the Spanish 
from other European colonies ? 

Page 351. 
What was the fundamental maxim of the 
Spanisli colonial policy ;— What was their 
great charier ? — Was the power of the Spanish 
crown over the colonies absolute ? — How was 
Spanish America at first divided ? — How liir 
did the jurisdiction of the first division e.\tend? 
— Tlie second?— What inconveniences at- 
tended this arrangement ? — Where was a third 
viceroyalty established ?— How far did its ju- 
risdiction extend ?— What jiower did the vice- 
roys possess ?— What pomp of stale did they 
exhibit ' 

Page 352. 
In whom was the administration of justice 
in Spanish America vested? — What is the 
characteristic of the most despntic govern- 
ments? — How were the Spanish %iceroy3 re- 
strained from intermeddling with the adminis- 
tration of justice ? — On whom did tiie govern- 
ment devolve in case of the viceroy's death ? 

Page 353. 
What -was vested in the council of the In- 
dies ?— What lawa originate in this council ?— 
What offices are conferred by it ! — Who were 
accountable to it? — What has been the object 
of the Spanish monarchs ? — Where did the 
council meet? — For what was the Casa de la 
Contratacion instituted ! — Where and when ? 
— What commerce was at (irst confined to 
Seville? — On what river is Seville? —What 
are the powers of the house of trade ? — What 
was the first object of the Spanish monarchs ? 

Page 354. 
Why did they dread the intrusion of stran- 
gers ? — What two kinds of colonies existed in 
ancient times? — Give examples of each. — 
Which kind speedily became independent? — 
What did the Spanish monarchs do in Ameri- 
ca? — How did they secure the dependence of 
the colonies on the parent stale? — What were 
the colonies principally employed about? — 
Whence were they supplied with manufactured 
articles and a part of their provisions? — What 
was severely prohibited in the Spanisii colo- 
nies? — Why? — What did the colonies give in 
exchange for clothes, lurniture, luxuries, &c. 
imported from Spain ? — What vessels monopo- 
lized all the commerce between Spain and her 
colonies ? 

Page 355. 

What restrictions were laid respecting all 
foreigners '! — What was the effect of this policy 
on the colonies ? — Was the progress of the 
colonies slow ? — How many Spaniards were 
there in all the provinces sixty years after their 
eettlemeni? — What is necessary in order to 
promote a rapid increase of people in any new 
settlement ? — Uid the Spaniards regard this ?— 
What were the encomiend(fs? — The mayoras- 



gos 7 — How did they descend ?— Were the evfl 
e/Tects of these extensive entails severely 

felt 1 

Page 356. 
What other severe burthen did the Span- 
ish colonies bear ? — What articles paid tithes ? 
— Were the colonists liberal towards the 
churches? — Who were the chapctones? — 
What offices were confined to them ? — What 
was meant by old Christians? — What was the 
character of the cliapetonesV — Who were the 
Creoles .'—What was their character in Robert- 
son's lime ? 

Page 357. 
Who conducted the internal commerce of 
the colonies? — With what were the Creoles 
satisfied? — How did the chapelones and Cre- 
oles regard each other ! — Did t lie Spanish court 
encourage this hostility ?— Why ? — Were the 
mestnos and mvlaitoes numerous? — What 
were carried on by them ? — How were the ne- 
groes mostly employed? — Were they favour 
ites of the Spaniards ? 

Page 358. 
Whom did they hate ? — Why did the Span 
iards encourage this hostility ? — Which was 
the most depressed order of men in the Span- 
ish colonies ? — Who freed them from slavery? 
— When? — What tax was imposed on them? 
— Of whom was every Indian in Spanish 
America a vassal ?— To whom was three- 
fourths of the tax paid ? — To whom was the 
counti'y parcelled out when first conquered? — 
For how long a time ? — To whom did the grant 
then revert ? — Was this a constant source of 
patronage and power to the crown ? 

Page 359. 
Were the Indians compelled to work ? — 
Were they paid? — In what different occupa- 
tions were Ihey required to work? — What 
were the mitas? — What portion of the people 
of a district might be called out at once in 
Peru ? — In New Spain, how many could be 
called out in a district? — How long was each 
mita kept in a mine in Peru ?— At what wages ? 
—How were the Indians in the principa. 
towns governed ' — How in their own villages ? 
— Was the oflice of cazique hereditary ?— What 
was the duty of the oflicer called protector of 
the Indians ? 

Page 360. 
How was the tribute raised from the Indians 
applied ? — Have the laws enacted by the coun- 
cil of the Indies proved efTectual remedies of 
the evils they weie intended to prevent? — 
Why have tliey not ?— What wrongs did the 
Indians sufier in defiance of these laws? — 
Where did these wrongs most abound ? — For 
what did Ferdinand solicit Alexander VI. ? — 
On what condition did he obtain it ?— What 
did Julius II. confer on the kings of Spain ?■ 

Page 301. 
What was the consequence of these grants ? 
—In what did all authority in Spanish Ameit.ca 
centre?— What council must approve of all 
papal bulls relating to Spanish America?— 
What was the effect of this limitation of the 
papal power in Spanish America ?— Were there 
archbishops, bishops, &c. in Spanish Ameri- 
ca?— How were the inferior clergy divided ? 
—What were the c%irasJ—T\\e doctrinerosJ 
—The ?nissioneroi?— Are the revenues of the 
church large? — How is the wealth of the 
church displayed?— Have the etTeets of the 
monasteries been favourable tp the country ' 



QUESTIONS. 



066 



Page 362. 
Are the ecclesiastics of Spanish America 
distinguished for their literary attainments.'— 
Whom did the popes permit to assume paro- 
chial charges in America? — Did this increase 
the number of missionaries ? — What honours 
did many of them gain ? 

Page 363. 
What useful history was written by the Je- 
suit Acosta ! — Were many of the missionaries 
from the European convents to America of a 
bad character ? — What prince opposed the 
regulars ? — Did he succeed ? — What edict did 
Ferdinand VI. issue ? 

Page 364. 
Have the priests been successful in convert- 
ing the Indians ? — What imprudent course did 
the first missionaries take ? — How many Mexi- 
cans did one clergyman baptize in a day '. — 
How many Me.xicans were baptized in a few 
years ! — What was the effect of this mea- 
sure? — What is the greatest obstacle to the 
progress of Christianity among the Indians? 

Page 365. 
What did the early missionaries say con- 
cerning the Indians? — What did the council of 
Lima decree ? — Why had the in<iuisiiion no 
jurisdiction over the Indians? — Were the 
Spanish colonies too large for Spain to people ? 

Page 366. 
What %vas the chief object of the Spanish 
colonists ? — Why did they abandon many of 
their islands? — To what countries did they 
crowd ? — When were the mines of Potosi dis- 
covered ? — In what other provinces were rich 
mines discovered ? — Wha' amount of gold and 
silver was annually brought to Spain from her 
colonies ? — Were the mines worked at the ex- 
pense of the crown ? — Who was entitled to 
own a mine ? — On what condition ! 

Page 367. 
Who were the searchers? — How did they 
proceed ? — What was the effect of the rage for 
mining on commerce and agriculture? — What 
ought to have been the policy of the Spanish 
government ? 

Page 368. 

Are the countries colonized by Spain in 
America rich in other productions besides gold 
and silver? — Where is cochineal produced? — 
What is it ? — Where is the Jesuits' bark found ? 
— Indigo 1 — Cacao ? — The best tobacco ? — Su- 
gar ? — Hides ? 

Page 369. 

Under what sovereigns was Spain an indus- 
trious country ? — What manufactures did the 
Spaniards engage in ? — What market had they 
for them? — flow many merchant-ships had 
Spain at the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 
tury ? — Was the sudden increase of wealth 
unfavourable 10 the .Spanish character ? — What 
was its effect on Philip II. ? — What nations 
dSl he annoy with hostile operations? 

Page 370. 
What was the effect of his wars ? — In what 
manner did Philip III. weaken his empire ? — 
Describe the state of Spain in the 17th cen- 
tury. — What occasioned a still further drain 
Of population from Spain ?— Could Spain sup- 
ply her colonies with articles of necessary 
consumption ! — From what countries were 
they smuggled ?— Where did the wealth of the 
New World then go ( 



Page 371. 
To what expedient was Philip III. driven! 
— Has the possession of her colonies proved a 
source of wealth to Spain in the same pro- 
portion as the colonies of other countries? — 
Was Spain anxious to monopolize the trade 
of her colonies? — How have the Dutch, Eng- 
lish, French, and Danes monopolized the 
trade of their East Indian colonies ? — What 
prevented Spain from adopting this policy ? 

Page 372. 
What regulation was adopted ? — What was 
the consequence ? — What were the fleets to 
America called? — Whence did they sail at 
first? — Whence after 1720? — What countries 
did the galeons supply ? — Where did they 
touch? — Who went to Santa Martha to trade 
with them? — Of what kingdoms was Porto 
Belio the mart ?— Describe the fairs of Porto 
Bello.— To what port did the flota go?— What 
province did it supply ? — Where did the fleets 
rendezvous ' — Whence did they proceed from 
Havana ?— Where is Santa Martha? — Cartha- 
gena? — Vera Cruz? — Havana? — Was the 
whole commerce of Spain with her colonies 
confined to these two flpets? — What was the 
eflect of this absurd arrangement? — What 
profits did the monopolists of Seville and Ca- 
diz charge on their goods ? 

Page 373. 

Is it always the interest of a monopolist to 
check commerce? — Why? — What was the 
amount of tonnage of the two fleets? — What 
violent punishments for smuggling were pro- 
posed? — Was any remedy applied to the evils 
under which the commerce of Spain la- 
boured ? 

Page 374. 

What roused the energies of Spahi 7 — What 
nations engaged in the war, and .sent armies, 
fleets, and treasure to Spain ? — What was the 
consequence ? — Who gained quiet possession 
of the throne of Spain? — What privilege did 
Philip V. grant to the French merchants ?— 
How did they use it ? — To what provinces 
were they limited ? — Did their commodities 
find their way to all the other provinces?— 
What would have been the consequence if 
this had continued ? — Was it prohibited, and 
the French merchants again excluded from all 
Spanish America?— What grants did Pliilip 
V. make to Great Britain ? 

Page 375. 
Where were British factories established ? 
— What did their agents learn ? — How did the 
English merchants profit by this ?— How did 
tliey abuse the grant concerning the ship of 
500 tons ?— By whom was nearly all the com 
rnerce of South America engrossed .' — IIow 
did this affect the galeons ? — How did Spain 
attempt to check this illicit commerce?- -What 
led to a war witli England ? — What was the 
consequence ? — What did the smuggling of 
the English teach the Spaniards ? 

Page 376. 
What inconveniences attended the use of the 
gaknns ami flota for supplying the Spanish col- 
onies? — How did .Spain remedy these inconve- 
niences?— What was the eflect of this arrange- 
ment ? — When were the galeons laid aside? — 
How was the commerce with Peru ..nd Chili 
then carried on ' — What course did the single 
ships lake? — Was this favourable to Peru and 
Chili ? — What ports deilined in consequence 
of it ? — To what port did all the register shipa 
return ?— How in chocolate made ? 



666 



QUESTIONS. 



Page 377. 
Is it an article of much commercial import- 
anfte ; — Where is the cacao raised? — What 
nation engrossed much of the trade in it ! — 
Did they supply Spain with it?— How did 
Phihp V. remedy this ! — Who have pronted by 
this institution !— Where were the register 
snips of this company obliged lo deliver their 
home cargo ? 

Page 378. 
Who exposed the defects of the Spanish co- 
lonial system? — What was the effect of their 
writings .' — How did Charles U\. open a regu- 
lar communication between Spain and the 
colonies ? — What places did the packet-boats 
visit ? — What cargo were they allowed to 
carry ?— What did Charles III. do in 1705 ? 

Page 379. 
What were the effects of this measure ? — 
How much did it increase the trade of Cuba ? 
— Did its benefits extend to Spain ? — What 
•was its effect on the sugar trade ? — What regu- 
lation existed with respect to the intercourse 
of the colonies with each other ? — Was this 
good policy .' 

Page 380. 
What were its effects? — How was this 
grievance redressed? — By whom? — What re- 
forms did Don Joseph Gal vez effect? — What 
inconveniences resulted from the great extent 
of the three Spanish viceroyallies ? — Where did 
Galvez establish a fourth? — What did it in- 
clude? — What two advantages resulted from 
this? 

Page 381. 
Who was the fourth viceroy ?— What part 
of the former territories of Peru were under 
his jurisdiction?— What change was made in 
New Spain?— Who was intrusted with the 
new government? — What was the object of 
the Bourbons in Spain ? — How did they attempt 
to effect this? 

Page 382. 
Did the Spanish people learn the defects of 
their own commercial policy ? — What did their 
writers notice ? — What has been the eflect of 
the rigid commercial regulations of Spain ! — 
What conduct of the revenue officers is no- 
ticed ? — To what extent was the king de- 
frauded 1 

Page 383. 
Where is Manilla ? — Which way from Aca- 
pulco ? — What ocean lies between them ? — 
When did Philip II. establish a colony at Ma- 
nilla ? — With wiiom did this colony commence 
an intercourse ? — With what country did this 
colony afterward open a trade? — To what 
port ? — To what port was it allcrward re- 
moved ? — What amount of money did the ships 
take out to Manilla ? — What did they take back 
to Aeapuico? — How was Peru allowed to par- 
ticipate in the traffic ?— Were the Peruvians 
atlerward excluded from it .' — Describe the 
efTects of this trade. 

Page 384. 
Is this trade inconsistent with the usual 
policy n*" Spain 'i — What was the first kind of 
taxes paid by the Spanish colonies to the gov- 
ernm ;nt of Spain ! — What was meant by 
risht of signioryf — What by duty of vassal- 
age?— Whal does the sn'ond branch of ta.ves 
comprehend ?— The thi: '. f— What was meant 
by bull ofcruzado 1 



Page 385. 
What was the amount of annual revenue 
of Spain raised in America ?— What domestic 
sources of revenue on exports, ifee. are to he 
added to this ? — Was the government of the 
Spanish colonies expensive? — How did the 
viceroys augment it ? — What was the salary 
of the viceroy ot Peru ! 

Page 386. 
Of Mexico ?— To what were they raised ? — 
How did the viceroys add to their income? — 
What amount did a viceroy sometimes receive 
in presents on iiame-day ! — What officer ad- 
ministered his government without corruption? 
— What is observed of him? 

BOOK IX. 

Page 389. 
Whose dominions in America were next in 
extent to those of Spain !— What was the effect 
of Columbus's discoveries on the English? — 
Under what king was a voyage to America 
first proposed ? — Were the English qualified to 
undertake it? — Why not? — What was then 
their commercial character ? 

Page 390. 

When did the English first trade with Spain 
and Portugal ? — When did they enter the Medi- 
terranean !— To whom did Henry VII. com- 
mit the command of their first voyage of dis- 
covery? — With what powers? — When? — 
When did Cabot embark? — With how many 
ships and barks ? — What country did they ex- 
pect to reach ? — What island was their first 
discovery ? — What did they bring away ' — 
What part of the coast did he pass ? — Did he 
return without landing on the continent? — 
What advantages did England gain by this 
voyage ? 

Page 391. 

What circumstances prevented Henry VFI. 
from prosecuting his scheme ? — What service 
did Cabot enter ? — What laws unfriendly to 
commerce existed in England ? — What jire- 
vente'J Henry VIII. from prosecuting discove- 
ries in America ? 

Page 392. 

What prevented Mary ? — How long was the 
scheme neglected? — Who now employed Ca- 
bot?— What places did he visit? — With what 
places in the east was a trade opened by Eng- 
lish merchants? — What was the favourite 
project of the nation? — What attempts were 
made in it? — With what success! — What 
fishery became an object of attention in the 
reign of Edward VI. ? — What did Cabot pro- 
pose? 

Page 393. 
What company was formed ? — For what 
purpose? — Who was made governor of it? — 
What did he fit out ?— Who took the command 
of the fleet?— What befell Willoughhy?— 
Who escaped the storm, and arrived at Arch- 
angel ?— Where is Archangel ?— How does#,ie 
sail from England thither?— Relate Cliance- 
lour's adventures in Russia. — What did ho 
receive from the czar ?— Who was queen when 
he returned to England? — To whom did she 
write?— What did she empower Chancelour 
to do?— To whom did she grant the exclusive 
right of trade ?— Whither did they push their 
discoveries ? 

Page 394. 
By what other channel did they attempt to 



QUESTIONS. 



66T 



open a communication with tlie east ? — How 
far did their (actors go? — Wliere is Choras- 
san ?— What part of Africa did (lie English 
visit ?— What did they trade in !— With what 
countries did the English open a trade in the 
reigns ol' Henry VI II , Edward VI., and Mary? 
— Wtio succeeded Mary ? — Did she encourage 
commerce ? — The navy ? 

Page 395. 

With what sovereign did she cultivate com- 
mercial relations? — What company did she 
encourage? — What empire did their agents 
visit?— What did they effect? — What scheme 
did ihe earl of Warwick set on loot? — Who 
took command of thee.xpedition ?— What coast 
did he explore ! — What did Sir Francis Drake 
undertake? — What co.ist did he e.xplore? — 
What did he e.xpect to lind there? — Was he 
the first Englishman who sailed round the 
world ? 

Page 396. 

Had the English hitherto attempted to settle 
a colony ? — What circumstances directed their 
attention to the formation of colonies?— Who 
was conductor of the lir.st English colony to 
America? — Under whose auspices? — What 
were the terms of his charter ! 

Page 397. 
Who joined Gilbert ? — What was the fate 
of his expeditions ? — Of himself ? — What island 
did he take possession of? — For whom ? — Did 
this failure discourage Raleigh? — When did 
he procure a patent? — Whom did he send out ? 
—What course did they tske ?— In what part 
of the country did they make researches ? 

Page 393. 

What island did Ihey take ?— WTiere is it ?— 
With whom did they trade ? — What accounts 
did they give on their return? — What did Eliz- 
abeth call the country ? — Whom did Raleigh 
n^t send out? — Wilh how many ships? — 
Whither did he go ? — Where did he make ex- 
cursions? — Where did he establish a colony? 
— Was it a suitable place ? — How many men 
were there in the colony ? — Under whose com- 
mand ? — Who was Hariot ? — What did he 
effect ? — What was the object of the colonists ' 
— How did the Indians deceive them? — How 
were they punished ? — What did the colony 
now suffer ? 

Page 399. 

Who relieved them, and took them home to 
England? — What sort of account did Hariot 
give of the country ? — What fashion did Lane 
and his people learn of the Indians ? — Who 
adopted it in England 1 — What has been the 
consequence ? — What happened a few days 
after Drake's departure? — Who came with 
three ships, and left another colony at Roan- 
oke '—What was its fate ? 
Page 400. 

Wliat person did Raleigh send out next 
year? — With how many ships? — For what 
purpose did While return? — What prevented 
•f-is success? — What was the fate of the colo- 
ny ?— What diverted Raleigh's attention from 
Virginia? — To whom did he assign the coun- 
try and his patent ?— Did they settle the coun- 
try ?— When did Queen Eli/.abcth Jie ?— Were 
there any English colonies in America then ? — 
How long was this after Cabot's discovery of 
North America?— Was Elizabeth favourable 
to colonization !— Why not ? 

Page 401. 
Who succeeded her ?— What was now the 



state of things ?— Who was Gosnold ?— What 
places did he discover and name ? — How long 
was his voyage ? — What were its effects ? — 
Where is Elizabeth Island !— Nantucket ? — 
Martha's Vineyard ?— Cape Cod ? 

Page 40'2. 
Who sent out a small vessel ?— For what 
purpose? — What account did their messen- 
gers bring hack ?— Who was Richard Hak- 
luyt ?— What did he publish .'—What were the 
effects of his efforts ?— How did James I. di 
vide the country ? — For what reason ?— What 
grant did he make to G'aies, Summers, and 
iJakluyt?— To whom did he give the south 
colony .' 

Page 403. 
What sort of government did he establish 
for the colony ? — What privileges with respect 
to duties and trade did he grant the colonists? 
— What articles of this charier were incon- 
sistent with fiecdom ? — What articles were 
contrary to the usual colonial policy of all 
nations ? — Which were the two original parent 
colonies of North America? 

Page 404. 
Who sailed for Virginia, December 19th? — 
Wilh how many vessels and men ? — What 
persons of distinction were with him ? — What 
land did he first discover? — What bay did he 
enter ! — What river ?— How far ? — What town 
did the colonists lound ? — What is said of it? 
— What troubles ensued ? 

Page 405. 
What act of injustice was done? — Who an 
noyed the colony ? — What olher circumstance 
distressed th^-ni ? — Who was chosen their 
leader ?— What measures did he take ?— What 
was their effect? — What befell him' — Whither 
was he carried ? — What was his sentence? — 
By whom was it pronounced ? 

Page 40fi. 
Who saved his life?— How?— What did she 
afterward do? — How many colonists did Smith 
find on his return to Jamestown ? — What un- 
lucky incident now happened ? — What was its 
effect? — What remedy did Smith propose? — 
How was it executed ?— What discoveries did 
he make?— How far did he sail in his boat! 

Page 407. 
What is said of his account and map of the 
country ?— On what did the colony dejiend for 
subsistence ? — What changes did King James 
make in the government of the colony ?— What 
was the consequence ? — Who was made gov- 
ernor of Virginia !— What was his character t 
— Who was sent out from England ? — Wilh 
what offices ?— What befell them ?— Who ar- 
rived at Jamestown ? 

Page 408. 
What was now the state of affairs in the 
colony?— What had disabled Smith ?— Whither 
did he go • — What ensued ? — What did the 
colony suffer from the Indians? — To what ex- 
trcmilies were they reduced by famine ?— What 
loss of lives ensued ? — What were the circum- 
stances of (Jalos and Summers's shipwreck on 
Bermudas?- How did they proceed ?— Where 
did they land May 23d !— What did they there 
find ? 

Page 409. 
For what place did they set sail ?— WTiat 
prevented their voyage to Newfoundland?— 
Did they return with Lord Delaware ?— How 



568 QUESTIONS. 



did Lord Delaware proceed on his arrival at 
Jamestown ?— What were the eflfccts ot his 
p.diTiinistration ?— What caused his return to 
England ! — Who succeeded him ! — Wlio su- 
perseded Mr. Percy ?— What sort of law did 
he introduce ? 

Page 410. 
How did he exercise his power 7 — What new 
privileges were grtnted in the new charter of 
1012?— What territories were added to Vir- 
ginia ?— How was tlie expense defrayed !— 
Was the lottery afterward abolished !— By 
whose interference ? — What was the effect of 
martial law in Dale's hands 7— With whom did 
he make a treaty ? — To whom was Pocahuntas 
married !— Whither did they go ? 

Page 411. 
Where did she die ?— Who are descended 
from her? — Was Rolfe's example generally 
followed ?— What had been the state of landed 
property in Virginia ? — What was the effect of 
this ?— How did Dale remedy it ?— What en- 
sued? — What did the Virginians now begin to 
cultivate ?— Was it profitable ?— To what ex- 
tent was it cultivated ! 

Page 412. 
What evil effect resulted from this ?— What 
was now the stale of the colony? — What cir- 
cumstance attached the colonists more firmly to 
the country ?— What incident furnished them 
with a new kind of workmen ? — Wlio called 
the first general assembly tiiat ever was held 
in Virginia?— When ? — How many corpora- 
tions were represented in it?— V/hat powers 
did they assume ? — What made it accejitaole 
to tht people '—What was issued by the com- 
pany, .luly 24tli?— Where was the supreme 
legislative power in Virginia vested 1 

Page 413. 
How were questions determined ? — By whom 
could laws be i;ega;ived ?— By whom were 
they ratified ? — How were the members of the 
colony after this time considered?- What was 
the effect of this change?— With whom was a 
trade in to'jacco opened ?— To what did this 
lead?— What did the parent slate require? — 
What did the colony claim ?— To what rivers 
did the settlements extend ?— What conspiracy 
was now formed .' 

Page 414. 
Who was the Indian leader 7— What was 
his character 7— What tribes united? — Wliat 
day was fixed for the massacre ! — How did the 
Indians proceed?— How many English were 
cut off in one hour 7— What saved .lamestown 
and the adjacent settlements 7— Where did the 
colonists assemble 7— What now occupied their 
thoughts 7 

Page 415. 
How did they execute their purposes 7— 
What was the effect of this war on the In- 
dians?— On the colony?— What disturbed the 
general courts of the company 7 — What were 
discussed in the general courts ? — How did 
James I. regard ihese proceedings ?— What did 
his ministers attempt? — Did they succeed 7 

Page 416. 
What did James now design? — What pre- 
texts had he lor dissolving the company 
What sort of noinmission did he issue .' — What 
did he order? — What sort of report did the 
commissioners mnke to the king? — What in- 
tention did he signify, 8th October 7— What 
was declared, to quiet the minds of the colo- 



nists 7— What did the king require to lo strr 
rendered ? 

Page 417. 
Did the company submit to these orders 7— 
What was done in general court, October 
20lh?— What did James then direct?— Whom 
did he send to Virginia? — For what purpose? 
— How was the lawsuit decided ? — What docs 
Stith say concerning this measure ? 

Page 418. 
How much had been expended on the Vir- 
ginia colony? — What were the annual receipts 
from it? — How many of the colonists sur- 
vived? — Who resolved to encourage ;he colo- 
ny? — To whom did James commit the govern- 
ment of the colony ?— What prevented his 
making a new set of regulations? — Wlio suc- 
ceeded James 1.7 — What did he declare? — 
Whom did he appoint governor?- What did he 
intend? — How was Virginia go>'erned during 
most of Charles's reign?— Wliat proclamation 
was issued ? — What was the efl'ect of this 7 

Page 419. 
How was the value of land diminished . 
— Who succeeded Vardely ? — What was hia 
character ? — How did lie behave ? — How was 
he treated? — How were the deputies of the 
colonies treated by Charles ? — Whom did he 
appoint to succeed Harvey .' — What was Berke- 
ley's character? — How long was he governor? 
— What were the effects of his administra- 
tion ? — For what was the colony indebted to 
the king ? — What (Urectious did he give Berke- 
ley? 

Page 420. 
Viliat reasons are assigned for Charles's 
liberal treatment of the Virginia colony 7— For 
what was he solicitous? — Wliat instructions 
did he give Berkeley lor this purpose ?— To 
what number did the colonists increase 7— 
What instances of attachment to the king were 
given by the Virginia colonists ?— What ordi- 
nance did the parliament issue? — What mea- 
sure w.as taken to enforce obedience ? 

Page 421. 
What colonics did they compel to submit ? 
— Whilher did the squadron then go ? — Who 
opposed them?— What terms were gained in 
consequence of his resistance? — How did 
Berkelev then behave ?— What two laws did 
the parliament make 7— What did they pro- 
hibit in England ?— How long did the colony 
remain quiet under Cromwell's governors? — 
What persons came out from England?— What 
was the consequence !— What was done afler 
Governor Malthews's decease? — What boast 
did the Vircinians make 7— How was the news 
of the restoration of Charles 11. received in 
Virginia 7 

Page 422. 
How did Charles II. treat the Virginians ?— 
What did the acts of navigation provide 7— 
What did a subsequent law provide 7— Wh^ 
tax was laid 7 

Page 423. 
How were these statutes regarded in Eng- 
land 7 How in Virginia 7 — Did the colonists 

remonstrate against them 7— Were they suc- 
cessful 7 What measures were taken to en- 
force obedience?— Did the Virginians elude 
the laws ?— With whom did ihey trade?— What 
design did some old soldiers of Cromwell 
Ibrm?— Who disconcerted their project? — 
What was the cause of the reduction in the 



QUESTIONS. 



569 



yaiue ol tobacco? — What was its effect?— 
Who annoyed the remote settlements ? — What 
act of Charles caused discontent ? — What was 
the effect of all these grievances on the colo- 
nists ' 

Page 424. 
Who was Nathaniel Bacon ? — What was his 
character ? — How did he behave ? — To what 
office was he chosen? — Who refused him a 
commission ! — What proclamation did Berke- 
ley issue ? — To what place did Bacon march? 
— What did he demand ?— Was it granted ? — 
What did the council prevail on Berkeley to 
do ? — How did they proceed when Bacon had 
retired ? — Whither did Bacon march on hear- 
ing of the proceedings of the council ! — Whi- 
ther did Berkeley flee ? — Whither the council ? 
— Who now had supreme power ? 

Page 425. 

How did he endeavour to confirm it ? — How 
did Berkeley proceed ? — What town was burnt 
in the contest ? — To whom had Berkeley ap- 
plied for aid ? — What aid did Charles send ? — 
What did Bacon and his party resolve to do ? 
— What event now happened ? — What was 
the consequence ? — What is this insurrection 
called?— How long did it last? — Whom did 
Berkeley call together? — How did they pro- 
ceed ? 

Page 426. 

Who succeeded Berkeley? — To what time is 
the history brought down ? — With whom was 
peace concluded ? — In what spirit was the 
government administered ? — What oppressive 
law was enacted ? — Did the colony still in- 
crease ? — What diffused wealth among the 
colonists ? — What was the number of the colo- 
nists at the period when the Revolution in 
England took place in 1688 ? 

BOOK X. 

In what ports of England did James I. estab- 
lish two trading companies ? — For what pur- 
pose ? — Which was the more flourishing ? — 
What gentlemen belonged to the Plymouth 
company ? — Where was a settlement made in 
1607 ; 

Page 427. 

Was it continued ? — Who went out on a 
trading voyage ! — How did he employ a part 
of his time? — To whom did he communicate 
his discoveries ?— What did Prince Charles 
call the country? — What cause now began to 
operate in favour of emigration ? — What was 
the consequence of the Reformation ? — Of what 
Was Calvin an advocate? — What did he ex- 
hibit? — Where was it copied ? 

Page 428. 
What prevented the English from adopting 
It ? — Did the English articles of religion con- 
form to Calvin's doctrines? — In what respects 
did the English church differ from Calvin ?— 
Was the church and the state policy connected 
>n England? — What rites of the Catholic 
church did the English church retain ?— How 
did Queen Mary treat her Protestant subjects ? 
— What was the effect of her persecution ? — 
Where did those who fled fVom it take refuge ? 
—When did ihey return? — With what feel- 
ings ?— To what mode of worship were they 
attached? — What did they endeavour to re- 
form ? — Who were disposed to co-operate with 
them ?— Who opposed them ?— Why ? 

Page 429. 
What act of parliament was passed ?— Did 



the ndvocntes of a further reformation relin- 
quish their design? — What did they do? — 
What name did they acquire? — Did they ac- 
quire influence among the people? — What do 
you understand by conformists and noncon- 
formists? — Was toleration understood at this 
period of liistory ? 

Page 430. 
How were the puritan clergy treated by the 
queen ? — What new court was established ?— 
Who attempted to check the arbitrary proceed- 
ings of the queen ' — Did she silence them ? — 
To what oppressive act did she compel them 
to assent? — What was its effect on the puri- 
tans ? — How did they retaliate the wrongs they 
suffered from the queen ? — Did the people 
follow them ? — To what form of church gov- 
ernment did the more learned and sober puri- 
tans incline? — Who was Robert Browu? — 
What did he teach ? 

Page 431. 
Wliat sort of government does the historian 
call that of Brown ? — What were his follow- 
ers called ? — How were they treated ? — How 
did he end his career ? — Did his sect become 
extinct? — Whither did a body of them fly? — 
Who was their pastor? — What directed their 
attention towards America as an asylimi ? — 
For what did they apply to the king ? 

Page 432. 
From whom did the Brownists obtain a 
grant of land ? — How many of them sailed 
from England ? — When ? — Where did they de- 
sign to land? — How did their captain deceive 
them ? — What land did they first make ? — 
When ? — What did they suffer on the voyage ? 
— Where did they settle ? — At what season ? — 
How many died before spring ? — Who attacked 
them ? — Were they repulsed .' — What consola- 
tion had they ? — What church government had 
they?— What system of civil government? — 
On what did they attempt to found their sys- 
tem of civil government chiefly ? 

Page 433. 

In what did they imitate the primitive Chris- 
tians? — What was the effect of this?— Was it 
relinquished ! — To what number did they in- 
crease in ten years ? — What did they obtain in 
1630 ? — How must this colony he considered? — 
To what was it afterward united ? — To whom 
did James I. grant a new charter in 1620? — 
With what powers ? — What was this society 
called? — Was it successful in colonization? — 
What was the situation of the puritans in Eng- 
land ? — Whither did they wish to emigrate ? — 
Who formed an association of puritanical gen- 
tlemen ? 

Page 434. 

What did they purchase ? — When ? — Where 
did Ihey seek and find new copartners? — Did 
these new proprietors consider the grant which 
had been obtained from the council of Ply- 
mouth a suflicient basis for the government of 
a colony ?— To whom did they apply for fUll 
powers of government ? — Did 'they succeed ? — 
To what was this charter similar? — Who 
named the first governor? — Who had the right 
of electing his successors ? — Who had the ex- 
ecutive power? — Who the legislative?- What 
exemption did they obtain ? — What was the 
object of the charter ?— Did Charles see the 
real motives of the puritans ? 

Page 435. 
What did he expressly provide for ? — How 
many shi|)s and meij were sent out to New- 
England !— Who accompanied them as spiritual 



570 



QUESTIONS. 



teachers ■?— What did they find on their arri- 
val? — Who was Endicott ?— Where were he 
and his followers settled ? -What form of 
policy did the new colony adopt ? — What did 
they elect I — Who seceded from them 1 

Page 436. 
What inconsistency were the puritans now 
guilty of.'— What did Endicott do?— What 
part of the colonists died in the winter ^. — Who 
were now compelled by Laud's persecutions to 
migrate to New-England ?— On what did these 
new emigrants insist? — Did they gain their 
point ? — Does the historian think that the com- 
pany had any right to transfer the government 
of the colony from England to America ? 

Page 437. 
What does he suppose to have been the 
king's motive for permitting this transfer ? — 
Who were appointed governor and deputy- 
governor ? — How many ships and people sailed 
from England for New-England? — In what 
places did they settle?— What disposition ap- 
peared in tlieir first general court ? — What 
rights did they take from the freemen ?— In 
whom were they vested ?— -When did the free- 
men resume their rights ? — What singular law 
was passed ? 

Page 438. 
What were its effects? — What destroyed 
many of the Indians ? — How was this event 
regarded by the colonists ? — What innovation 
was introduced in consequence of the great 
spread and increase of the colony ?^What 
were the prete.xts for it ?— How must the colony 
henceforward be considered ? 

Page 439. 
Who was Williams?— What did he raise a 
controversy about ? — How was he punished ? 
— Who now emigrated to New-England? — 
What was Vane's character ? — To what office 
was he elected ? — To what did he direct his 
attention ? — For what purpose were religious 
meetings held ? — Who was 3Irs. Hutchinson ? 
— What did she establish ? 

Page 440. 
What did she teach ? — Who embraced her 
opinions ? — What was the consequence ? — 
How was Mrs. Hutchinson treated ? — Whither 
did Vane go ? — What was the efiect of these 
dissensions ? — Where did Williams settle ? — 
What island did his followers buy of the In- 
dians?— What did Williams teach?— What 
was a fundamental maxim of his community? 
— What was the form of government ? 

Page 441. 
What caused Mr. Hooker to emigrate from 
Massachusetts ? — How many persons went 
with him? — When? — What towns did they 
found ? — On which side of Connecticut river 
are Hartford and Weathersfield ? — On which 
Bide is Springfield ? — In what state are Hart- 
ford and Weathersfield ?— In what state is 
Springfield ? — Where had the Dutch formed a 
settlement ? — Where had Lord Say and Sele 
and Lord Brook formed a settlement ? — Where 
is Saybrook ?— Did the emigrants from Massa- 
chusetts get rid of all these competitors?- Did 
they become independent of Massachusetts and 
gain a royal charter ?— What provinces are 



next considered ? — What two gentlemen were 
the first settlers of these provinces 2 

Page 442. 
Who was Mr. Wheelwright? — Where did 
he found a town ? — What was it called ? — 
What colony claimed jurisdiction over them? 
— What new danger attended the colonists ? — 
How did the jieople of Massachusetts acquire 
their lands ! — What warlike tribes surrounded 
the settlers of Providence and Connecticut .' — 
What did the Pequods ask of the Narragan- 
sets ? 

Page 443. 
What prevented their uniting against the 
common enemy ? — What did the Narragansets 
do ? — How did the Pequods proceed ? — Where 
were they repulsed ? — What colony first mus- 
tered troops? — What hindered the advance of 
the Massachusetts people ? — What troops ad- 
vanced to attack the Indians ?— Where were 
the Indians posted ? — What prevented their 
being completely surprised and massacred ? — 
What gave the English a great advantage ? — 
Describe tlie action. — What was its result? — 
What was done after the arrival of the troops 
from Massachusetts? — In how long a time 
were the Pequods extirpated ? — What was the 
ch.aracter of the English oflftcers in this first 
New-England war ? 

Page 444. 
What was the true character of the war 1 — 
What was its elTect on the other tribes? — 
What was the effect of the persecution in Eng- 
land ? — What was done to prevent emigration ? 
— What individuals were prevented from em- 
barking for New-England ? — What remark is 
made on this important event ? — How many 
persons embarked in 1638 ? — How did Charles 
resent this contempt of his proclamation ! — 
What prevented Ctiarles from punishing the 
colonists ? — What happened on the meeting of 
the Long Parliament I 

Page 445. 
How many persons had gone from England 
to New-England between 1620 and 1640? — 
How much money had been expended on the 
colony ? — What beginnings of commerce ap 
peared about the latter part of this period ? — 
Who distinguished the colony with peculiar 
marks of favour? — What vole did the house 
of commons pass? — What was its effect? — 
What return did the colonists make lor these 
favours ? — What step did the colonies take to- 
wards independence? 

Page 446. 
Wliat stipulations did the contract contsdn ? 
— Was this measure censured in England ? — 
Why not ? — What act of intolerance and op- 
pression was perpetrated by the general court 
of Massachusetts?— What otheract of usurpa- 
tion did they commit ?— Did the English gov- 
ernment censure these proceedings ? — Why 
not? — Did Oliver Cromwell favour the colo- 
nies of New-England ? 

Page 447. 
What striking proof of his attachment did 
he give?— What reasons did he offer in sup- 
port of his scheme ? — Wliy did the colonists 
decline to comply with his wshes 1 



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